5 blog years and a Nutella dark chocolate mousse

The brief was to make a dessert, a soufflé actually, with Nutella and chocolate. Here's the catch - not a baked one but one set with gelatine.

I'm glad this request came when I was planning a recipe for 5 years of Baketales. Yup, 5 today! Yay!!

Checking out Google, most recipes started with "preheat the oven to 375°F". No, no, I just couldn't let down this young lady who asked for this to destress (...dessert/s???) in the midst of her exams. And to think that there was a time when cold set soufflés ruled the dessert roost!



There's nothing like a light, fluffy mousse with a deep, dark chocolate flavour. And Nutella? That must be a one-way ticket to dessert heaven. Forget the diet when you've one or a couple of these bad boys in your hand. All you then need is a spoon and peace and quiet.

Like all good mousses, this one too starts with a custard. So here goes:

Nutella and dark chocolate mousse

Ingredients
10 gm gelatin
275 ml milk
2 eggs, separated
20 gm sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
50 gm Nutella
40 gm dark chocolate, melted
120 gm whipped cream
6 small ramekins

Method
Sponge the gelatin in 1 tablespoon of cold water, keep aside.
Place the milk in a saucepan, whisk in the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour.
Cook it over a bain-marie (double boiler), whisking it all the while till it becomes a custard (...you don't want a soggy sweet omelette in your pan, do you).
Remove from the bain-marie, keep stirring for exactly 3 minutes and then add in the gelatin.
When that's dissolved, stir in Nutella, dark chocolate and vanilla extract and blend into a smooth custard.
At this point, you could strain it into a bowl.

Strained custard

Cool your custard and then keep it in the fridge for about 1/2 hour, do give it a stir every few minutes to prevent it from setting.

At this point, whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it gently into the custard.

Gently fold in the cream

When the cream has been incorporated into the custard and there are no lumps, scoop the mousse gently into the ramekins and leave them to set in the fridge for about 4 hours, 6 if you are the patient sort.

And what if you want to make it a soufflé? Whip up the egg whites with 25 gm sugar and when stiff, fold gently into the mousse before filling the ramekins. You might need 7 of them then.
Ramekins, I mean!

If you've been wondering what the stuff on top of the mousse is, it's just crushed Ferrero Rocher!

Many thanks to all of you who have been visiting Baketales. This year, I do hope there will be many more recipes for you to try out. Meanwhile, do keep those lovely messages coming in!