Dessert Incompatibility {CtBF}
As Howard and I say, we’re “dessert incompatible”. I’m far from a chocoholic. I’ll eat chocolate, but it’s never my first choice. On the other hand, for Howard, it’s chocolate all the way. When I try making a new dessert usually only one of us loves it. It’s tough…
Now that we’re cooking through David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen, I’m discovering new twists on familiar and new recipes. Take this week’s choice, for example. Chocolate Mousse is something that I always forget about. I’ve made it a few times before, and it’s always a crowd pleaser. However, it’s not something that comes to mind when I’m deciding what to make for dessert.
Discovering this week’s recipe Salted Butter Caramel-Chocolate Mousse takes things over the top. The name says it all. It’s not just chocolate mousse. It’s chocolate mousse that starts with a salted caramel. I used to be terrified of molten sugar, but the more I make it, the more comfortable I get. Melt sugar, whisk in butter and cream, and you’ve got caramel. Stir in chopped dark chocolate until it melts and you have chocolate caramel.
Once it cools to room temperature (we don’t want scrambled eggs in our caramel, do we?), you whisk in egg yolks. Finally, fold in stiff egg whites with some fleur de sel, and you have salted butter caramel-chocolate mousse. Spoon the mousse into glasses. Voilà! Who would think that something so good would be relatively easy to make? The hard part is waiting at least 8 hours for it to chill.
The mousse is packed with flavor. Both the chocolate and the caramel flavors come through. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. It’s light, so not too filling a dessert. The small juice glasses I used are the perfect size for a little treat after dinner.
So far Cook the Book Fridays’ new book choice hasn’t disappointed. I will have to remember to serve this mousse to company so it’s deliciousness can be shared.
If you want to try it at home, you can find the recipe on page 258 of My Paris Kitchen. The recipe has also been published on Epicurious. To see what my friends thought of the mousse, check their links here.
The core of Cook the Book Fridays are bloggers who met through French Fridays with Dorie, have remained friends, and enjoy cooking together (virtually anyway). All are welcome to join us as we continue the journey through another French cookbook, David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen.
Posted on 6 May 2016, in Cook The Book Fridays, dessert, my paris kitchen and tagged caramel, chocolate, Cook The Book Fridays, dessert, my paris kitchen. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
Oh my goodness Betsy! This looks and sounds absolutely over the top delicious! I will certainly tag that recipe page in the book and prepare it soon! Awesome post, love your dessert incompatibility profile!
Dessert incompatibility! Betsy, its the opposite over in my house! Hubby is not a chocolate lover, so I will probably have two to my self, while he will have to finish his portion, cos there is no other dessert for the meal! But, this was good!
Dessert Incompatible – I love that! I have a feeling that Howard and my husband would be “dessert compatible”. We are a little different: I like all desserts that my husband likes, but he only likes a subset of the desserts that I like. So, sometimes I make us both happy, and sometimes I only make myself happy (luckily, my daughter seems to like any dessert!). This mousse was one of those desserts that we could all agree on!
I understand you. I like chocolate but it is never my first choice! This was definitely a winner. Easy and delicious. I was thinking the same as you: This is one to remember when company is expected! ❤
Hi. Sounds yummy and looks beautiful. Any warmer there? Enjoying Zoe for a few days. Thanks again for everything. Hope your trip back home was fast. Xoxoxo
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You described this delicious mousse just perfectly. I also was surprised by how easily this came together. I’m not a chocolate lover either. If the choice is chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal raisin, I’ll go with the oatmeal raisin. Chocolate cake, not so much. Chocolate cream pie or fudge, No. But, for some reason, I loved this. Now I could only have a few big spoonfuls per sitting but still I polished off two Weck jars filled with mousse. I think it’s the dark chocolate. I also will add a bit more salt next time. Yep, I need to remember this also.
I’ve always loved chocolate mousse, but didn’t realize how much better it could be with caramel. I’ll always make this version, I think, from now on. I agree with you about molten sugar, too. I was so intimidated the first few times I made it, but now it feels like an easy task. Too easy, perhaps.
I am not a huge chocolate person either! My husband is. Loves it! But with this recipe, i think i could change haha!
It IS the perfect amount of sweet for an after dinner treat. Love the little juice glasses!
The idea of cooking molten sugar to the point when it starts to smoke is both terrifying and exciting. I got through and I look forward to doing it again. Love the shape of your glasses. Better portion control than using a larger glass.
Similar in our house. I love trying new desserts, but my husband grumbles (but always eats) when I make something with fruit. This was delicious, and like you I am more and more comfortable with caramels. Definitely no grumbling with this one, except that we wished for more. Will definitely make this again.
Ha, my husband and I are also dessert incompatible, but especially so with ice cream: I love chunky flavors à la heath bar crunch from ben & jerry’s. He likes butter rum and smooth stuff like that. Glad you all enjoyed the recipe so much! I’m definitely going to try it again, but with some realigned expectations about the balance of caramel and chocolate flavors–and dang is this recipe rich!
I agree Betsy, this would be the perfect dessert to serve for company. I am with Howard- the more chocolate, the better!
I goofed up on my weeks, so missed this. But I might just make it for my book club that I’m hosting tomorrow. I have the ingredients (I think!), though I’m with you – like chocolate, but the huge box of blueberries are calling – oh, and that jammer tart from TWD… maybe I should make 2 desserts!! :)