salted caramel chocolate mousse

Hi!

Heeeeyyyyy everybody! It’s Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen. I’m so pumped to be hanging out and sharing this dessert with you lovely people today.

Regardless of how many times I consume salted caramel, I never tire of it. That sweet and salty combination just does it for me every single time.

Salted caramel ice cream? Win. Salted caramel cookies? Ugh, delicious. Salted caramel cake? Let’s fake a birthday so we have reason to make one! Salted caramel on a spoon? Gimme!

I understand that sometimes cooking up caramel is a little scary. Trust me, I’ve gotten a caramel burn before–it’s not cute.

So, some caramel pro-tips I’ve learned along the way:

Number one: Get all your ingredients together before you start cooking your sugar. The process goes fast.

Numero dos: Warm your heavy cream just a little, this will stop it from seizing once it hits the hot, cooked sugar.

And lastly: Wear long sleeves. Seems silly, but if you’re wearing a long sleeve shirt, and for some crazy reason the hot sugar pops out of the pan, it’ll hit your shirt.

If you keep those little tid-bits in mind, then you should be fan-freakintastic.

This dessert comes together in a breeze. There’s a little salted caramel making, some adding of egg yolks, a little stirring, some egg whites peaking and a good amount of folding.

When you serve this to people, they’ll ask you what that delicious gooeyness is. You see, at first glance there’s no suggestion that the salted caramel even exists. It’s hidden. Sneaky. But it’s there and OMG is it good. And while chocolate desserts, for me at least, end up being slightly too rich, this one in particular is so light and fluffy that I have no problem eating one serving. Or two?

The bitterness from the dark chocolate against the saltiness from, well, the salted caramel is a total home run. I suggest topping it off with a generous dollop of whipped cream. It’s the right thing to do.

Now, let’s eat some dessert!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse

serves six

Print this recipe!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup, plus 1 ½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream

½ cup granulated sugar

2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 large eggs, separated

Directions:

Heat heavy whipping cream in a saucepan or microwave just until warm. Set aside. Combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not stir. Cook to a dark caramel, swirling as it begins to brown to distribute the sugar.

Take off the heat, add your room temperature butter and deglaze pan using a whisk. Add the warmed cream and whisk vigorously. Add the chopped chocolate, waiting for a minute or two for it to melt. Add salt and mix until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes.

In a bowl, add a small amount of the warm chocolate mixture to the egg yolks and stir to bring the eggs to a warmer temperature. Next, add the chocolate/egg yolk mixture to the saucepan and mix until thoroughly combined.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks and then fold gently in chocolate mixture, being sure to not collapse the egg whites. Divide between 6 (4-ounce) ramekins and chill for at least 6 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipe adapted from Trish Desseine