This was on the first menu at Huxtable. The mousse recipe is inspired by one from the Australian cooking legend Stephanie Alexander. I love the rich, dense fudgy texture mixed with the slight acidity of the raspberry sauce and the nutty crunch of the almonds.

Ingredients

400g dark chocolate
8 eggs, separated
200g butter, diced and softened
1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
20g freeze-dried raspberry powder, (see Note below)
120g chopped salted marcona almonds, (see Note below)

Raspberry sauce

250g frozen raspberries, thawed
125g sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced

Method

1. For the mousse

Spray a 28 cm, 1.5 litre terrine mould with cooking oil spray and line with baking paper.
2. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Gently melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat, then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the butter and beat until glossy and smooth.
3. Whip the egg whites in a large clean bowl until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the caster sugar over and continue to whip until the egg whites are satiny.

4. For the raspberry sauce

Place the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and stir until well mixed and the sugar has dissolved. Strain through a fine strainer, into a container. Cover and place in the fridge to chill.

5. To serve

Remove the terrine mould from the fridge, then tip it upside down on a chopping board to remove the mousse. You may need to slightly warm the outside of the mould with a kitchen blowtorch or hot damp cloth — just make sure you don’t melt the mousse!
6. Pour a small pool of raspberry sauce onto each plate. Using a hot knife, cut into slices around 2 cm thick. Place one slice on each plate, along one edge of the raspberry sauce. Sprinkle the raspberry powder over the mousse. Arrange a line of chopped almonds across each plate and serve.

Note

• Marcona almonds are from a specific region in Spain. They are flatter and rounder than normal almonds, and slightly sweeter. If you can’t find them, use regular salted, roasted almonds.

• Freeze-dried raspberry powder can be found at specialty pastry stores. It should be stored in the fridge. Handle with dry fingers, or you’ll end up with red, sticky hands!

This recipe appears courtesy of Cooked.com.au. 

Recipe from Huxtabook: Recipes from Sea, Land and Earth by Daniel Wilson.