Chocolate pots with
rosemary
 

Chocolate pots with rosemary is a delightful dessert.  The rosemary goes perfectly with the chocolate to produce a dessert that is light but extremely tasty.  It is a wonderful finish to a serious meal.

Preparation Time             15  Mins

Cooking Time                 10  Mins

Elapsed Time                   2  Hrs

Ingredients

For     4  portions

30 gms            Butter

100 gms          Chocolate  - plain

80 ml              Cream  - double

2                    Eggs  - separated

2 sprigs           Rosemary  - bruised

4 tbs               Sugar  - caster

For dusting

                      Sugar  - icing

Method

Heat the cream in a small pan with the rosemary.  Once it has reached boiling point, take the pan off the heat and leave the rosemary to infuse the cream until cool. 

Put the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Melt it and then beat in the butter a little at a time, with 1 tbs of the sugar.  Leave to cool.

Beat the egg yolks into the cooled chocolate mixture one at a time, making sure the first is well incorporated before you add the second.  Remove the rosemary from the cream and whisk this into the chocolate and egg mixture.  The mixture will not appear to come together at first but keep whisking and it will become beautifully smooth. 

In another bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.  Add the rest of the sugar and beat until stiff.  Fold a third of the egg whites into the chocolate and combine really well.  With a spatula fold in the rest.  Do not over mix, but be sure that there are no white streaks.

Pour the mousse into four small glass bowls.  Cover with cling film and put in a fridge until set.

To serve, make a template of a heart shape with paper and which will fit in the middle of the top of your mousse, then place it over the top and sift on some icing sugar. You can either sift the icing sugar

around a heart shape, leaving a chocolate heart surrounded by sugar, or sift through a heart-shaped hole, leaving a sugar heart.

Wine recommendations

Conventional

          Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise

Interesting

          Condrieu Vendange Tardive

          Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive

          Jurançon doux

          Vouvray doux

Special

          Floc de Gascogne rouge