Cup is this fortnights theme, and I have been a little behind in my posting again, but never mind they are hopefully worth the wait when they do make their way onto the blog! I wanted to avoid cupcakes for this challenge and then I recalled making this relatively easy dessert. I had a couple of friends over from Adelaide (Hi Kristie and Dom), and whilst Tim had the mains covered, I needed to come up with a dessert for our guests.

Coffee & Chocolate Mousse Cups, as seen in Gordan Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch cookbook

serves 4

100g good quality dark chocolate (about 60-70% coca solids)

125g mascarpone

2 tbsp icing sugar

4 tbsp strong espresso coffee, cooled

150ml double cream

to finish:

4 tbsp double cream

a little dark grated chocolate

Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth, then remove the bowl from the head and leave to cool.

With a hand whisk, beat the mascarpone and icing sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the espresso and melted chocolate.

In another bowl, whip the double creame until soft peaks form. Fold the cream into the mocha mixture until welll combined. Spoon the mousse into four cappuccino or ramekins and chill overnight.

Just before serving, lightly whip the 4 tbsp double cream and swirl over the mousses. Sprinkle the grated chocolate on top and serve immediately.

Don’t be fooled by the amount that this recipe originally produces, It doesn’t look like enough when you first spoon it into the cups, but consider this.. it’s incredibly rich! So you really don’t want a lot of it. The recipe is totally easy to make and is great when you want to have dessert sorted when you have a mates over, as it can be finished off in a flash and made the night before.

A couple of notes from me, I always serve this with a crunch biscuit. This time I used from hazelnut bread. It’s totally perfect for scooping into your cup and eating straight off the bread. Be careful not to whip your cream too much, double cream doesn’t need much – you don’t want to end up with butter.