Chocolate mousse marathon: Gordon Ramsay 4 minute chocolate mousse
The next contender in the chocolate mousse marathon is a recipe by a very famous name – Gordon Ramsay himself. I’ve spotted the recipe on La Mia Vita Dolce blog and was intrigued by the 4 minute prep time as well as unusual method.
I do happen to own a book by Gordon Ramsay, and all the recipes I have tried so far have proven to be nothing but success, so I was quite keen to see how this dessert will turn out.
As I haven’t mentioned the actual evaluation scale (for choosing the best recipe, of course) before, here it is: every one of the judges evaluated each recipe on the scale from 1 to 5; five being the highest score and added comments on the taste and how they all compared.
I’ve kept notes on the time and difficulty of preparation, so all could be compared.
The interesting thing about the preparation of the mousse is the heating of chocolate with cream then beating them together over ice, which also where the downfall of the recipe is. Beating cream and chocolate together can be a bit tricky as if you just overbeat by little the mousse will turn grainy and that’s the last thing you’d want from your dessert.
It terms of preparation, it does take fewer than 10 minutes altogether and though it is said to be possible to serve immediately, I dare say a few hours in the fridge serves it well.
What’s the jury’s verdict on it at the end? It did taste well, but the overall not too “moussy” texture did not score very high with the judges and we have expected just more out of it. To conclude, it’s a nice and efficient dessert to make, that will surely satisfy the chocolate cravings, but the search for the best chocolate mousse recipe continues…
- 100 g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
- 300 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp Amaretto or other liqueur (I’ve used Grand Marnier)
- 1 large egg white
- 50 g caster sugar
- handful of amaretti biscuits, to garnish (skipped it)
- Break or chop the chocolate into small pieces and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat half of the cream until it begins to boil. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl set over a large bowl of iced water and add the rest of the cream and liqueur.
- Using a handheld electric whisk, beat the mixture to soft peaks. Remove the bowl from the iced water.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg white with a handheld electric beater until stiff peak. Add the sugar gradually, a tablespoon at a time, and continue whisking till soft peaks.
- Carefully fold the meringue through the chocolate mixture, then divide between chilled serving glasses.
- Sprinkle with amaretti, if using.
- Let rest for at least an hour in the fridge before serving.
An interesting mousse!
Cheers,
Rosa
You might want to try this one ;-D (with or without Earl Grey):
http://rosas-yummy-yums.blogspot.com/2007/10/earl-grey-chocolate-mousse.html
Oh, too bad we didn’t have it last weekend… I love tea infused desserts!
Interesting! I love my mousse without cream, so I can understand the consistency complaints.
Kiri, before this marathon I had never even tried any chocolate mousse with cream… Some of the 10 remaining recipes have it too, and while it does not always works, I found that in some it can make a nice addition!
I love chocolate mousse and this looks amazing!
Thanks, Spencer!
Isn’t it a bit annoying when recipes claim a certain amount of time but it really takes a lot longer — 10 versus 4 minutes may not seem like much but the chilling for hours versus serve immediately seems like a big deal to me. Who wants only cool or warm mousse? I agree with you chilling it.
Exactly! I generally think that when it comes to dessert like chocolate mousse, there are very few recipes that do not need chilling time, especially since that’s the time for the texture to develop, which is what the it is all about!
I can’t thank you enough for doing all of the research to find THE chocolate mousse recipe. I’m anxiously awaiting to see which one comes out on top, but I’m also enjoying your marathon mousse making and tasting reports! By the way, if any of your taste testers are unable to attend similar future projects, I’d be glad to sub.
Kimby, if I’ll ever attempt any chocolate mousse tasting of this kind ever again (not because it’s not good, but because 5 days on I’m still scrubbing chocolate from all the glasses), you will definately be invited!
Definitely interesting! I am sure you’re right about it needing more time in the fridge… Too bad it disappointed you! I’m still thinking about the rose water and orange blossom mousse from your previous post!
I don’t think many can beat Jill’s white chocolate wonder! Truly exceptional!
Ok no Gordon 4 minute chocolate mousse then. Did you try the olive oil chocolate mousse from masterchef? Also quick and I thought that one was delicious. But then I guess there are just so many recipes out there that it’s probably impossible to test all!
Simone, I had the olive oil mousse on the list but ran out chocolate on the day to try it, which is a pity since it’s one I’d those I really wanted to make… I’m still keeping the recipe for next time
You have done a lot of research on mousse recently. While I do not know all the details of the perfect mousse, it is nice to see a delicious chocolate mousse recipe here. Sorry it was not what you wanted-I hope you do find a recipe to meet your personal tastes soon!
I do have to say that we did find a couple of recipes last weekend that were far much better!
Wow that looks amazing and I absolutely love your photography! Definitely will have to try this recipe.
Thanks Eric, this recipe yields to a nice dessert, but of all the 12 we’ve tried there were a few just better!
I’m surprised people found it “not so moussey” – it really looks very mousse-like, though I guess it’s al in the texture ultimately… something a bit harder to tell from photos. This sure looks great, though looking forward to seeing the rest naturally!
Hi Charles, you see, we were quite spoilt with the choice last weekend and some others were just far better in terms of texture!
My mousse queen! I too prefer a mousse without the whipped cream but for the time this one takes, I think I could make do for a family night.
Maureen, I can tell you that among the 12 recipes we’ve tried there were a few others that took only minutes to prepare and were a bit better
Wow now that’s a simple mousse and to think it won the test – even better. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.
I would have loved to be the taste tester on this. I’m a chocoholic at heart!
Thanks Vicky, with all the chocolate there, we could have seriously used a few more judges
Speaking of this chocolate mousse, I do have to say that it wasn’t the winner, it ended up quite on the other side of the scale actually, but then we’ve had plenty to choose from. I’ll post the in about a week! 
Lovely honest review of the recipe! It sounds like it has its place and isn’t a bad recipe for a 10 minute one
It’s not bad at all, but among the 12 tasted there were a few others better and even more efficient
4 minutes sound too good to be true! Thank you for this experiment and detailed review.
Well, a bit more than 4 minutes in the end, plus some chilling time, but still quite fast
I love how “whipped” the mouse looks! I have never tried any of Ramsey’s recipes (don’t know why as I am a fan), but this may be the time that I do so. Delicious!
Yum! Looks fantastic. Might make this one day veeeeery soon