Chocolate Mousse with Cranberries

A light and fluffy dark chocolate mousse with a lovely rich chocolate flavor. Cranberries offer the perfect contrast with a refreshing note and sparkling look. Layering it in a glass makes this an elegant dessert you can impress your guests with, and the best things is: it’s incredibly easy to make!

Chocolate mousse is one of the most easiest, yet impressive desserts to make for guests. If I am ever in a rush and cannot dedicate too much time for a meal, this is my go-to dessert. It has never let me down. It is always fun making layer desserts and guests are always stunned by the presentation. It can stay your secret that this didn’t take you longer than an hour to make. 😉

The best part about winter is probably the fact that you can eat decadent desserts as such. Comes summer time, everybody is always concerned about fitting into their bikinis and eating right. However, winter is not the time for thinking about trips to the beach or healthy watermelon smoothies. In winter it’s okay to eat something as rich and creamy and decadent as this beautiful mousse. Horray for winter!

Another cool thing about winter? Cranberries are in season! Alongside the rich mousse, the cranberries offer a nice sour and refreshing note. Topping off this layer dessert with sparkling cranberries really gives it the finishing touch. They need to be made a day ahead so they can soak in sugar during the night and not taste too tart. The rest of the layers can be made on the same day, but need to chill in the fridge for 3 hours. Keep this in mind when planning your menu. 

Happy entertaining!

Chocolate Mousse with Cranberries

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• Author: Natanja
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

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Description

A delicious make-ahead layer dessert.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Chocolate Mousse Layer

• 100g dark chocolate (3.5oz)
• 250ml heavy cream, chilled (1 cup)
• 1 whole large egg plus 2 egg yolks
• 50grams granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon rum

Cranberry Sauce Layer

• 100ml orange juice (1/2 cup)
• 100grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
• 200 grams cranberries (2 cups)
• 1 cinnamon stick

Whipped Cream Layer

• 250ml heavy cream, chilled (1 cup)
• 1 sachet stabilizer for whipped cream
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Sugared Cranberries (optional)

• a handful of cranberries
• 280g white granulated sugar (1 and 1/2 cups)
• water

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Instructions

1. For the mousse, start off by chopping the chocolate into small pieces and melting over a double broiler or electric chocolate melter
2. Whip heavy cream until peaks form and chill in the fridge
3. In a double broiler, add the egg plus yolks and sugar and turn the heat to medium high
4. Stirring constantly, let the mixture cook for about 15min or until a cooking thermometer reads 70°C or 160° F
5. Remove from heat and stir until mixture has cooled again
6. Quickly stir in the melted chocolate and rum until smooth
7. Gently fold the whipped cream underneath
8. Pour into small glasses and chill in the fridge
9. For the cranberry sauce, add orange juice and sugar to a sauce pan and bring to a boil
10. Reduce heat to medium and add in cranberries and cinnamon stick
11. Continue to cook until most cranberries have burst, about 10min
12. Let it cool down to room temperature
13. Whip up the heavy cream with the stabilizer and sugar
14. Assembly your layer dessert by adding a layer of cranberry sauce to the mousse and pipping a layer of whipped cream on top (I used a Wilton 2D tip)
15. Decorate with sugared cranberries

Sugared Cranberries

1. Place cranberries in a glass bowl or jar and add 100grams (1/2 cup) of sugar
2. Fill up with water and stir to dissolve the sugar
3. Let cranberries soak in sugar mixture overnight
4. Discard the water and put the rest of the sugar in a deep plate and cover cranberries in the sugar
5. Let them dry for 2h

Notes

Store this layer dessert covered with plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days.