David Lebovitz's Chocolate Mousse

I have been wanting to make chocolate mousse for some time now, but shied away because I didn't want to use raw egg whites in my mixture.

I was pretty excited when my Mother-in- law gave me David's latest book Ready for Dessert, My Best Recipes and even more excited when I saw a recipe for chocolate mousse that does not require uncooked eggs.

This is a great dessert to serve for guests, because you can make it a few days in advance. I think a dollop of whip cream on top would be really nice too.

Chocolate Mousse

Recipe from Ready for Dessert

Makes 8 to 10 Servings

10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped ( I may have used 8. I also think a combo of milk and semisweet chocolate would be very good.)

3/4 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 large yolks

2 teaspoons rum

1/2 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and place a mesh strainer across the top.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and granulated sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Slowly whisk in about one-quarter of the warm milk, whisking constantly as you pour to prevent the yolks from cooking. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the chocolate. Whisk gently until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth, then stir in the rum. Let the mixture cool completely, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled. Whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Fold about one-third of the chilled chocolate mixture into the whipped cream, and add this mixture to the remaining chocolate and fold just until there are no streaks of cream. Place the chocolate mousse in a serving dish or individual dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. The mousse with keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

We started cleaning out the fridge yesterday. I hope to turn on the self -timer for the oven at some point before Thanksgiving. Ironing linens, printing out place cards, and making the cranberry sauce are also on the Thanksgiving prep list. I hope we can make our spritz cookies this weekend and freeze them. Katie has a history research paper due on Monday. I believe Harry Potter is on the to do list, oh and some sort of "big" game on Sunday. How about you guys? How do you prepare for Thanksgiving? Any plans for the weekend?

xoxo

Rach