Dinner and dessert for two
I thought I’d share a quick recipe for the Kahlúa Chocolate “Anniversary” Mousse that I posted on Instagram a couple days ago. Our wedding anniversary is January 3rd and usually overshadowed by recovering from the holidays and feeling melancholy because the kids have gone home. It’s typically a case of … and then there were two. Plus, this year it was an extremely rainy and windy Northwest day that meant we didn’t want to leave the warmth of our home. So not super romantic (but yet comforting), I made an easy dinner and dessert from ingredients we had in the house. One of our favorite Instant Pot dishes called Korean Chicken Bowls was dinner and I threw together chocolate mousse for two. After 34 years of marriage, it was just right.
I took the Kahlúa Mousse recipe from an old Kahlúa recipe pamphlet at the bottom of my drawer, published in 1986. It said it made 6-8 servings, so I scaled it down and made a third the amount.
Kahlua Chocolate “Anniversary” Mousse for Two
Ingredients (1/3 ratio in parentheses):
1 lb. dark sweet chocolate (5.3 oz chocolate) I used 5 oz, which was fine. Use a high-quality chocolate/baking bar, not chocolate chips because those have additives. I used mostly dark chocolate 71% dark Valrhona Chocolate with some milk chocolate 45% Theo Chocolate - but any combo should work.
3 oz. butter (2 Tbsp) I used Kerrygold unsalted.
3 eggs, separated (1 egg) Make sure it’s a fresh quality egg since it won’t be cooked.
1/2 cup powdered sugar (2 Tbsp + 2 tsp)
1/4 cup Kahlúa (4 tsp Kahlúa)
1 tsp instant coffee powder (a heaping ¼ tsp) I used espresso powder.
2 cups heavy whipping cream (2/3 cup)
Directions:
1. Melt chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat.
2. Combine sugar, egg yolk, Kahlúa and espresso powder in small bowl. Blend in melted chocolate mixture.
3. In separate bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold cream into Kahlúa-chocolate mixture.
5. Beat egg white until soft peaks form; fold into mixture.
6. Spoon into two small dishes or dessert glasses. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
7. Garnish as desired. Because I like my chocolate salty, I added some flaky sea salt and a sprinkle of Bourbon Espresso Caramel Popcorn from Popped! (leftover from a gift basket my daughter received!) along with a bit of whipped cream.
And … a behind the scenes look.
I didn’t have quite enough chocolate, so I added 2 teaspoons of Dutch processing cocoa. This definitely changed the texture of the mousse. It made it more dense like a flourless chocolate cake/brownie. It was still delicious but lost the creaminess of a mousse. Also, I should have added salt to the mixture, but forgot, so I put flaky sea salt.
Not to be forgotten … Dinner
The Korean Chicken Bowls are from The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook by Megan Gilmore — which I recommend — and you can buy here! Lots of tasty recipes. And most recipes are gluten-free and refined sugar-free. Yep, a gift from my healthy son and perfect as a precursor to our decadent dessert.
Instant Pot Korean Chicken Bowls
Ingredients (slightly adapted)
1/3 cup soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
5 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp Sriracha
1 minced garlic clove
1 large boneless chicken breast
1 red bell pepper
½ red onion
2+ cups baby spinach
Jasmine rice
Green onions and toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Note: I have a mini Instant Pot (perfect for two) and chose to make the rice on the stovetop. But the recipe includes instructions for making the rice in a bowl within the Instant Pot for convenience.