It's October 1st...let the Halloween shenanigans begin!!! This year's all hallow's eve dessert: death by chocolate mousse graveyard pots (pots de crème).
I've already ordered my costume and there are pumpkins all over the house. We haven't actually put up our Halloween decorations yet because this past weekend we tiled the backsplash of our kitchen! It isn't sealed or caulked yet plus there are still a few more things to do in there before it's done. But! Once it's finished I'll post some before and after photos because I'm super excited about it 😎.
Honestly though it was so much work and I'm dead tired. I didn't even know what day it was until the ads all over the internet were for Halloween costumes 😅. Luckily, I was ahead of the game with these death by chocolate mousse graveyard pots so we can celebrate the start of the best month of the year with style.
Ok so. Chocolate mousse. I'm gunna be bstraight with you. It's not the easiest thing in the world to make but it is SO worth the time and effort. I did ALL the research for you to figure out the best way to make it; tons of googling, cookbook scouring, and of course, took a little advice from Julia Child and Ina Garten. If ever in doubt, they're hands down my go to peeps. Also, some recipe testing and a recipe fail or two were definitely done before I landed on the perfect chocolate mousse graveyard pots recipe for you.
What I've discovered: there are definitely a few tricks to making the perfect, decadent chocolate mousse.
First, cold whipped cream. Keep it chilled before and after you whip it for best results.
Second, room temperature eggs. Funny right? Unlike the whipped cream, set the eggs out before you start to let them warm up. Also, keep them at room temperature even after you separate them as I like to use a combo of whipped cream and egg whites for that classic chocolate mousse fluffiness.
Third, use a double boiler and whisk whisk whisk. Do NOT do any step directly in a pot on the stove. Get a small pot of simmering water going and use a heatproof bowl on top of the pot (make sure it doesn't touch water). When working with eggs and/or cream on a stove, it's best to use the double boiler system. Otherwise, you're in serious danger of scrambling your eggs and curdling your cream (gross). Same goes for the chocolate! Double boiler it up or instead of melting it you risk baking it (nope).
Fourth, a splash of orange liqueur for ultimate deliciousness. Just a little bit goes a long way!
HO-kay so. Four tips for chocolate mousse in general. Now, use festive Halloween decorations to dress it up! Death by chocolate mousse graveyard pots recipe below.
Death By Chocolate Mousse Graveyard Pots
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 Pots 1x
Description
Festive, decadent, rich chocolate mousse topped with crushed oreos and chocolate covered milanos for the perfect Halloween graveyard decor! (Recipe includes chill time).
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Mousse
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup brewed espresso or dark roast coffee
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)
For the Graveyard Decorations
- 10 Oreo cookies, creme filling removed
- 3 chocolate milanos, cut in half
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- White decorating gel
- Festive sprinkles (I used pumpkin and gravestone sprinkles)
- Black and orange sanding sugar
- 6 small, 8 ounce glasses (the "pots")
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
Make Chocolate Gravestones
- Prepare a wire rack with parchment paper underneath it.
- Scald heavy cream in a medium bowl (should be steaming but not boiling) in the microwave or stove top. Pour cream over chocolate morsels and let sit for 10 minutes. Whisk until smooth and shiny.
- Dip milano cookies in chocolate mixture. Gently place on prepared rack to dry. Once set, chill until ready to use.
Make the Chocolate Mousse
- Prepare a small pot filled half way with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- In large mixing bowl, whisk the heavy whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside in the fridge to chill.
- In a medium heat proof bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, orange liqueur, and salt. Place bowl on top of the simmering pot of water (be careful not to let the bowl touch the water!). Whisk the mixture continuously until it is light, frothy, very hot (when temped should reach at least 145°F) and doubled in size, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract, and set aside, whisking occasionally.
- In a small heat proof bowl, melt chocolate and coffee together over the simmering water, whisking occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.
- Temper the egg mixture by slowly adding a spoonful of the chocolate mixture and whisking constantly. While still whisking constantly, slowly pour the rest of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Set aside to let it come to room temperature, whisking occasionally.
- Using a standing or handheld mixer, whisk egg whites and last tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.
- In two additions, gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until just combined. Gently fold in reserved whipped cream until just combined.
- Spoon chocolate mousse mixture evenly into pots. Chill at least 2 hours until firm, up to overnight (if chilling overnight, cover each pot with saran wrap).
Assemble the Pots
- Using a food processor or the ziploc bag and rolling pin method, pulse or crush oreo cookies to fine crumbs. Set aside.
- Remove chocolate covered milanos from fridge. Using the white decorating gel, pipe "RIP" or other phrases as desired onto milanos.
- Remove chilled, firm chocolate mousse pots from fridge. Gently press one cookie into each chocolate mousse pot cut edge down, rounded edge up.
- Sprinkle each pot evenly with oreo crumbs. Top with festive sprinkles and sanding sugar. Chill until ready to serve. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
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