Rich and incredibly delicious, dark chocolate mousse is amazing all on its own. Pair it with a crisp cookie crust and mounds of whipped cream to top it off and you have an impressive dessert that will be gone almost before you get a chance to put it down on the table.
It’s time once again for a completely non-healthy, lots of chocolate dessert recipe! My last one was my Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars and this time I have an even more chocolatey Chocolate Mousse recipe for you. Because everyone needs an impressive, kick-ass chocolate dessert in their repertoire and this is one of mine. (Yes, I have more than one. Eventually all my secrets will be up on this blog, but today you get mousse. 🙂 )
It’s time once again for a completely non-healthy, lots of chocolate dessert recipe! My last one was my Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars and this time I have an even more chocolatey Chocolate Mousse recipe for you. Because everyone needs an impressive, kick-ass chocolate dessert in their repertoire and this is one of mine. (Yes, I have more than one. Eventually all my secrets will be up on this blog, but today you get mousse. 🙂 )
Best Ever Easy Chocolate Lava Cake
Want another kick-ass chocolate dessert? You can’t go wrong with this easy Chocolate Lava Cake. Chocolaty, gooey, and intense!
I’ve been making this chocolate mousse for years now. It’s my most popular Thanksgiving dessert and the one everyone asks for to make sure I’m going to make it again. So of course I wanted to make it for a post. And then I saw a recipe for a chocolate mousse pie and I thought ‘oooooh – pie and chocolate mousse, sign me up!’ I took the crust recipe I found in Fine Cooking and put it together with my mousse recipe and here we are.
The cookies were a little tough to find, but totally worth it. I found them in the Italian section of a larger supermarket in the area. You can also order them from amazon if you are good at thinking ahead. Chocolate wafer cookies or even chocolate graham crackers would work, though if you use chocolate graham crackers follow a graham cracker crust recipe since you’ll need sugar and probably more butter than I used and also have to bake the crust. But, really see if you can find the chocolate creme wafer cookies because gave the crust a really incredible flavor that I love. So use them if you can find them!
I know the recipe looks very long and intimidating! But it’s mostly me explaining the steps in detail just in case this is something you’ve not done before. While, I wouldn’t call this a quick and easy dessert, it’s easier than you might think. You make a crust and press it in. You melt chocolate and mix it with egg yolks. You whip egg whites and then cream and mix them with chocolate. Put chocolate on crust and let it sit in the fridge overnight. And then eat.
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 8 oz chocolate wafer sandwich cookies, or other chocolate wafers such as Famous, such as Quadratini
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup coffee, use espresso if you like a strong coffee flavor
- 1 tbsp bourbon or brandy
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 4 tsp granulated sugar, divided
- 1 tsp table salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Topping
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- chocolate shards, curls, or grated chocolate
Instructions
- Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Place wafer cookies in the food processor. Pulse to break up the cookies and then process continuously until the cookies are crushed into fine crumbs. Pour them out into a bowl and mix them with the melted butter. (You'll want the mixture to still be a bit crumbly at this point, so it's easy to press them into the pan.) Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the springform pan, using a bit of wax paper or plastic wrap to keep them from sticking to your fingers. Place pan into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes for the crust to set.
- Finely chop the chocolate. I use thin chocolate bars (Ghirardelli is my favorite) and a large chef's knife. Using a rocking motion with the knife, thinly slice along the bar and then cut again at 90 degrees until all the chocolate is in tiny pieces.
- Put the chocolate, cocoa powder, coffee, and bourbon into a large heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Keep the water at a bare simmer and don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir the chocolate mixture frequently, until it's almost smooth. Remove the bowl from the pot and continue stirring until smooth and all the chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool a bit.
- Whisk the egg yolks, 2 tsp of granulated sugar, and salt in a small bowl until the yolks thicken slightly and become light yellow in color, about 30 seconds. While whisking continuously, slowly add a ladle of the chocolate to the yolks and mix it in. Add another and mix again. Now scrape the egg-chocolate mixture back into the chocolate bowl and whisk until combined.
- Either using a hand mixer or a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until frothy, 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining granulated sugar and continue beating on medium-high until you see soft peaks, 1 minute more with the standing mixer - a bit more with the hand mixer. (Soft peaks mean the tops curl down when you make a peak in the foam.) Scrape about 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate and gently fold it in with a spatula. Add the rest and fold it in until it's almost completely mixed but you still see some egg whites.
- Now take your egg white bowl and add the cream and vanilla. Beat the cream on medium-high until you have soft peaks again, 2-3 minutes. Scrape the whipped cream into the chocolate and gently fold it in until it is completely mixed through.
- Pour the mousse into the prepared springform pan and spread it out evenly. Cover mousse pie with plastic wrap and let it set overnight in the refrigerator.
- To unmold the pie from the pan, gently run a knife around the sides of the pan. At this point you can serve it in the bottom of the springform pan or try your hand at taking it out by getting a thin spatula under the bottom of the crust and transferring it to a plate. I serve it in the bottom of the pan.
- When you are ready to serve, whip the 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream with vanilla until you have soft peaks and mound it over of the top of the pie. Top with chocolate shards or curls or grated chocolate if desired.
Notes
- If you can't find Quadratini cookies, you can use plain chocolate wafer cookies, such as Famous. I found Quadratini in the Italian section of my supermarket.
- If you decide to top the pie with chocolate shards or curls, remember this is chocolate mousse. It's very squishable so be careful to cut between the shards/curls or you will drive them into the pie and make a bit of a mess.
- Nordic Ware makes a really great springform pan and it's the one I use.
- You can make the pie through step 7 up to 2 days ahead. Unmold and top with whipped cream just before serving.
Lee says
I just made this and the mousse does not seem sweet enough. I followed the directions exactly except I used bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet. Is there any way to make it sweeter without having to start all over??
justalittlebitofbacon says
You can make some very sweet whipped cream and gently fold that in until you are happy with sweetness. Or, if it is already set into a pie, maybe add more sweet whipped cream to the top to counteract the bittersweet chocolate.
Lee says
Thanks, that worked great! It was a big hit! I also added one drop of peppermint oil to the whipped cream on top and loved that addition as well.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Wonderful! And the peppermint oil sounds so good. 🙂
Shruti says
Hi, I want to make a chocolate mousse cake instead of a pie. So, do you think I can set this mousse on top of a
Chocolate cake and once it’s set pour ganache on top?
justalittlebitofbacon says
The only part I would worry about is the ganache. You could certainly use the mousse over a cake base instead of the crispy crust. As for the ganache, if you’ve done that over mousse before, go for it. But, if you haven’t, it might be good to try it out before the big day. 🙂
Shruti says
Will definitely try it soon and let you know. Thank you for a prompt reply.
Farida says
OMG everything looks so great here, really its’ perfect chocolaty , velvety, and the photo shots are amazing
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you! And it’s definitely chocolaty. 🙂
Katerinarsp says
Hey that’s a grate recipe but may I ask smth , in step 7 it says that I should let it set overnight. you mean on the fridge or at room temperature ? right now it’s summer at my country so room temperature is aproximately 25 kelcious. thanks in advance !
justalittlebitofbacon says
Oooh, that is unclear! Definitely have it sit in the refrigerator overnight. I have updated the recipe. 🙂
Caitlin says
Hi – If I make this in the morning (10am) and pop in fridge, will it be ok by 10pm?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Yes, the mousse needs about 12 hours and that’s what you have. 🙂
Marge Currier a.k.a. MOM says
I just shared this on Facebook. This has to be the best recipe I have seen for a chocolate mousse pie.
Love
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you! It is a pretty darn tasty pie. 🙂
Joy says
How many cups of crumbs would I use if I was just measuring that way, not by weight? Like, say, if I was being lazy….. ?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Lazy for me is weight since it’s less things to wash. 🙂 However, to measure by cups you will have 1 3/4 cups of crumbs. A little more or less won’t make a difference, but about that much.
simonacallas says
Sure it’s delicious! So beautiful and creamy and full of flavors! Chocolate, coffee and Bourbon work wonderful together. ❤❤
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks! And they do go so well together. 🙂
Sheril says
What can I use in place of the coffee and alcohol? I don’t drink them. I understand if it can’t be made without it. But I would really love to make this.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Hmmm. The coffee and alcohol are there for flavor, so I don’t see any reason you couldn’t use a different liquid. I wouldn’t just skip the liquid since the texture would change, but water should work just fine. That is basically what coffee is after all! 🙂 You might want to add a little more vanilla (another tsp) to compensate.