Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries

Ingredients

• 50 g dark chocolate couverture
• 3 eggs
• 50 g sugar
• 0.5 vanilla bean (pulp)
• Salt
• 50 g gluten-free flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 150 g dark chocolate (65% cacao)
• 150 g milk chocolate (35% cacao)
• 1 small shot of strong espresso
• 20 ml cognac
• 5 eggs
• 3 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 50 g sugar
• 125 g chilled whipping cream (min 30% fat)
• 100 g whipping cream (min 30% fat)
• 4 large strawberries
• 30 g white chocolate
• 2 Tbsp whipping cream
• 15 g dark chocolate
• white chocolate shards (optional)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Roughly chop the chocolate for the bases and melt it over a hot, non-boiling water bath. Separate the eggs; beat the yolks with sugar and vanilla pulp until pale and creamy. Stir in the slightly cooled melted chocolate. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Sift flour and cocoa together, fold into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites using a wooden spoon. Spread the batter to about 1 cm thickness on a parchment-lined small tray and bake for approximately 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

2. 2.

   Line the inner rim of dessert rings with a foil strip. Cut out 8 small bases (diameter 7-8 cm) from the sponge; place half into each ring.

3. 3.

   For the cream, chop chocolate and melt it together with cognac and espresso over a water bath. Separate eggs again. Beat yolks with vanilla sugar until fluffy and sugar dissolves. Whip chilled cream to stiff peaks. Whisk egg whites into stiff meringue, gradually adding remaining sugar. Stir melted chocolate into the yolk mixture. Fold in whipped cream quickly, then gently fold in the meringue. Fill dessert rings with the cream and cover with remaining sponge bases. Chill in refrigerator until set (about 3 hours).

4. 4.

   For garnish, whip cream to stiff peaks. Wash and halve strawberries. Finely chop white chocolate and dark chocolate separately. Warm half of the whipped cream and dissolve white chocolate into it; reserve. In the other half, add dark chocolate and melt. Spoon a light chocolate dollop onto each plate, then drizzle thin lines of dark chocolate in a circular pattern. Pull a stick or spoon handle from center outward star-shaped to create a decorative motif. Release mousse from rings and arrange on plates. Garnish with whipped cream, strawberries, and white chocolate shards before serving.