Chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis - just another boring Thursday

I have a French Country Light Cookbook.  While I do find lighter, heathy French cooking a bit of a myth, I dove in to it today to find a low calorie dessert. 

Scanning through the recipes, I had all of the ingredients to make chocolate mousse, but needed an idea on how to brighten it up.  I'm not a huge fan of plain chocolate and the idea of raspberry coulis sounded just perfect. 

I took a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some frozen raspberries and stopped at my friends "American Provisions" shop on the way home.  After about 45 minutes of cheese tasting, I left with a promise to return in a few hours with samples of the new recipe. 

File the below recipes under the "easy, yet super impressive" category.  All said, it took about 30 minutes to put together, and an hour to chill.  True to my word, I returned to American Provisions with 2 servings of mousse for taste testing.  With the phrases "this is outstanding!" and "oh my gosh, this is soooo good" flying around, I was convinced that I had a keeper.  

The recipes come from French Country Light Cooking by Evelyne Slomon.   Enjoy! 

Chocolate Mousse

4 1/2 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch

3 tbsp hot espresso or strongly brewed coffee

8 egg whites

pinch of salt

1/4 cup sugar

In a double boiler over simmering water, combine the chocolate, cocoa powder and hot coffee.  Cook, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Remove the chocolate from the heat. 

In a large, clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy.  Add the sugar and continue beating until they are stiff and glossy. 

Mix 1/4 of the egg whites thoroughly into the chocolate base to lighten it.  Add the lightened chocolate mixture to the remaining egg whites, and fold, just until no trace of white remains.  Pour into a large souffle dish or 6 to 8 smaller individual ones. 

Refrigerate at least 1 hour, but no more then 6 hours.  Top with raspberry coulis and fresh berries.

Raspberry Coulis

1 package (10 oz) frozen raspberries packed in heavy syrup, thawed, juices reserved

1 tbsp lemon juice

In a food processor, puree the raspberries with their syrup and the lemon juice until smooth.  Strain through a fine strainer to remove seeds.  Chill. 

Side note:  For those of you in Southie (or just in Boston), check out my friend Andys shop, American Provisions, on the corner of I and Broadway in South Boston.  

http://www.yelp.com/biz/american-provisions-boston