Mary Berrys Chocolate Mousse Recipes

CELEBRATION CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease the tin with margarine and line the base and sides with baking paper. You need to line the tin right to the top even though the sponge will not fill it.
• For the chocolate cake, measure the cocoa powder into a large bowl. Pour over the boiling water and mix to a paste with a spatula. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the eggs and margarine and beat until smooth using a hand-held mixer.
• Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the surface with a palette knife. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the cake feels springy to the touch.
• While the cake is still hot, brush the brandy over the top of the cake. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
• Meanwhile, for the mousse, place the chocolate in a bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Stir continuously, taking care not to let the chocolate get too hot. Set aside to cool a little.
• Whip the cream until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed. Carefully fold in the melted chocolate until smooth and not streaky.
• When the cake has cooled, and while it is still in the tin, spoon the chocolate mousse on top and level with a palette knife. Cover the cake tin with cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, and preferably overnight, until the mousse is firm.
• To serve, carefully remove the cake from the tin and transfer it to a flat plate. Dust the top with cocoa powder, then pile the raspberries and blueberries into the centre. Finish with a light dusting of icing sugar. Cut into wedges and serve with pouring cream.

MARY BERRY'S CHOCOLATE MOUSSE RECIPE

Steps:

• Break the chocolate into a large heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of gently simmering water. The base of the bowl should not touch the water. Leave until just melted, then remove the pan from the heat, stir, and leave the chocolate to cool slightly.
• Put the egg yolks and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, as above. Whisk with an electric hand whisk on low speed for 4 minutes, or use a balloon whisk, which will take a little longer.
• When the mixture has become paler and thicker, remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking for a further minute. Set aside to cool slightly, stirring occasionally so the mixture does not stiffen. If it does, stir in 1-2 teaspoons of the crème fraîche to slacken.
• Pour the cream into a medium mixing bowl and sprinkle over the coffee. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold in the crème fraîche. Fold the cream mixture into the cooled dark chocolate, then fold in the egg yolk mixture. Make sure everything is well combined.
• Spoon into glasses and chill for 1 hour. Decorate with chocolate curls. To make chocolate curls, simply pull a vegetable peeler along the flat side of a chocolate bar. It works best if the chocolate is slightly warm. This chocolate mocha mousse recipe features in Mary Berry's Cookery Course.

MARY BERRY'S TUILES WITH CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Steps:

• Heat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. To make the tuile mixture, put the soft butter, icing sugar and vanilla into a mixing bowl and whisk together with an electric mixer to make a paste. Gradually add the egg whites, whisking constantly. Fold in the flour, a little at a time, stirring between each addition.
• Transfer a sixth of the mixture to a small bowl, add the cocoa powder and beat with a spatula or wooden spoon until well mixed. Cover both bowls with clingfilm and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the chocolate mousse. Heat 150ml of the cream in a small pan until just simmering. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate pieces and stir gently until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool for 15 minutes.
• Add the remaining cream and beat with an electric mixer until the mixture stands in soft peaks when the whisk is lifted out. Put the egg white into another bowl and whisk (with a clean whisk or beaters) until it stands in stiff peaks. Whisk in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, then keep whisking to make a soft, smooth and glossy meringue. Gently fold the meringue into the chocolate mixture. Cover the bowl and chill until set.
• While the mousse is chilling, make the tuiles. First make a template for the round tuiles by cutting out holes 7cm in diameter from a plastic sheet or the lid of an old ice cream carton. Set the template on the lined baking sheet. Spread plain tuile mixture over the cutout shapes using a palette knife, then draw the blade across the template to scrape off the surplus tuile mixture. Carefully remove the template by peeling it away from the sheet.
• Spoon the cocoa tuile mixture into a small piping bag fitted with a writing tube (or a disposable bag with the end snipped off) and pipe patterns - dots/squiggles/wavy or straight lines - on the tuiles. Place in the heated oven and bake for 5-6 minutes, until the tuiles are just turning golden around the edges. Remove the sheet from the oven and, working very quickly, lift each warm tuile off the baking sheet with a palette knife and drape over a rolling pin so the tuile cools in a curved shape. Leave to cool and set.To make tuile cigars:
• Spread the plain tuile mix over the template as before, but don't add the cocoa decorations. Bake as in Step 6. While the tuiles are baking, gently melt the 50g dark chocolate. Remove the sheet from the oven and, working quickly, lift the warm tuiles off the sheet and gently curl them around wooden spoon handles to make neat cigar shapes. Leave to cool and set, then slide them off the spoon handles and dip both ends in the melted chocolate. Leave to set on a sheet of baking paper. (The baked tuiles - both curved and cigars - can be frozen or kept in an airtight tin for 3-4 days.)
• To make a tuile basket, line the baking sheet with a silicone sheet. Drop a spoonful of the tuile mixture onto the sheet and spread out with the back of the spoon to an uneven circle about 13cm across. Bake for 5-6 minutes until pale golden. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, carefully lift off the tuile and quickly mould it over an upturned pudding mould or ramekin to make a basket shape. Leave to cool and firm up before gently lifting the basket off the mould. Fill with the chocolate mousse and serve as soon as possible with the curved tuiles and tuile cigars.