Kicking and Screaming into the Kitchen

This recipe comes from my friend Danuta at Pfeiffer Vineyards in Junction City, Oregon. If you clicked on that link, you can imagine why everything that comes out of that lovely villa is spectacular.

This mousse is pretty enough for a party when served in wine glasses topped with whipped cream and berries, or it can be used as a filling for things such as a chocolate cookie crust or these Puff Pastry Cream Horns. Her plain chocolate is yummy, but don’t hesitate to experiment with additions.

Danuta’s Easy Chocolate Mousse

• 2 cups chocolate chips, blended until fine
• 2 T light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 cups whipped cream

First, turn the chocolate chips into near powder. I tried blending these, and it worked okay, but after a minute or so, the chocolate on the bottom melted and prohibited the blade from spinning properly. I dumped the contents into my handy dandy food processor and it was ready in about 5 seconds.  If you don’t have a way of chopping these fine, you can make the recipe with whole chips, just keep the flame low on step two and stir constantly until they’re melted.

Second, boil the corn syrup and water for one minute and mix in the chips until smooth.

Third, while the chocolate is cooling to room temperature, whip a pint of light whipping cream. Mix and chill for 4 hours.

And that’s it. Yummy chocolate mousse in three easy steps!

• As mentioned above, this is great just like it is and can be served right out of the bowl.
• For fancier serving, divide into wine glasses before chilling. Top with whipped cream and berries.
• Chill in a homemade or store-bought chocolate crust and top with whipped cream and grated dark chocolate.

Want to experiment with additions?

• Add a shot (1 oz) of strong espresso to the chocolate and syrup mix before it cools.
• Chop some dried cherries and mix in while combining with the whipped cream. (Note: my food processor was not so handy dandy with the cherries. The darn things were impaled on the blade within seconds, so I had to resort to old fashioned chopping with my Alaskan ulu knife (also a handy dandy tool!).
• Almond flavoring ??
• Orange zest ??
• ??
• ??
• Don’t stop here — the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy~