Chocolate Mousse Recipe & Valentine’s Day

I’ve been having the worst insomnia. On Monday, I got about 2.5 hours of sleep, then had a full work day ahead of me. Eleven hours of work later, I was feeling less-than romantic, so any Valentine’s Day plans we might have made were out of the question, but I came home to this:

A very sweet gesture from a very sweet man. Unfortunately I was in full-on emotional, sleep-deprived mode, so it only resulted in laugh-crying, but my, my are they tasty. Love my hunny.

The birthday dinner was a huge success. Everything was absolutely delicious, and we got to try out some fun new recipes. Among the favorites, my three-layered chocolate raspberry creation: one layer of dark chocolate ganache, one of milk chocolate mousse, and topped with raspberry whipped cream and raspberries. Deelish!

Recipe below.

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Mousse

Dark Chocolate Ganache: (bottom layer)

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 T butter

1. Place the chips in a medium sized heat-proof bowl.
2. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.
3. Bring just to a boil.  Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
4. Stir until smooth and velvety and let cool slightly.
5. Let set until it’s more firm.

Milk Chocolate Mousse (middle layer)

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream, heated to below boiling

1. Place chocolate chips, egg and vanilla into a blender or food processor and blend for 30 seconds.
2. While machine is running, slowly pour heated cream into the chocolate mixture. Blend until well mixed and chocolate chips are melted.
3. Pour into parfait or martini glasses on top of ganache layer. Refrigerate until set.
4. Serve with raspberry whipped cream and berries.

Raspberry Whipped Cream (top layer)

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons raspberry flavoring or Chamboard

1. Mix all ingredients in an electric-mixer bowl.
2. Whip the mixture until raised peaks form in it and hold their shape. This takes about five minutes.
3. Using a plastic bag, pipe the whipped cream over the milk chocolate mousse, and garnish with raspberries.
4. Enjoy!
Makes 8 servings.