Dark Chocolate & Blood Orange Mousse with Cocoa Nib Tuiles

⏱ 50 min · Serves 4

Silky, barely-set dark chocolate mousse perfumed with orange zest and a whisper of Grand Marnier, crowned with shards of brittle, bittersweet cocoa nib tuile. It looks like a restaurant plate but the mousse is really just chocolate, eggs and cream — the drama is all in the assembly.

Per serving: 636 kcal · 9.5g protein · 47.0g carbs · 45.0g fat

Ingredients

• 180g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), finely chopped
• 3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 30g caster sugar (for the whites)
• 200ml double cream, cold
• Finely grated zest of 1 blood orange (or regular orange)
• 1 tbsp Grand Marnier or Cointreau (optional)
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp blood orange juice
• FOR THE TUILES:
• 40g caster sugar
• 30g unsalted butter
• 20g golden syrup
• 15g plain flour
• 20g cocoa nibs, roughly crushed
• TO SERVE:
• 1 blood orange, segmented
• Flaky sea salt, to finish

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over barely simmering water, then remove and let it cool for 5 minutes until just warm, not hot.
2. Beat the egg yolks with the orange zest, orange juice, liqueur and salt, then stir into the warm chocolate until glossy and thick.
3. Whip the double cream to soft, floppy peaks — stop well before stiff. Fold a third into the chocolate to loosen it, then fold in the rest gently.
4. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, add the 30g sugar in a slow stream and whisk to a shiny, medium-peak meringue.
5. Fold the meringue into the chocolate mixture in three additions, using a large spatula and stopping the moment it's uniform. Divide between 4 glasses or bowls and chill at least 3 hours (or 2 hours minimum, firm enough to eat).
6. For the tuiles, heat oven to 180C/160C fan. Melt the sugar, butter and golden syrup in a small pan until bubbling, remove from heat and beat in the flour, then the cocoa nibs.
7. Drop teaspoons of the batter well apart on a lined baking tray, flattening slightly. Bake 7–8 minutes until lacy and deeply bubbling. Cool 1 minute, then lift with a palette knife and drape over a rolling pin to curve; leave to set hard.
8. To serve, top each mousse with a few blood orange segments, a pinch of flaky salt and 2 tuile shards planted upright. Serve straight away so the tuiles stay crisp.