Chocolate Caramel Mousse

Chop the chocolate (the finer the better) and place in a heat proof bowl.

In a bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the egg yolks until very smooth, pale and fluffy.

Meanwhile, heat the dry white sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it is a deep amber color.

While waiting for the sugar to melt, heat 1 cup of cream in a small saucepan until simmering.

When the sugar is melted, or almost all melted, stir with a wooden spoon, and add the hot cream to the sugar.

Keep the heat on low, and stir the caramel until all of the sugar is melted and the caramel is smooth.

Now, with the bowl of whipped egg yolks, turn the mixer on medium. Add one spoonful of hot caramel at a time to the yolks, and make sure to mix well before adding more. You are tempering the egg yolks by doing this – and making sure that you don’t scramble them.

When you have mixed all of the caramel into the yolks, the mixture will still be hot. Immediately pour the hot caramel over the chocolate. Let it sit for a moment, and then stir until all of the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Now, if you are like me, and are a little lazy, and therefore didn’t chop the chocolate very finely, instead dilly dallying, taking pictures, puttering about, etc. . . And if you didn’t get the hot caramel poured over the too big pieces of chocolate in time- then it isn’t going to melt all of the way.

In this case, place the bowl over a small pot of simmering water and watch it very carefully, stirring like crazy until smooth- then IMMEDIATLEY remove from heat.

Now, just to be clear- the consistency is not like ganache- remember that there is caramel in there. It looks like chocolate caramel- thick and shiny.

Now, whip the remaining two cups of cream to soft peaks.

Add about ¼ cup of the whipped cream to the chocolate caramel and vigorously whisk until the chocolate caramel thins a bit and gets glossy. Next, fold in half of the whipped cream. Then add the next half of the whipped cream and fold until everything is smooth and uniform. And you are done!

You can either spoon or pipe the mousse into bowls or glasses. Chill until ready to serve.

Garnish with fresh berries, edible flowers or chocolate shavings.

Enjoy!