Chocolate & Water

Yes, you read the title correctly.  And, if you are at all familiar with baking or pastry or the use of chocolate in general, then your first thought was probably along the lines of "NEVER combine the two, disaster will occur!" and, until recently, I was right there with you.

After all, that seems to be the first rule of working with chocolate - never, never, never allow the chocolate to come into contact with water, particularly when melting.  The result will be a seized glob of unusable chocolate, an outcome that truly is a tragedy!

But...I've recently found one instance in which combining the two, and nothing else, actually results in a delicious, decadent dessert!  What's the resulting dessert?  A deep, dark chocolate mousse that I'd recommend serving in small portions along with a dollop of whipped cream or a glass of milk.  Yes...it is that indulgent.  (And coming from a huge chocolate lover like myself, that's saying something!)

Admittedly, the only reason I even tried the recipe was because I doubted it would work.  And the first time it didn't.   In fact, all I achieved with the first effort was to splatter madre's kitchen and myself with chocolate sauce.  Not a pretty sight, especially considering the mousse was going to be our Valentine's Day dessert.  Good thing she had ice cream on hand...  

However, the intrigue of the recipe lived on, so I attempted it a second time, this time precisely measuring the ingredients using a scale.  (I didn't the first round and the recipe won, but using the scale made me victorious in round 2!)  Learn from my mistake...precisely measure the ingredients if you try this recipe!

So, here it is, the recipe for 2-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse:

2 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
Printable Recipe
Genius Recipes/Herve This*
Yield:  4 servings



Ingredients:

• 6 ounces (approx 3/4 cup) water
• 8 ounces chocolate (choose a high quality chocolate that you LOVE & do not use chocolate chips)

Preparation:

1. Pour the water into a sauce pan, then over medium-low heat, whisk in the chocolate until it is completely melted.  A well-blended, thin chocolate sauce should be the result.
2. Put the saucepan in a bowl partly filled with ice cubes , then whisk the sauce, either manually or with an electric mixer. After awhile strands of chocolate will begin to form in the loops of the whisk; pour or spoon the mixture immediately into ramekins or small bowls and allow to set.
3. Serve immediately, or refrigerate.  Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Notes:

• The flavor of the mousse can be altered with addition of a bit of vanilla, orange juice, cassis puree, flavored liquers, coffee, etc during the first step.
• To chill the mixture faster in step 2, pour it into another bowl set over the ice cubes.
• If using an electric mixer in step 2, keep a close eye on the chocolate, as it will thicken faster.
• Three things can go wrong:
• If your chocolate doesn't contain enough fat, melt the mixture again, add some chocolate, then whisk again.
• If the mousse is not light enough, melt the mixture again, add some water, then whisk again.
• If you whisk it too much and it becomes grainy, melt the mixture and whisk again, adding nothing.  Just don't whisk quite as long!

Mmm...tasty!