Friday, October 17, 2008

A very clever (and speedy) chocolate mousse



From
Nigel to Nigella.

And from Nigella to chocolate heaven.

Last week I had a few friends round for supper and was (as usual) running a short on time. I was in the mood for something chocolatey but most of my usual chocolate puds take more time than I had to spare. My mother was staying at the time and told me that she'd seen a repeat of Nigella's 'Express' programme the other day and had seen her make an impressively speedy chocolate mousse using marshmallows.


I got out the book and reached for
the recipe and decided to give it a go. It really is ludicrously speedy and, most importantly, absolutely delicious. I had imagined that the addition of marshmallows would make a sweet, frivolous sort of mousse. The sort of thing that children love. Actually, who am I kidding? I love that kind of mousse too. However, this was not the case at all. These wicked little mousses are deeply serious. Richly indulgent and devilishly dark, you'll only need a small amount. Really. The recipe serves 4-6, but I think that I'd happily divide this between eight. And this is a serious chocoholic speaking.

The way this works is that the marshmallow replaces both the sugar and egg that you might ordinarily use in a mousse of this sort. When I poured the mixture into the serving cups, I worried that it was too runny but it soon firmed up in the fridge. I chose to decorate the top with bashed up bits of crunchie bar, a touch that I learnt from a certain Mr Ramsay. Incidentally, I much prefer these mousses to
the ones I made back in February. Just pop any chocolate-covered honeycomb in the freezer for ten minutes or so and then bash it up with a rolling pin.


Alternatively, you might like to decorate the top with grated white chocolate for an attractive contrast. Alternatively, you might just like to enjoy these unadorned. Who am I to interfere?

Anyway, I won't repeat the recipe here because you can find it in all its wondrous glory
over here. But I will tell you that no one would ever guess the secret ingredient in these mousses - they really do taste most sophisticated.

Would you care for a mouthful?


9 comments:

Jules said...

I made this mousse a few months back and have to agree, it's totally divine. I love the idea of crunchie ontop.

Sam said...

I've bookmarked this one!

Anonymous said...

great pictures. i'll admit, nigella really does know how to make delicious, quick desserts. this one is a keeper!

Abitofafoodie said...

Jules - just took a look at your mousse. I left a comment back when you made it but had totally forgotten about it until now! Looks like we both felt the same about the quantity - I'll definitly make it in smaller pots next time.

Sam - hope you give it a whirl - it is a winner!

We are never full - yes, she certainly comes up trumps with those speedy desserts. You'd never guess this had been so easy and quick to make.

David Hall said...

Speedy mousse? Great! The fatser the better in my opinion. Funny, I've just put up a choccy mousse type recipe too.

Cheers
David

Sylvie said...

Antonia, that looks and sounds great and if it's Nigella it's gotta be good. I love your cup and the table cloth!

Rosie said...

Hi Antonia I have made this choccie mousse sometime ago and you are so right it is absolutely divine.

Rosie x

Abitofafoodie said...

David - it is great when you can throw something like this together in record time. Makes having people round for a meal after work all the more possible!

Sylvie - thank you. Actually - the 'table cloth' is in fact my ironing board cover. It was up in the kitchen and I suddenly thought that it would make a good backdrop!

Rosie - Glad to hear you agree - I was surprised how rich and delcious it was.

Joie de vivre said...

I almost panicked when I thought you didn't include the recipe as my mouth is already watering! Sigh of relief when I noticed the link. This looks amazing!