Chocolate Mousse with strawberry sauce

Remember when I said I was planning to go strawberry picking for the first time ever this year? Here's the proof.

I was pretty proud of those beautiful berries that Burt, Lorelai, and I picked at Washington Farms on that ridiculously hot day during the jam-packed (no pun intended) strawberry festival; I was so certain I was going to make a really amazing dessert with them as soon as I got home.

Well, it's been a month and I just now made my first dessert with some of them. (Thank god for freezer bags.) Yes, I know, I'm not the best at utilizing the ingredients I have on hand sometimes. But some things are definitely worth waiting for. In the case of these strawberries, I didn't really know what to make with them because I hadn't really been craving any particular strawberry dessert. And then yesterday it hit me....

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE...HOLY COW

This dessert is the stuff dreams are made of... I'm serious. I'm completely obsessed now. Especially because it tastes so much like this dessert of the same name I used to order with a friend years ago at this place called Mimi's. But guess who doesn't sell this dessert anymore? Yep, the bastards took away the best thing on their menu. Needless to say, there's no real reason for me to go back there anymore.

Anyways back to this heavenly creation. I would first off, like to tell you that this mousse is egg less. I know, I know, how dare I! But I'm just not comfortable using raw eggs in anything unless I know they are the freshest eggs in the world. Maybe one day not too long from now I might venture over to the raw egg side of town and take a stroll, but today is definitely not that day.

Another thing about this mousse? It uses semisweet chocolate chips and no other sugar, aside from what is used in this beautiful strawberry sauce pictured above. This sauce's sweetness balances out the chocolate perfectly! And it looks gorgeous layered in with the mousse. Gosh, do I love this dessert. Just talking about it makes me happy. Move over brownies, there's a new dessert addiction in town...

Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part! The mousse takes about 5 minutes to whip up. Then set it in the fridge to chill for a while. Hallefreakinlujah!

Chocolate Mousse with strawberry sauce:

For the strawberry sauce:

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 2 Tbs water
• 1 tsp cornstarch

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and strawberries. Bring to boiling, still over medium heat, and let simmer 5-10 minutes until most of the strawberries are cooked down and there is plenty of juice remaining. Stir in the cornstarch and cook another 5 minutes. Take off the heat and carefully pour the strawberries with their juices in a blender. Blend until smooth. let come to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to use. (Note: this should be prepared ahead of time and cooled.

For the mousse:

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbs butter, diced
• 1 Tbs good coffee

Chill a glass bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Add your cream and using a hand mixer, whip your cream until soft peaks form. (note: when you pull a beater out of the cream, the cream will be thickened with  a slight curve on the end) Set aside in the fridge until ready to use. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and butter together. Microwave on medium or 50% power for 1- 1 1/2 minutes stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Now for the fun part. Make sure your chocolate is warm. Not cool and not hot, but perfectly warm. Now use a spatula to fold the whipped cream into the melted chocolate. It should look like this:

And this:

Now, get out two glass dishes, big enough for layering chocolate mousse and strawberry sauce. Start with the mousse on the bottom, then a layer of strawberry sauce, then more mousse, then more strawberry sauce, then top it off with a little extra whipped cream and garnish it with a fresh strawberry. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours. Then share it with someone you love :)