Would love to know if you get around to trying any, Anna! 🙂

You can, Nathalie! Although I find the texture and level of bitterness to be perfect with just the small addition of milk chocolate. But make it however you prefer it 🙂

Just heavenly! The real chocolate mousse!
I had to try a second time with reduced salt, I’m not a salt person, so for my palate, it was overpowering. I added 1/2 tsp instant espresso and 1/2 tsp vanilla powder in with the butter/ chocolate to enhance the flavor since I cut the salt to an 1/8 tsp.
And for the other Floridian commenter, the humidity is a beast for egg whites, so I always run some lemon along my bowl before adding the egg whites and I add a pinch of cream of tartar after they are whipped to foamy. The acidity helps the firmness (something with chemistry that I don’t understand, but it works). It doesn’t work as well for baked meringue cookies on wet days, but it will for icing or other recipes that call for stiff egg whites. If you really need the cookies, bake at a lower temp for longer and allow to cool in the unopened oven, immediately moving to an airtight container.

This mousse takes about 20min to put together 🙂

How long does this take to make?

Love the story, David! Being used side-by-side with Julia is truly an honor. Great to hear that the addition of orange cognac didn’t hurt the structure of the yolks, for anyone else that’s wanting to add some additional flavors to the mousse.

I have also heard about the egg white theory when it rains/storms, and always wondered if true (never tested it). The reason I find it odd, is here in Brittany it rains A LOT, and wonder how the local bakeshops still manage to make all their delicious goods and meringues if this theory is true. But I’ve heard it enough that I lean towards it being real, and I’m glad you still overcame it to enjoy the dessert 🙂

Thanks for the many high quality close up photos of the work in progress. I find they help me decide if I’m on track. They are a wonderful addition to your recipes. I compared this recipe with Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of FC. I added orange flavored cognac (1/4 cup) late to the egg yolks, which seemed to have no physical effect other than another flavor. I also substituted coconut sugar for white with no problem (I love the rich flavors of raw sugars and they work very well with chocolate). Just had to beat the eggs a bit longer.
I also ignored the warning in Joy of Cooking about not making mayonnaise in a thunderstorm! It was raining all day (in Florida) and I never succeeded in getting stiff peaks in the egg whites, just barely mounded. There was even some liquid egg white when I dumped the last of it into the chocolate mix. It all firmed up nicely though, and was sooo delicious. Thanks!

Hello Katy, this version of French mousse is definitely a bit more dense than the versions containing whipped cream. So yes, you could absolutely use some whipped cream to lighten it up if you’d like!