Chocolate Amaretto Mousse

This recipe can be a lot of work, but it's one of my favorites to make. I initially learned how to make this not long after Chris and I moved in together, and I still relish that first sense of victory from when I actually pulled it off. We wanted to hold a dinner at our new apartment with both sets of parents - the first time they would meet each other - so we decided to pull out all the stops and did homemade carrot-ginger soup, roasted Cornish hens, and this mousse.

Before I moved in with Chris, I had largely lived on basic variations of spaghetti, stirfry, and a few soups that I could fit in my blender. This was the first time I had personally taken on a lot of these tricky new steps: melting chocolate, whipping cream, and (ergh) stiffening egg whites. And "folding," whatever that meant.

Thankfully I was smart enough to do a trial run. By the time Chris came home, I was in our tiny galley kitchen with the Silver Palate Good Times book open for the recipe, Julia Child's The Way to Cook open to learn how stiffen egg whites properly, and Polly Clingerman's amazing how-to bible The Kitchen Companion open to figure out what I could possibly be doing wrong. Not to mention I was practically in tears because we didn't own an electric mixer (of course) and I had been whisking for almost 45 minutes. Needless to say, the next morning we went out and bought a hand mixer and all following attempts have been ridiculously less painful.

If you know even a little more than I did at the time, you really shouldn't have any trouble with this recipe. That said, there's something about creating this amazingly rich and decadent mousse that still gives me a feeling of ultimate satisfaction.

Chocolate Amaretto Mousse

1 1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate chips (2 bags)
1/2 cup brewed espresso (equivalent to 2 doppio espresso)
1/2 cup amaretto
4 egg yolks
1 cup heavy/whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
8 egg whites
1 cup lightly toasted almonds

- Lightly toast almonds and set aside.
- Melt chocolate chips over very low heat. Stir in espresso and then liqueur. Let cool to room temperature in your largest mixing bowl.
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat in with hand mixer.
- Whip cream with hand mixer in a separate (2nd largest) bowl until thickened, gradually adding sugar.
- Beat egg whites in a third bowl until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into whipped cream.
- Stir in about a third of egg white / whipped cream mix into chocolate, then fold in remaining mixture to combine.
- Before entirely combined, add and fold in almonds. Continue until completely combined.
- Pour into 8 to 10 glasses/bowls, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.