Double Chocolate Mousse with Chilli and Pistachio

I realise that I have been very lazy of late with my blog, and the main reason for this is because I have just purchased my first ever house. 

My time has been spent doing house things like signing contracts, looking at floors and carpets and also, excitingly, designing my new kitchen! All going well, I will have moved in by the middle of July! 

While very scary, it is very very exciting that I am going to have a home that I can call my own (well in 35 years I will!!!)

Because of the lack of time, I have also been a little lax in seeing friends and catching up for chats, so I asked my lovely friend Mrs. D to come over for dinner last night with Mr. C and I. 

Nice food, good company, nice chats and a game of monopoly all made for a lovely evening. 

I decided that such a night, deserved a rather decadent dessert, and while leafing through a (new) cookbook called Fantastico! I came across a recipe for a Double Chocolate Mousse, with Pistachio and Chilli. 

It is a really simple recipe and can be made hours in advance of your party meaning that you can spend time with your friends, and not in the kitchen. Sounds like my kind of dessert. 

The combination of the chocolate and pistachios means a scattering of nuts through the mousse. The chilli adds a little kick which leaves a nice after effect of heat. And don't worry, the alcohol is very subtle, and certainly doesn't over power the chocolate.

You will need: 

150g good quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces, 

100g good quality white chocolate, broken into pieces, 

3 medium eggs, separated, 2 tablespoons caster sugar, 

8 tablespoons of crushed pistachios (reserve a few for decorating) 

1 small, medium hot chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced. 

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier 

250ml double cream, softly whipped. 

Melt all the chocolate together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. 

Beat together the egg yolks and the caster sugar until pale and creamy. 

In a separate clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff. 

Use a metal spoon to fold the chocolate into the egg yolks. Add the pistachios, the chilli and the Grand Marnier ( I actually used Hennessy Cognac as I didn't have any Grand Marnier!) Mix well and fold in the cream gently. Lastly, very gently, fold in the egg whites, and combine all the ingredients. 

Pour the mousse into 4x250ml glasses, or 6 smaller ones, or even 8!* 

Cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 3 hours. Just before serving, remove the cling and decorate with the pistachios and some slivers of chilli! 

* I used these cute little espresso sets to serve the chocolate mousse. With a saucer and an espresso spoon, they really add to the oomph of the dessert. As I mentioned the mousse is quite rich, so this amount was perfect. 

I had plenty left over as there were just the three of us for dinner, so I may just have to have some again for dessert this evening. It would be terrible to have it go to waste, wouldn't it??? 

Enjoy. 

Orls xxx