Velvety "Color Of The Year" Mocha Mousse Recipe

We hardly think about color in the context of culinary design, but this year Pantone seems to be speaking to our taste buds with their Color of the Year. The color is Mocha Mousse, which they describe as "a flavorful ... warming brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort." Mocha Mousse in a color that is as chic to wear as it is to draw, design, and, to our delight, bake with. Our recipe for velvety brown mocha mousse combines rich chocolate and buzzy coffee into a soft, luxurious mousse.

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While the color is meant to set the tone — pun intended — for the year by influencing designers' color palettes, we can't help but revel in how perfectly Mocha Mousse entices the taste buds in our culinary palates, too. Creamy, airy, chocolatey mocha mousse is the luxurious dessert we'll be serving all year long, thanks to Pantone's guidance, and we can't say we're complaining.

Developer Michelle McGlinn shares below the perfect way to make the fluffiest, creamiest mocha mousse using both airy whipped egg whites and rich, creamy egg yolk and cream. Don't be intimidated by the many steps (and amount of bowls) — it's easier than it looks and comes together in less than twenty minutes, meaning you can easily be on-trend all year long.

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Gathering ingredients for a velvety Color of the Year mocha mousse

To begin, you'll need high-quality chocolate chopped into small pieces. Avoid baking chocolate, which is unsweetened, and instead seek out 70% cocoa chocolate bars, which melt smoothly and have a rich chocolatey flavor. In a pinch, you can also use chocolate chips. From there, you'll need 5 eggs, separated, as well as granulated sugar, salt, heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and brewed coffee. We recommend brewing a strong cup and letting it cool, but you can also use espresso for extra coffee flavor, or use cold brew if you don't have a means to brew fresh. To garnish, you'll need about a tablespoon's worth of espresso powder and shaved chocolate — which you can repurpose from the ingredients you have left over after making the mousse.

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Step 1: Bring water to a simmer

Fill a small saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.

Step 2: Melt chocolate over the simmering water

Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and set it over the saucepan. Allow it to melt, stirring occasionally.

Step 3: Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks

While the chocolate is melting, whisk together the egg yolks, coffee, granulated sugar, and salt in a second heatproof bowl.

Step 4: Place the egg mixture onto the double boiler

When the chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the double boiler and place the egg mixture on instead.

Step 5: Whisk until creamy

Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until pale, smooth, and creamy, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Step 6: Fold the chocolate and egg yolk mixture together

Gently fold the chocolate and heated egg mixture together until smooth and allow it to cool slightly, for about 5 minutes.

Step 7: Whip the cream

While the chocolate is cooling, make the whipped cream. Place the heavy cream and powdered sugar in a bowl and use an electric whisk to whip it into soft peaks.

Step 8: Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate

Reserve 1 cup of whipped cream, then gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture 1 spoonful at a time.

Step 9: Whip the egg whites

Next, whip the egg whites. Add the whites to a bowl and use an electric whisk to whip to soft peaks. Do not over whisk.

Step 10: Fold the egg whites into the mousse

Gently fold the egg whites into the mousse.

Step 11: Transfer to serving glasses and chill

Spoon the mousse into serving glasses and chill for 2 to 4 hours or until set.

Step 12: Serve the mousse

To serve, top with the remaining whipped cream, espresso powder, and chocolate shavings.

Velvety Color of the Year Mocha Mousse Recipe

5 (13 ratings)

Pantone's color of the year is Mocha Mousse, a creamy, comforting brown hue, and our delicious take on it combines chocolate and coffee into a luxurious mousse.

Prep Time
2.25
hours
Cook Time
5
minutes
servings
6
Servings
spoonful of mousse on table
Total time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 5 eggs, separated, divided
  • ½ cup brewed coffee, room temperature
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 5 egg whites, room temperature

Optional Ingredients

  • Espresso powder, for topping
  • Shaved chocolate, for topping

Directions

  1. Fill a small saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
  2. Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and set it over the saucepan. Allow it to melt, stirring occasionally.
  3. While the chocolate is melting, whisk together the egg yolks, coffee, granulated sugar, and salt in a second heatproof bowl.
  4. When the chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the double boiler and place the egg mixture on instead.
  5. Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until pale, smooth, and creamy, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
  6. Gently fold the chocolate and heated egg mixture together until smooth and allow it to cool slightly, for about 5 minutes.
  7. While the chocolate is cooling, make the whipped cream. Place the heavy cream and powdered sugar in a bowl and use an electric whisk to whip it into soft peaks.
  8. Reserve 1 cup of whipped cream, then gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture 1 spoonful at a time.
  9. Next, whip the egg whites. Add the whites to a bowl and use an electric whisk to whip to soft peaks. Do not over whisk.
  10. Gently fold the egg whites into the mousse.
  11. Spoon the mousse into serving glasses and chill for 2 to 4 hours or until set.
  12. To serve, top with the remaining whipped cream, espresso powder, and chocolate shavings.

Nutrition

Calories per Serving 498
Total Fat 39.2 g
Saturated Fat 23.6 g
Trans Fat 1.0 g
Cholesterol 222.9 mg
Total Carbohydrates 31.1 g
Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
Total Sugars 28.7 g
Sodium 160.5 mg
Protein 10.2 g
The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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What are some tips for making the best mousse?

Mousse can be made in what feels like 100 different ways. While there's no wrong way to make mousse, the best way is determined by what you want your final result to be: A mousse with egg whites will be more foamy (a key factor in mousse), while a mousse with cream and yolks will be more rich. Like Julia Child's famous French-inspired mousse, our recipe uses egg whites, cream, and yolks for an especially rich — but simultaneously airy — chocolate mousse.

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Manipulating all of these ingredients into mousse requires attention to detail — and a lot of bowls. Because chocolate doesn't like to change temperature, you must introduce new ingredients at similar temperatures to avoid the chocolate from seizing (and thus ruining the mousse). For the egg yolk, this is easy enough, because you can slowly heat the eggs to the same temperature as the chocolate. Of course, whipped cream must be made with cold cream in a cold bowl, so joining the two requires a little more work. Don't rush: Temper the cold whipped cream into the room-temperature chocolate mixture, introducing the cold ingredient slowly so that the chocolate can smoothly combine. From there, the temperatures will be the same, and your only worry is whipping the egg whites to a sturdy, fluffy peak and gently folding them in.

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Can I make this without using raw egg whites?

French for "foam," mousse is meant to be foamy — think about how fluffy the hair product is, and that's about what you want the edible kind to be, too. The best way to do this is with egg whites, which whip into a foam creating the air pockets in the final mousse. Of course, this means the eggs are raw, which is fairly low-risk when using fresh eggs but is not without some safety concerns.

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If you'd rather avoid using raw eggs, you can simply omit the egg whites completely, and portion and chill the mousse directly after folding in the whipped cream. The mousse will be slightly more dense, like pudding, but will still be considered mousse because of the airy nature of the whipped cream. Though the egg yolks in this recipe are cooked, you can also omit those, too, simply combining whipped cream with coffee, sugar, and chocolate.

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