Chocolate, it seems to be the theme running through my posts lately. And this post is no different.

 

But my excuse, winter and the need to wrap myself in warmth and deliciousness.

There has been a chill to the mornings here, without warmth until the sun has risen it’s sleepy head, then the glow of the sub tropics and a very mild winter shine down to energise and warm the day.

 

This is a dessert that will take some time, not much but some. You’ll have multiple bowls full of air whipped fluff, some with melted concoctions and some without. The end result of this time and washing up making, bowl using mixtures is a stunning layered dessert that you can sink into with a hot cup of, well chocolate.

The base is essentially a basic brownie, rich, fudgey and dense. The top a light, airy mousse full of flavour.

Here I have used milk chocolate for the mousse but it works just as well with dark chocolate. The sugars in the recipe are balanced against the use of eggs and cream.

 

The beauty of this dessert is that it can be made ahead, the brownies can be made when you have a spare 30 minutes and you can come back to the mousse layer whenever you have some more time. (the brownie base freezes and defrosts perfectly without compromise). Once the mousse layer is on, again just leave in the refrigerator until ready to use (for up to 5 days) although be warned temptation my get the better of some, with sneaky fingers testing the mousse and random edges missing.

 

So just in time for some weekend baking, here is the chocolate brownie mousse stack.

 

Chocolate Brownie Mousse stack

Serves 10-16 prep time 20mins cooking time 25mins + refrigeration

Base

250g butter

1 ½ cup Caster sugar

6 tbsp Besan Flour

¾ cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder

4 eggs

 

Mousse

270g Milk chocolate

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

360ml pouring cream

1 sheet gold-strength gelatin

Cocoa powder for dusting

 

 

For base

Oven preheated to 180C and a rectangular slice tin (20x30cm) oiled and lined with baking paper.

Place butter, sugar into a heat proof bowl and heat in microwave for 1 min, stir and heat again for additional min. Stir mixture until it comes together (usually 1 min or 2), place to one side to cool slightly.

Sift cocoa powder and besan flour together in a separate bowl. Gradually stir butter mixture into dry mix until combined. Add eggs and stir until fully incorporated.

Poor into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins. The brownies will look a little undercooked in the middle when done. Leave in tin to cool.

Then cover and place in refrigerator until fully chilled for mousse layer.

Mousse:

Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Leave to cool until just warm.

Using an electric stand mixer, whisk the eggs and yolks together until thick and pale.

In a separate bowl, whip 300ml of the cream to soft peaks.

Heat the remaining cream in a small saucepan over low heat until simmering, remove the pan from the heat.

Soak the gelatine in a sauce of cold water until soft then squeeze out any excess liquid. Stir the soaked gelatine into the cream until dissolved.

Fold the egg mixture into the melted chocolate until combined, then add the warm cream.

Finally, fold through the whipped cream.

Pour mousse onto prepped brownie and place in the fridge to set overnight.

Dust the top of the mousse with a good layer of cocoa powder and cut using a clean hot knife. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

 

Notes:

Besan flour is available from health food stores, online and at Indian grocery shops (my preference) You could replace with any other nut meal, or commercial gf flour mix.

You can use dark chocolate instead of the milk chocolate.