Food for gay men: Chocolate Mousse

This recipe is from Mark Hix.

It's rich and intense - there's no cream in the mixture.

You can set this into glasses to serve, but it's generally served informally on a flat plate. You can dress it up with shavings of chocolate or macerated fruit.

INGREDIENTS

• 250g 70% dark chocolate, broken into small pieces. [The packs I buy are normally 150g each, so I just round this up to 300g]
• 50g unsalted butter, softened
• 6 medium eggs, separated, plus 3 extra egg whites [You're not cooking these eggs, so you want the best ones you can get. Ideally, you want really fresh, organic eggs.]
• 40g caster sugar

METHOD

• Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. [It's easiest if you start with the chocolate in the bowl that you're going to set it into.]
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
• Beat the egg yolks in another bowl and set aside.
• Whisk the egg whites until frothy but not stiff. Add half the sugar and continue whisking until stiff. Add the rest of the sugar and whisk until the egg whites stiffen up further.
• Using a metal spoon, fold the beaten egg yolks into the egg whites.
• Stir half of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, using a whisk, then fold in the rest with a large spoon until evenly combined.
• Leave it in the refrigerator to set - ideally overnight.

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