Decadent Gingered Dark Chocolate Mousse

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, chocolate desserts come to mind.  A classic chocolate mousse with pretty much just dark chocolate and water will surprise you with its simplicity of preparation and its richness.  Flavored with some chopped crystalized ginger, it is a decadent indulgence with health benefits.  Cacao is the food with the highest concentration of anti oxidants, has immune- boosting properties and provides a good source of magnesium to calm the nervous system and regulate heart rate(Eat Pretty).  Ginger is also a great anti- inflammatory food which aids digestion.  Choose one of the highest quality chocolate you can find in this recipe and a dark chocolate of at least 70% cacao.  Don’t skimp on quality in this recipe, as it’s all about the chocolate.

The recipe comes from the Chococo Chocolate cookbook from the specialty chocolate shop in Dorset, UK.  It was a gift from my chocolate-loving , longtime friend and colleague, Claire, when we vacationed in Scotland together last year.  This recipe is dairy- free, wheat-free, without any thickening agents and could not be simpler to make.

Fun fact:  Did you know it is said Emperor Montezuma owed his virility to drinking 50 brewed bowls of cacao per day?  Although I can’t make any promises about this dessert, a small serving is all you need as it is decadent and rich!   I will be sharing another chocolate mousse recipe from Chococo later this week.  Stay tuned and let me know which is your favorite.

DECADENT DARK CHOCOLATE GINGER MOUSSE

• Servings: 3-6
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Ingredients:

125 g dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 c freshly boiled water

2 1/2 T finely chopped crystallized ginger, divided

1 T crystallized ginger syrup( sugar, water, crystallized ginger, fresh ginger)

cocoa powder to dust

Method:

1- To make the ginger syrup, make a simple syrup by dissolving 1/4 c of sugar in 1/4 c water over medium heat.  Add a tablespoon of chopped crystallized ginger and another tablespoon of fresh ginger.  Cool to room temperature and filter out the ginger.  The recipe did not provide instructions on making the syrup but this is how I made mine.  You will only need a tablespoon of this so the remainder can be reserved for other uses.

2-  Melt the chocolate over a water bath or in the microwave oven.  In a medium bowl, add the boiled water in thirds, whisking continuously.  The mixture will be runny at this point but don’t worry, it will thicken.

3-  Add 1 T of the chopped crystallized ginger to the chocolate and stir.

4-  Add 1 T of the syrup and stir.

5-  Pour the mousse into 6 espresso cup-sized dishes or demi tasses, set on a tray for ease of handling. This will yield a small portion.  I used half-filled teacups filled and only got 3 servings.  It is a rich dessert but North American palates may desire the larger portion(we did!).  In that case, double the recipe. You will have plenty of the syrup to make 6.

6-  Chill the mousse for at least an hour or overnight.  To serve, sprinkle each with the remaining 1/2 T of chopped ginger and dust with some cacao powder.  ENJOY!

So few ingredients waiting to be transformed into rich decadence!

Making the ginger simple syrup.  If you have an already made ginger syrup, you could use that.

Melted chocolate ready to be mixed with the water and ginger.

Presto!  That’s it!Chilled mousse ready to top with ginger and powdered cocoa.