When I was sick I ate lots of chocolate pudding from Tartine, which is really good (that's an understatement, actually.) But I didn't feel I could keep spending $4.75 on a little container so I decided to make my own. I went for a heavy mousse instead of a straight pudding and looked to the amazing Jacques Torres book, Dessert Circus, for guidance. My mom gave me the book before I went to Pastry School and I still count on it for quite a few things. In fact, in part because of the book I sought out a school of which Jacques Torres was the Dean and had created the courses. So yeah, it's a good book.


This would look a lot better with a mint sprig or chocolate shavings or something, but I'm actually more of a realist/minimalist.


Dark Chocolate Mousse
If you have a stand mixer with 2 bowls it's a lot easier than if you only have 1 bowl, because you will need to wash it in between beating the eggs and beating the cream. This makes a lot- enough for 8-10 people- but cutting the recipe down would be hard since it uses such odd amounts. One idea would be to can make it, serve it as mousse one day, and then a few days later use it as a cake filling.

Ingredients:

• about 9 ounces dark chocolate, chopped or in chip form
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 2/3 cup heavy cream
• splash grand marnier or other flavored liqueur, if desired

Method:

• Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside.
• Beat the yolks and eggs with a whisk attachment about 7-10 minutes, until light yellow and foamy.
• Meanwhile, put the sugar in a small saucepan with a little bit of water (so it looks like wet sand.) Heat the sugar to soft ball stage on a thermometer. Another way to see if it's soft ball is to get a little bowl of ice water and a spoon. Periodically dip the spoon into the hot sugar and plunge it into the water. See if you can form a soft ball out of the sugar with your fingers, under the water. If you can, then it's ready. (This sounds like a pain, but once you get the hang of it you will probably not use a thermometer ever again.)
• With the mixer going, carefully and slowly pour the hot sugar down the side of the bowl. Be careful not to let it hit the beater directly or it will splatter on you. Beat about 2-3 minutes, until outside of bowl is warm but not hot. Set aside.
• In another bowl, beat the cream to soft peaks.
• If using liqueur, carefully fold it into the cream. Then carefully fold the cream and egg mixture together. Fold the chocolate in until there are no streaks and it is fully incorporated.
• To be fancy, put mixture in a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe into individual serving bowls. Cover and put in the fridge until time to serve.
• Or, to be like me, put mixture in a big bowl in the fridge, covered with plastic, and take fingerfuls every time you walk by the fridge.
• Mousse will keep for up to 3 days.