Chocolate mousse

Chocolate, eggs, and nothing to hide behind. Three temperatures have to meet, which is the whole difficulty and the whole lesson.

200 g — dark chocolate 70%

40 g — butter

4 pc — egg yolk

5 pc — egg white

60 g — sugar

1 pinch — salt

Melt the chocolate and butter over steaming water and let it come down to about 40 °C — warm to the lip, not hot.

Whisk the whites with the salt to soft peaks, then rain the sugar in and whisk to firm, glossy peaks. Sugar added at the start makes a meringue that will not fold.

Beat the yolks into the warm chocolate — it will seize and then come back glossy, so keep going. Fold a third of the whites in to loosen it, then fold the rest in two goes, stopping while a few streaks remain.

Spoon into glasses and chill four hours. Folded until perfectly uniform, a mousse loses half its air and sets dense — the streaks disappear on their own in the fridge.