Julia Child's Perfect Chocolate Mousse

I don't think I'm alone when I say that I find everything Julia Child makes to be nearly close to perfect, even though she doesn't include that word in the title of every one of her recipes. So when I stumbled upon this gem on David Lebovitz's blog, I... a) drooled, b) cleared my schedule and c) cried until it was in front of me topped with homemade whipped cream. "What whipped cream?" You might be saying. I'm sorry it was gone too fast. Just picture it in your head... a dollop of cloudy deliciousness. Also, turns out, all you have to do to make whipped cream is put whipping cream in your stand mixer. And then turn it in. Genius.

All you need (aside from the cream of course):

6oz. semi sweet chocolate (I used... what else? Jacques Torres 60% cacao chocolate discs)

1/4 cup strong coffee

6oz. (or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

4 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp rum

pinch of salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a double boiler over low heat, melt the butter, chocolate and coffee together. Once it's smooth and completely melted, remove bowl from heat and put to the side, but don't remove the saucepan of simmering water. 

Remember: A teeny tiny oven is better than no oven at all. Oh, and is also automatically cuter with a teeny tiny kettle. Easy fix!

Fill a large bowl with ice water and also set that aside. In a THIRD bowl (where's my dishwasher??) over the pan of simmering water, whisk the egg yolks, 2/3 cup of sugar and rum constantly until it thickens and begins to look custard-like. Your arm will get tired.  But as my dad would say, "Are you a man or a mouse!?" Which means, keep whisking. I think.

Remove from heat and place the bowl in the large bowl of ice water, continuing to whisk until it's cool and thick... like mousse. Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. This folding is best used with a spatula and gently turning from the bottom, while rotating the bowl. I didn't really mean for it to sound that complicated, but basically if you beat or stir you're at risk of deflating things that make this mousse a mousse... little air pockets. They are our friends. 

Okay busted. Gabe took that picture above. I was mid fit at this point because my light broke, my camera battery died and all I really wanted was the mousse anyways. But he plugged in the camera and persevered while i made this face :( And then I saw that sugar picture and made this face :)

In a FOURTH bowl (She said perfect, not easy folks), preferably the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to hold their shape and then add the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar and the salt. Continue to beat until thick and shiny, then add the vanilla last. Fold a third of the egg whites mixture into the chocolate mixture until just combined. Don't overdo it or you'll just end up with glorified chocolate syrup. Then add the remaining egg whites with the same technique. 

Pour the mousse into one big large bowl or little individual cups, depending on how hungry you are, and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 4 days. 

It's the perfect thing to give to your new neighbors to make up for that one time they saw you lugging garbage down the stairs in your pj's with no makeup on.