Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
on Jun 01, 2023, Updated Sep 03, 2024
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This easy chocolate mousse recipe might be our favorite dessert. It is creamy, thick, flavorful, chocolatey and so delicious. We love that for any dinner parties or entertaining, this is a great dessert to prep the night before, and then it’s ready to serve as soon as it’s time to eat dessert. Serve topped with homemade whipped cream, or fresh berries.
If you’re looking for another mousse recipe, be sure to check out our Easy Lemon Mousse and Chocolate Coffee Mousse.
Ingredients You Need for Chocolate Mousse
Egg Yolks and Sugar: Egg yolks and sugar are cooked in a double boiler over a lower heat until they become custardy. This is part of our mousse base.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate: Roughly chopped chocolate is folded into the egg yolks and sugar mixture until melted, then finished with a dash of heavy whipped cream and kosher salt. This is our chocolate base. Additional chocolate is being saved to serve in shavings on top.
Whipped Cream: Easy homemade whipped cream, just using heavy cream, salt, and sugar, is folded into the chocolate mousse mixture, as well as some being saved to serve on top of the mousse at the time of serving.
How to Make This Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Make your Base: Get your stand mixer out with the whisk attachment, and chill the mixing bowl in the fridge while you make your mousse base.
Melt Chocolate: In a large pot, create a double broiler with another bowl on top. On medium-low heat, whisk your egg yolk and sugar. Once it gets custardy, and doubles in size, add in your chocolate, and melt until smooth, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Finish the Chocolate Mousse Base: Add a dash of cream and salt and stir until incorporated. Set aside off the heat.
Make your Whipped Cream: Remove your bowl from the fridge, and add your heavy whipped cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. We use a stand mixer on the highest setting until fully whipped, about 10 to 12 minutes. You can do this with your hand, just keep whisking until it’s completely whisked, it will take longer this way. Reserve about 1/4 cup whipped cream for topping and transfer to the fridge.
Finish the Mousse and Chill: For the remaining whipped cream, slowly and gently fold in the melted chocolate in the whipped cream, scraping the sides and folding over slowly, and not over-mixing. You can mix gently in an 8 formation until incorporated. Do this until the whipped cream and melted chocolate is blended together with no streaks from the whipped cream. Pour evenly into 4 small to medium cups or ramekins. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, and up to overnight.
Serve: When ready to serve, top each cup with your remaining whipped cream and chocolate shavings from your reserved chocolate (we just use a peeler to shave them on top).
Tips for Whipped Cream
Homemade whipped cream is extremely easy to make! It takes less than 3 ingredients and comes together fairly quickly.
- Whipping by Hand: If you’re whipping by hand, this takes more time and power, but still TOTALLY doable!
- Ingredients for Whipped Cream: All you need is heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk or blend in an electric hand mixer, or a stand mixer, until it’s super creamy, about 10 to 12 minutes in the stand mixer, and double if whisking by hand.
- Don’t Overwhip: Make sure to not overwhip! You want to make sure it’s silky, smooth and fluffy. Once you notice it starts to separate, and looks rough, with extremely tough peeks, you know you’ve gone too far in whipping.
What to Serve with Chocolate Mousse
If you’re looking for some ideas and dinner party menus to serve with this mousse recipe, we’ve got you covered!
- Appetizers: These Steamed Mussels in White Wine & Lemon are a great appetizer to serve alongside the mousse for dessert.
- Salads: Try this refreshing Shaved Celery and Fennel Salad, or Radicchio Salad with Chives and Hazelnuts to serve with the mussels.
- Side Vegetables: Paprika Roasted Baby Potatoes would pair perfectly with this salmon! But any of your favorite vegetables will do here, like, broccolini or bok choy.
- Dinner: Serve Spicy Sausage Cherry Tomato Pasta for dinner, ending with some chocolate mousse! Or, Grilled Lamb Chops with Charred Jalapeño Chimichurri.
Frequently Asked Questions
Egg yolks, egg whites, whipped cream, and sweetener.
Chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse are similar in both taste and texture, but the technique is a tad different. Mousse has whipped cream or egg whites folded into the chocolate mixture, whereas pudding is a denser, cooked mixture, usually with a sort of binding agent like cornstarch or flour.
Yes, most mousse is made with whipped egg whites and then chilled in the fridge. However, in this recipe, we are whipping the chocolate mixture with whipped cream, and the egg yolks are being cooked in the chocolate mixture.
Yes, use your favorite chocolate products, just make sure they are properly melted throughout the mousse base.
More Dessert Recipes
If you do make this Chocolate Mousse recipe, leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, we would love to hear what you think! Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram, we love to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest in your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter. We can also be found on YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For The Mousse
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- pinch of kosher salt
For The Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Get your stand mixer out with the whisk attachment, and chill the mixing bowl in the fridge while you make your mousse base.
- In a large pot, create a double broiler with another bowl on top. On medium-low heat, whisk your egg yolk and sugar. Once it gets custardy, and doubles in size, add in your chocolate, and melt until smooth, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Add a dash of cream and salt and stir until incorporated. Set aside off the heat.
- Remove your bowl from the fridge, and add your heavy whipped cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. We use a stand mixer on the highest setting until fully whipped, about 10 to 12 minutes. You can do this with your hand, just keep whisking until it’s completely whisked, it will take longer this way. Reserve about 1/4 cup whipped cream for topping and transfer to the fridge.
- For the remaining whipped cream, slowly and gently fold in the melted chocolate in the whipped cream, scraping the sides and folding over slowly, and not over-mixing. You can mix gently in an 8 formation until incorporated. Do this until the whipped cream and melted chocolate is blended together with no streaks from the whipped cream. Pour evenly into 4 small to medium cups or ramekins. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, and up to overnight.
- When ready to serve, top each cup with your remaining whipped cream and chocolate shavings from your reserved chocolate (we just use a peeler to shave them on top).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This turned out totally liquid
Hi Jen, we are here to help! Let us know what went wrong, and how you made the recipe, and we can help make sure this doesn’t happen again! How long did you set the mousse? Did you overwhip it? Did you under whip your cream? Let us know, and we can steer you in the right direction!