Serves 4
- Active time:15 min
- Start to finish:4 hr (includes chilling)
RECIPE BY RAQUEL CARENA
September 2008
In an intriguing play on the combination of chocolate and chiles, this rich mousse gets its faint tingle from Sichuan peppercorns.
-
1/4
teaspoon
Sichuan peppercorns
-
1/3
cup
heavy cream
-
1 1/2
teaspoons
ground coffee beans
-
4
oz
70%-cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped
-
3
large egg whites
-
1
tablespoon
sugar
-
Grind peppercorns with mortar and pestle.
-
Bring cream, coffee, and pepper to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and let steep, covered, 30 minutes. Strain cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids.
-
Melt chocolate in a large bowl. Stir in cream. Cool slightly.
-
Beat egg whites with sugar using an electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture gently but thoroughly.
-
Spoon mousse into glasses and chill at least 3 hours.
Cooks’ notes: - The egg whites in this recipe are not cooked.
- Mousse can be chilled up to 3 days.
- We’ve also got a web-exclusive recipe using the leftover Sichuan peppercorns.
