Crème fraîche and chocolate mousse
Most of us have some childhood desserts we remember forever, a grandma’s cake, cookies baked for holidays or a hidden jar of jam. Mine is a special treat I tasted only a few times. On the ground floor of my apartment building in Minsk there was a small café with several standing tables which served only desserts, chocolate mousse, all colors of jelly, slices of cakes. There were no chairs, only tall round bar tables to eat a dessert. The desserts were very very pricey though, no wonder we never went there.
The chocolate mousse was my favorite. How happy I was when I found a recipe for it! It’s not hard to make and tastes to me as thousands of childhood dreams. Layers of chocolate mousse give a bitter note while layers of crème fraîche or sour cream mousse give a sweet and tangy note. It’s better served with apricot jam, but any other sweet jam or even honey will work well too. That’s how it was served in the cafe’ under my house, and it does combine all the flavors together.
The dessert can be prepared with either sour cream or crème fraîche. Both are produced from cultured cream, with the difference being that crème fraîche has more fat and is thicker, while sour cream is lower in fat and has a sharp, sour edge. For this recipe I used a mixture of crème fraîche and Greek yogurt.
For crème fraîche mousse
2/3 cups crème fraîche, room temperature
1/2 cups Greek yogurt, room temperature
4 tablespoons sugar (add a couple more tablespoons if you prefer a sweeter dessert)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup water
2 and 1/2 sheets gelatin
For chocolate mousse
2/3 cups crème fraiche, room temperature
1/2 cups Greek yogurt, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup water
2 and 1/2 sheets gelatin
Apricot jam or honey for serving
Put the gelatin leaves in two separate bowls, add the boiling water and stir until dissolved.
Have the crème fraîche and Greek yogurt ready at room temperature (or you can warm it slightly if using out of fridge) otherwise the gelatin will split into pieces. If that happens, just warm it a little by placing in a bowl of hot water and whisk it with a fork.
In one medium bowl, mix the crème fraîche, Greek yogurt, 4 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla extract. In the second medium bowl, mix the crème fraîche, Greek yogurt, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Mix well to dissolve the sugar with a fork or an immersion blender. Don’t use a whisk because it will incorporate too many bubbles into the mix.
Pour through a sieve one portion of gelatin into the crème fraiche mixture, stir well to combine. Do the same with the second portion of gelatin combining it with the cocoa mixture.
To prepare and serve the mousse, use individual glasses or small glass bowls, transparent to show nicely the layers.
Pour half of the chocolate mixture equally into the glasses or bowls and carefully place it into the freezer for 5-10 minutes for the layer to set. Continue with a layers of the crème fraiche mixture, allowing for the layer to set as well. Repeat with the chocolate layer and finish with the crème fraiche. Serve with apricot jam or honey.
Serves 4-6.
