Simple yet decadent, these raspberry mousse cups are easy to make yet quick to impress.

Ingredients

Mousse

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate (Baker’s – see Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks)
• ¼ cup whole milk
• 1 tsp espresso powder (optional but highly recommended)
• ½ cup salted butter (1 stick)
• 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold

Ganache Glaze

• 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate (Baker’s – see Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks)
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Coulis

• 6 ounces of raspberries (one basket)
• 1/4 c + 2 Tsp of sugar
• An additional basket of raspberries to garnish

Tools & Timing

• Cute serving jars – depending on the size of your jars, this recipe will yield a different number of cups. I encourage you to play around with your fancy glasses and jars (I’ve also served these in jam jars which was nice because that made the dessert portable).
• Pot and bowl that fits inside to make double-boiler (I use one with handles, but I’ve also set a glass bowl on a smaller pot and it worked well)
• Heatproof whisk
• Sieve or strainer
• Small sauce pan
• Cutting board
• Butcher knife (for cutting chocolate)
• Wax paper and plastic wrap
• Total time: about 95 minutes

Using different sized containers will yield different numbers of desserts! As you can see, I’ve made these in various small containers (left and center)…as well as using only a few larger container (right).

Background

This recipe is combination of pieces of other recipes: the mousse is originally a part of a mousse cake from Tartelette Blog. I loved the idea of having a mousse that didn’t included egg whites, so when I read this recipe, I knew I need to try it. This mousse has a light, fluffy texture without the work of whipping egg whites…Hooray!

The ganache comes from a recipe called “American Beauty Cake” from the Brewer & the Baker The original cake is SO YUMMY (I’d recommend trying it); the ganache has a fudgier component because it’s a bit more complex than a simple ganache recipe. After first making this cake, I knew I’d use the ganache component for other recipes!

Add these two together, plus my favorite raspberry coulis recipe, and voila! You get a simple yet rich recipe for mousse complemented with a  sinful, fudgy ganache, finished with a layer of tart raspberry…and my Simply Sinful Rich Chocolate Mousse Cups were born.

Raspberry Coulis

1. Wash and dry raspberries. (If using frozen raspberries, rinse them to remove any frozen water.)
2. Place raspberries in saucepan. Add sugar.
3. Turn heat to medium high. Using a heatproof whisk, immediately begin to stir raspberries and sugar – the raspberries will slowly melt down as the sugar melts – cooking magic! It takes about 30 seconds for the sugar to melt down and become incorporated with the raspberries.
4. Once the sugar has disappeared, continue to whisk frequently until the mixture comes to a boil (don’t worry – there will still large chunks of your berries). This takes another 2-3 minutes.
5. Once your berry sugar mixture begins to boil, turn the heat to medium low and simmer until all of the fruit chunks have broken down (about for 5-10 minutes). Continue to whisk frequently. 
6. After all of the raspberries have been incorporated, strain the mixture through a sieve. You’ll want to stir the mixture in the sieve with a wooden spoon here so as to get the maximum amount of coulis from your efforts – and don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the sieve periodically with a firm spatula! Do this stir/scrape maneuver 4-5 times to get as much coulis as possible.
7. Set raspberry mixture aside to cool.

Step by Step Mousse Recipe

1. Separate egg yolk and set aside (this allows the yolk to come to room temperature).
2. Fill the bottom of a pot with about an inch of water.
3. Set bowl into pot – the water should not touch the bottom (check by lifting the bowl out to see if the bottom is wet – if it is, dump out a little water and try again)
4. Remove the bowl and turn heat to medium-high to bring water to a boil.
5. As the water is heating, prep and measure the chocolate, milk, espresso powder, and butter into the bowl.
6. As soon as water boils, turn the heat down to medium and set bowl into pot. Whisking constantly, melt ingredients together.
7. As soon as the ingredients are blended smoothly, remove the bowl and set on cooling rack. *Allow to cool 15-20 minutes.
8. After the mixture has been cooled for at least 15 minutes, start whipping the cream. Place the cold cream into a separate bowl and whip on medium-high speed until medium peaks form (this means that the whipped cream is starting to take shape…but looks like you put whipped cream on a piece of pie then left it for 5 minutes so it’s slightly melted!)
9. Whisk the egg yolk into your chocolate mixture.
10. Scoop out 1/3 of your whipped cream and fold into chocolate mixture.
11. Once folded, add the chocolate into the remaining whipped cream and fold until combined.

Begin to Build Your Mousse Parfaits

1. Begin with your chocolate mousse – use a small spoon and begin to add your mousse to your desired containers. Spoon the mousse directly into the middle of your container, then gently use the spoon to carefully spread the mousse to the edge. Work container to container so you can try to get an even amount in them all – this makes for a prettier presentation!
2. Next, add a thin layer of raspberry coulis. Again, start by spooning the coulis into the middle. Slowly tilt the container so the coulis runs to the edge of the container, then gently twirl the container so the coulis touches all of the edges.
3. Once you have your mousse and coulis in your containers, cover them with plastic wrap and place in the fridge before you move on to the ganache.

Step by Step Ganache Glaze

1. Chop the chocolate into chunks (think chocolate chip sized); this will help them melt quickly so the chocolate doesn’t burn.
2. Measure corn syrup and cream into a small sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. When the mixture starts to boil, turn off heat and add vanilla and chopped chocolate.
4. Whisk until smooth and then let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.
5. Remove cups from refrigerator and spoon ganache on top. For the ganache, I have found that starting near the outside of the container and working my way in works better to get the layers looking pretty!
6. Once all parfaits have a layer of ganache, cover and return to refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  

Serve and Enjoy

Remove from refrigerator about 10 minutes before serving.

Optional: Garnish with a fresh raspberry.

Other Options

If you’d like to get fancy, check out my Dark Chocolate Mousse Domes…or my Simply Sinful Mousse Cups for a recipe without the raspberries!

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

The first ingredient in Baker’s chocolate bars is semi-sweet chocolate while most semisweet chocolate chips list a form of sugar as the first ingredient…so Baker’s chocolate yields a richer, less sugary taste!