Excuse the sloppiness of presentation, but please let me present - chocolate orange mousse.
This is one of those recipes where it is handy to have 2 food processors, but 1 will do just fine.
First, I chill the processor bowl and blade in the freezer. Chilling the bowl/blade makes a better whipped cream, I think. Make 1 batch of whipped cream using 1 cup of whipping cream. Put this in a large mixing bowl in the fridge, and I know that a large bowl for this amount of whipped cream seems silly, but it will save you from dirtying another bowl later on. Make a 2nd batch of whipped cream - again using 1 cup. I put in about 1 tsp of orange extract. If you have a 2nd food processor - just set this bowl in the fridge - if not then you put this whipped cream in a small bowl in the fridge and clean the food processor because you need it again for the chocolate part.
Maybe I am getting ahead of myself here and should start with the recipe?
1 tsp grated orange rind
1/4 cup firmly packed sugar
2 egg yolks, plus 2 eggs
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate squares (from the baking section), melted and cooled
1 TBS orange juice
1 cup whipped whipping cream
More whipping cream for the topping, plus mandarin oranges for the garnish
It is enough to make at least 9 small servings. But, hello! this is a fairly rich dessert and usually people are full by dessert, so a small serving is just fine. If you want bigger servings, use less cups.
Combine orange rind, sugar, egg yolks and eggs in processor and blend until well mixed. Add chocolate and OJ; and mix until well blended. Fold in mixing bowl with whipped cream. * Important to see my note about raw eggs at the bottom!
Spoon mixture into dessert cups and chill to set. Top each serving with whipped cream and oranges.
OK - sounds simple enough, right?
Except - do you immediately know that you should melt the chocolate first? I only 1/2 melt it and stir with a tiny little whisk. I move the pan completely off the burner and let and let heat from the pan finish melting the chocolate, giving it a little stir every now and then to make sure it is completely melted.. I use a very thick, heavy pan - because chocolate will burn very quickly in a cheap pan. And burnt chocolate is not yummy, which is why I never completely melt it over the flame in the first place. Now - when the chocolate is cooling I will make the whipped cream - setting the plain whipped cream in the bigger bowl so that later - when I come to the folding in part - it will already be in the correct size bowl.
To get the orange rind off the orange I use a hand-held gadget that looks like a small cheese grater. You have to be careful not to get the pith - because that it bitter. 1 orange will be about 1 tsp. of rind. You can use the orange for something else later.
Following the directions, I will mix the stuff in the food processor. Now - time to add the chocolate and OJ - but WAIT!!! It is important to check that the chocolate has cooled off enough so it won't instantly cook the eggs way more than what you want them to be. But - it still has to be warm enough to pour. Why don't recipes have helpful little hints like this in their directions. I wonder how many people over the years have cooked the eggs into solid chuncks when making this?
Oh - and don't forget to make this the day before you want to eat it - so it has time to set nicely. And - when setting this many dessert cups in the fridge - it is nice to use a tray (just like I use a cookie sheet to put lots of baked potatoes in the oven). If you don't care about presentation - just laddle the mixture into the cups with a small laddle - if it is important not to have drips - then you have to use a laddle, swipe it across your drip plate first and then laddle into the dessert cup. Obviously, this time around, I wasn't caring about the drips - and your family and good friends won't either! But if you are going to be making this alot and really don't want drips... well - there are other ways.
Easy enough to change this recipe around a bit - you can used sieved raspberries (use vanilla extract in the topping whipped cream instead of orange, in that case), or purreed bannanas, use different juice, etc. Strawberries, raspberries, mint leaves, candied orange peels, etc. all make fine garnishes. You can make a fruit purree and put a little over the top... Just try to make sure that all the ingredients "jive" together. But cooking is a bit about experimenting - you don't have to follow this recipe exactly - feel free to change it around a bit.
Oh, and please don't give me any lectures about eating raw eggs - think hollandaise sauce, ceasar salad dressing, etc. Yum.
THAT being said - this is an OLD recipe and we all know that egg products should be cooked. I don't think restaurants serve caesar salad dressing made with raw eggs anymore. And mousse and hollandaise sauce - the eggs are cooked over a pan of hot water until 74 - 75F is reached.
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