Bills Chocolate Mousse . . . modified

No, there's not supposed to be an apostrophe in "Bills." Why? I don't know... he likes it that way I guess. Bill Granger is a self-taught, well-known Sydney chef that I've just recently come to know about thanks to a really great Christmas gift, his cookbook. (one of many he's put out) I've been reading this cookbook and studying it's recipes and I'm continually surprised by how SIMPLE and FRESH everything is. It seems like he's the kinda guy that just got famous for being PLAIN. But good plain. Raw plain. Let's use only fresh ingredients and taste the difference plain. So that's what he's done and now he's got a bunch of famous, hopping little cafes all over Australia. But what I most appreciate about his "plainness" is that his recipes are easy for really anyone to make at home. THAT is something to be admired and celebrated and it's something that I always hope you'll find to be true about recipes I post here on Recitherapy.

SO, this morning we got a call from Jodie, my sister in-law inviting us over for dinner and suggesting that I make the dessert... score! Time to pull out my new cookbook! Thanks to Bill, I'll PROUDLY be serving some delectable dark chocolate mousse in individual little cups! Isn't that too cute?? :) I have a mousse recipe that my husband loves, (that I may share one day) but who wants to use their own recipe when they can try someone else's that has BRANDY as one of the ingredients?! That sounded like a win to me so I gave it a go. HOWEVER, we didn't have any brandy. Or anything close to it. So I went out on a limb and used some fine whiskey instead... we'll see! The mixture tasted great when I finished whipping it all up, but it's still setting in the fridge at the moment so I can't tell you if it was a total success or not yet! I have a feeling it will be though....

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces fine quality dark chocolate, chopped or broken into small pieces
• 3/4 ounces fine whiskey (his calls for brandy, so use that if you have it... unless you just want to be a rebel!)
• 1 & 3/4 ounces water
• 5 egg whites
• 4 egg yolks
• 10 ounces cream, whipped.

Here's what you do:

• Place the chopped chocolate, brandy and water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of hot water. When you do this, you don't need more than about an inch and a half of water in the saucepan. The bowl will displace the water when you place it in the saucepan higher than you think. Put the stove on really low heat and let the chocolate melt. Once it's melted, leave it to cool for about 5 minutes.

 my 1st attempt at chopping the chocolate....

 my 2nd attempt... when I actually realized the OTHER side of the chocolate was already marked out in perfect little cutting sections for me... learn from my mistakes, friends.

see that water level? I probably put in too much water, maybe 2 inches high in the saucepan and it was ALMOST too high.

• In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. You'll know, it gets harder and harder to whisk and little foamy, white bubbles start happening all over the top.

• Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.

• Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture.

 whip it first, of course.

• Now fold in the egg whites, half amount at a time, and use a metal spoon. Eggs are always easier to blend into a mixture when you use a metal spoon.

• Pour the mousse into little cups, bowls or ramekins and refrigerate until set!

 that's what the finished mixture looks like.

serves 8

This is the kind of dessert you want to make when there's more than 4 of you. It's easy to make, you can serve them in individual servings, and it can be done WAY IN ADVANCE! The more time they have to set, the better! So why not try this out next time you're inviting the neighbors over or you're on dessert duty like I am tonight!? Like I said, I haven't tasted this finished yet, but the mixture was pretty delicious... and I may or may not have scraped down every last drop of it to lick off the bowl before cleaning it.

Can't wait to get back into my own kitchen and start doing MEALS with you guys again!

xox