Cheat Chocolate Mousse
Incredibly easy, only takes a handful of ingredients, and multi-purpose: Serve as is or spread over chocolate cake as a replacement for icing.
Ingredients
2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of chocolate (Chips, chocolate bar, doesn't matter. Milk, dark, white, combination - up to you! I just wouldn't do any fruit flavored chocolates here...)
1/4 cup of milk (You can use more heavy cream here but personally; this is already quite rich as it is!)
1/4 cup of coffee (This accentuates the flavors of chocolate. If you're worried about caffeine or you don't have any coffee, just add another 1/4 cup of milk/cream! Do not add coffee if you're doing white chocolate...though, it could give you coffee flavored mouse if that's what you want!)
Vanilla (Optional)
Powdered sugar (Depending on how sweet you want your mouse, you may/may not need this!)
Directions
Place chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl
In the same bowl, pour in the 1/4 cup of milk/cream (NOT the 2 cups), 1/4 cup of coffee or extra milk/cream and give it a little mix to incorporate
Cover the bowl for safety and microwave for 30 seconds
Take it out and check to see if the chocolate has began to get soft by trying to stir it (Note: The chips may not look melted but you might be surprised as chocolate melts fast. DO NOT OVERHEAT or the chocolate will get grainy.)
If chips are still hard, cover again and microwave another 5-10 seconds until soft
Once chocolate chips are melted, mix it with the now hot liquid. Do not be alarmed if it seems like there is more liquid than chocolate. Keep mixing, the chocolate will thicken as it cools
While the mixture is cooling, get a separate bowl and pour in your 2 cups of heavy cream and a splash of vanilla (if you desire)
Whip the heavy cream and vanilla till soft peaks form. You can tell when the beaters start making thick trials through the cream. DO NOT overdo this or you'll get butter!
Check the sweetness of your chocolate mixture. If it's not sweet enough, go ahead and add powdered sugar.
The mixture should be thin like a runny egg yolk. If it's still too thin, you can add some powdered sugar to thicken it.
Once you're happy with it, pour the melted chocolate into the heavy cream mixture.
Take a spatula and fold it into the heavy cream. Don't forget the bottom!
Fold till chocolate and cream have combined to a unified brown cloud!
Serve as is with fresh fruit or top it on top of chocolate cake.
