Baileys Mousse

Explanations

1. Melting the chocolate: Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? All you need to do is melt the chocolate with the butter however you deem fit: in the microwave, in a bain-marie, or in a pan. Once you have the chocolate melted without any lumps, just set it aside for 5 minutes to cool and then whisk in the egg yolks until fully incorporated. 

Very simple, right? Well, you can still fail! For when I first tested this recipe, I melted the chocolate sans the butter in a pan. All was well at the start, but the chocolate skipped the runny, smooth phase and jumped to a pasty, solid, lumpy phase. When that happened, I melted the butter in the microwave and mixed it into the chocolate paste. I kept adding melted butter in 20g increments until I got melted chocolate with no more lumps. So if your chocolate is not the desired consistency, fear not! Just add melted butter 20g at a time until it’s nice and runny. This is also why we add the butter before the chocolate starts melting, to try to prevent any lumpy situations.

2. Baileys and Cream: Pour the cold cream into a mixing bowl and beat it like there’s no tomorrow until thick peaks form. The cream must be cold, or you won’t get the consistency we want, especially if you are trying to cook this in a particularly hot environment. If your cream, bowl, or the general environment is too warm, the cream will stay runny at best or will separate at worst. What you want from the cream is for it to thicken so much that it holds its shape and is smooth and un-grainy. So if you scoop some up with the whisk, it feels heavy and doesn’t go anywhere.
   Once it’s lovely and thick, it’s time to ruin your hard work by slowly drizzling in the Baileys while continuing to whisk gently. Adding it gradually helps keep the cream stable and prevents it from loosening too much, but it will get less thick. We are just aiming to keep it as thick as possible.
   When the cream is ready, gently fold it into the cooled chocolate mixture. Use a spatula and slow, sweeping motions, no rushing here, or at least try not to. The goal is to keep as much air in the cream as possible so your mousse stays light and fluffy. Otherwise, your mousse will be sad, and you don’t want a sad mousse.
3. Whisking the egg whites: Start whisking your egg whites until soft peaks form. For your sake, preferably with an electric mixer, but if you missed out on arm day you can do it by hand. If you’re using your muscles it may take a while. Parts of the internet say you can do it in 12 minutes to get thick peaks. I find that a bit unbelievable and I’m unwilling to test it out, but with your beautiful forearms I’m sure it’s achievable.
   Anyway, once you’ve got your soft peaks, noticeable by how the peaks gently droop over, start to gradually add the sugar while continuing to whisk.
   Keep whisking until you reach stiff peaks. The mixture should look glossy and firm.
4. More folding: Now to put everything together. Add ⅓ or ¼ of the egg whites to the chocolate and cream mixture. Fold them into the mixture gently using a spatula. Repeat for each addition of the egg whites. Keep folding in slowly until everything is incorporated completely. Like with the cream, we want it light and fluffy or you’ll get a dense mousse. It will probably still be delicious, but if you want light and fluffy you’ll want to be careful here.
5. Chilling the mousse : Once the mousse is fully combined, spoon it into one large serving bowl or divide it between individual ramekins (you’ll probably have enough for 10 large servings, or many little ones). Smooth the tops somewhat (it’s going to be covered in cream so it doesn’t matter that much, as long as it’s not sloping excessively), then place them in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours.
   If you’re planning ahead, this mousse is even better made the day before. Resting it overnight allows the flavours to heighten and the texture to firm up perfectly, which is perfect if you are making it for a special occasion so there is no stress on the day.
6. The topping: This is to be done just before serving. Whip the topping cream until thick peaks form. Since you did this for the mousse, I will not explain the don’ts and definitely don’ts. And just like the mousse, add the Baileys gradually so the cream stays as thick as creamly possible (for those that don’t get it, I replaced the human from ‘as humanly possible’ with cream). Spoon or spread the cream in an even layer over the chilled mousse.
   Finish with a generous sprinkle of chocolate shavings for a bit of visual flair. You can get the shavings by using a vegetable peeler, a knife, a grater, or anything you set your mind to. A spoon, you could probably get there with a spoon.
7. Eat it! Your alcoholic mousse is ready to serve to all your adult friends and family. Or keep it all to yourself