Chocolate! Who can resist?

My latest foray into the world of library cookbooks is Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate by Alice Medrich.

It looked so good sitting there on the shelf that I decided to take it home with me.

And I promptly made the Chocolate Mousse.

The author's whole premise is that "Ordinary chocolate makes good-enough desserts, but great chocolate makes fabulous desserts." And she suggests to let the chocolate speak for itself, without clouding the recipes with a bunch of ingredients.

At first, I was a bit afraid that I wouldn't be able to make anything in the book because it all looked so amazing, but it turns out that most of the recipes are pretty easy, and most only have 4 or 5 ingredients.

Here is her Chocolate Mousse recipe. Very delicious, and made with water instead of cream. That makes it healthy, right?

Chocolate Mousse

6oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/4 c water, coffee, or milk (or 1/2 c heavy cream)

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3 TBS water

3 TBS sugar

Place the chocolate and the 1/4 c water in a medium heatproof bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until the chocolate is nearly melted, then remove from heat and stir until completely melted and smooth.

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs with the 3 TBS water and sugar until well blended. Set the bowl in a wide skillet of not-even-simmering water, and stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling, cook until they register 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Remove the bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until the eggs have the texture of softly whipped cream.

Fold 1/4 of the eggs into the chocolate. Scrape the chocolate mixture onto the remaining beaten eggs and fold just until evenly incorporated. Divide the mousse among the ramekins.

And I just ate one for breakfast. Like I said, it's good for you. Antioxidants, people!