Individual Chocolate Mousse Recipes

Steps:

• Put 1 2/3 cups cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Put 4 egg yolks into the clean bowl of the mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until pale and frothy, 4 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons water to a rolling boil in a small, heavy saucepan over high heat. Cook until clear, large bubbles form, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Carefully pour hot syrup down side of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high. Mix until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bittersweet chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt with a rubber spatula.
• Add one-third of bittersweet-chocolate mixture to whipped cream; whisk to combine. Add remaining bittersweet-chocolate mixture, whisking until completely combined. Press through a large-mesh sieve into a large bowl; discard any solids. Repeat entire recipe, substituting milk chocolate for the bittersweet.

Steps:

• In a large heatproof bowl or the top pan of a double boiler, combine the chocolate, butter, coffee, and rum. Set over (not touching) barely simmering water and stir constantly until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
• Fold one-third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream just until combined. It's better to have some streaks of cream in your mousse then to stir the mixture until it loses its airiness. Cover the mousse and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine 1 1/2 cups of the cream and the vanilla and whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. (Or, use a large bowl and a handheld mixer or a whisk.).
• Line six half-pint jars with the crumb crust as directed in the recipe.
• To line jars with the crust, spoon about 4 tablespoons of the crumb mixture into each jar. Take the jar in your nondominant hand (left hand if you are right-handed, for example) and start pressing the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the jar with your other hand. Now work some of the crumb mixture along the sides of the jar, pressing firmly. The crust should be about 1/4 inches thick and cover three-fourths of the jar. Fill the crusts immediately.
• Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream until soft peaks form. Spoon about 1/2 cup mousse into each crust-lined jar. Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the ganache, then top the ganache with a dollop of the whipped cream. Alternatively, top the mousse with a dollop of the cream and grate or shave a little chocolate on top or dust with cocoa powder.
• Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. These pies can also be frozen for up to 1 month without the cream topping. Bring to room temperature and add the cream topping just before serving.
• Chocolate Crumb Crust: In a bowl, combine the crumbs and butter and stir until the mixture is evenly moist.
• Ganache Filling: Coarsely chop the chocolate by hand or in a food processor and place in a bowl.
• In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat just until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the butter until melted.
• Let cool and use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and put a cookie in the bottom of each cup. Whisk the eggs, sugar, salt and water in a large heatproof bowl. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan and set the bowl on top (do not let the bowl touch the water). Cook, whisking, until pale, fluffy and very thick (like a thick pudding), 25 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of your bowl. Remove from the heat and whisk in the melted chocolate; let cool.
• Beat 1 1/4 cups heavy cream with the sour cream in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the cooled chocolate mixture until no white streaks remain, then divide evenly among the muffin cups. Cover and refrigerate until set, 12 hours or overnight.
• Run an offset spatula around each mousse cup to loosen and slide the spatula under the cookie; remove the mousse cups. (If they're too soft to remove, freeze briefly.) Beat the remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream in a large bowl with a mixer until soft peaks form, then dollop onto the mousse cups and sprinkle with shaved chocolate.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour twelve 3/4-cup custard cups. Stir chocolate in bowl set over simmering water until smooth. Remove from over water. Cool to lukewarm, about 10 minutes.
• Using electric mixer, beat cream and cinnamon in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Add liqueur; beat until still peaks form. Beat eggs and brown sugar in large bowl until very light, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat chocolate into egg mixture, then fold in cream mixture.
• Divide batter among prepared cups. Set cups in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up sides of cups. Bake until tops of cakes look dry and tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 18 minutes. Transfer cups to racks; cool cakes completely.
• Cut around cakes to loosen. Turn cakes out onto plates.

Steps:

• Bring an inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Combine the cream and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. When the water boils, turn the heat to low so the water is barely simmering or just steaming. Set the bowl over the saucepan and melt the chocolate, gently stirring with a whisk now and then.
• While the chocolate melts, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer on medium speed. When the whites are foamy, add the sugar in a slow stream while whisking. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form. The whites should look glossy but not dry, and, when you lift the whisk from the mixture, a peak should form in the bowl and hold.
• Once the chocolate has melted completely, turn off the heat but leave the bowl over the saucepan. Holding the bowl with a kitchen towel, add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking after each addition. If the mixture looks broken, remove the bowl from the saucepan, cool for a minute, then add 1 tablespoon cream and whisk just until shiny and smooth. Whisk in the vanilla. (Don't worry if it still doesn't look completely smooth. It will come together in the next step.)
• Add a quarter of the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture and stir gently with a flexible rubber spatula until incorporated but still a little streaky. This will make it easier to fold in the remaining whites to create an airy mousse by gradually lowering the temperature of the chocolate (tempering) and making the mixture loose.
• Add the rest of the whites and fold them in by running the spatula from 12 o'clock on the bowl to 6 o'clock, then scooping up the chocolate on the bottom and gently folding it over the whites as you move toward 9 o'clock. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Continue folding just until the last streak of white disappears. It's OK if there are a few lumps of whites left. It's better to not deflate the batter by folding too much.
• Scoop into a pretty bowl or into individual cups or bowls for serving if you'd like. Otherwise, keep it in the mixing bowl. Refrigerate the mousse uncovered until cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 more hours and preferably 24. The covered mousse can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.
• If you'd like to serve the mousse with whipped cream, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. A cup or two of heavy cream is plenty for this amount of mousse. Serve the mousse cold, straight from the refrigerator, with the whipped cream.