Dark chocolate mousse with shaved chocolate

Dark chocolate mousse with shaved chocolate

Serves 4.

1 cup heavy cream

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, halved

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 bar (3 to 5 ounces) semisweet chocolate

1. Have on hand 4 individual soufflé dishes, espresso cups, or custard cups (3/4-cup capacity each).

2. Pour 3/4 cup of the cream into the bowl of an electric mixer. Chill the bowl in the refrigerator or freezer; chill the beaters, too.

3. In a heavy-based saucepan, combine the remaining ¼ cup of cream with the bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the cream is warm and the chocolate is just beginning to melt. Remove the saucepan from the heat -- the chocolate will not have melted completely.

4. Continue stirring the chocolate mixture until it is smooth. Touch the sides of the saucepan. When the pan feels very warm but no longer hot, start beating the cream.

5. In the chilled bowl with chilled beaters, beat the cream with the vanilla and sugar until it holds soft peaks. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand.

6. With a rubber spatula, stir a large spoon of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then use the spatula to transfer the chocolate mixture to the bowl of whipped cream. Fold them together until no white streaks show. Divide the mixture among the dishes and smooth the tops.

Serve at once or cover with plastic wrap and chill for up to 3 hours.

7. Just before serving, set a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Use a rotary vegetable peeler to peel the chocolate bar, letting the shavings fall onto the paper. Pick up the shavings with a metal palette knife and let them fall haphazardly on top of the mousse cups.