David Lebovitz’s Caramel-Chocolate Mousse
I’m working on mousse this week, and what better recipe to practice with than David Lebovitz‘s Salted Butter Caramel-Chocolate Mousse from his beautiful book My Paris Kitchen. It. Is. Perfect. This mousse has big chocolate flavor with an underlining sweetness of caramel.
I think making this mousse has come at the perfect time for me and my oldest son, Cameron. It seems as though Cameron is trying to process what being adopted really means. The other night he told me he has two mommies. He said that his birth mom is his real mom and that I am his “other” mom. I told him that he’s right, he does have two mommies, but I also said that I was just his mom, not “other” mom. The other day a friend of mine told me that Cameron asked her where her real mommy is? I knew these questions would bubble up eventually, and I am happy that they are, I really am, but my heart breaks a little too. I don’t ever want him to feel different, or scared, or sad, or lost in the enormity of his adoption. Anyway, I used this very mousse to lure him into sitting for a moment (he’s usually a guy on the go), so I could talk to him a little bit about his beautiful beginning. I am not sure how much he was able to take in, but he seemed happy to talk about it. And his bowl of mousse was completely licked clean.
Here’s how it’s done. First, cook 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium-sized saucepan until it caramelizes.
Once the sugar turns an amber color, about 325 degrees F., take the saucepan off of the heat and whisk in the salted butter pieces.
Then whisk in the heavy cream. If there are some caramel pieces in the caramel cream, place the saucepan over low heat and whisk until it melts and is incorporated. It that doesn’t do the trick fully, then strain the cream over a clean bowl.
Finally, pour in some chocolate and whisk until smooth.
Once the caramel-chocolate cream has cooled completely, whisk in the egg yolks.
Fold in stiff egg whites and a little sea salt into the caramel-chocolate cream.
Pour the whole concoction into ramekins, or other decorative glasses, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
Enjoy with a little whipped cream or just on it’s own.
- 1/2 cup (100 g) Granulated Sugar
- 3 TBS (42 g) Unsalted Butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) Heavy Cream
- 6 oz. (170 g) Bittersweet or Semisweet Chocolate, chopped
- 4 Large Eggs, separated
- Heaping 1/4 tsp. Flaky Sea Salt
- Whipped cream for garnish (optional)
- Pour sugar in a medium-sized saucepan and spread it evenly around. Cook the sugar over medium-heat without stirring. Using a pastry brush, brush the insides of the saucepan with water to push the sugar crystals back in. Watch the sugar closely. When it reaches 325 degrees F. take it off of the heat. Quickly whisk in the butter pieces. Once incorporated, slowly pour in the heavy cream and whisk. If there are any large caramel bits, put the saucepan over low heat for a few minutes and stir until melted. If that doesn't do the trick completely, then strain them out. Finally, stir in the chocolate pieces until smooth and glossy.
- Pour the mixture into a clean bowl and set aside to cool. Once cooled, whisk in the egg yolks until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites, along with the sea salt into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites until it is fully incorporated and there are no white streaks.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into decorative glasses, or ramekins and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
- Serve with whipped cream or not. It is so good either way. Enjoy!
- Medium-sized saucepan
- Candy thermometer
- Pastry brush
- Decorative glasses, or ramekins
- Mixer with whisk attachment
- *Always have a bowl of ice water nearby when making caramel in case you burn yourself.
- *To clean stuck bits of caramel from the bottom of your saucepan, fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil. This should melt the caramel.
