Place coffee, ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream (NOT the entire cream!!) and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool for 5-8 minutes.
2 tablespoons strong brewed coffee, 2 ½ oz dark chocolate
In the meantime, add mascarpone, remaining 1 cup heavy whipping cream and sugar to a chilled stainless steel bowl. Whip JUST until very soft peaks form, then gradually beat in chocolate mixture on high speed until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat, or mousse will split!
⅔ cup mascarpone, ½ cup icing sugar
Spoon into four 6-oz-capacity ramekins or jars and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or up to a few hours.
Serve garnished with extra whipped cream, chocolate shavings, cocoa powder and ladyfingers. Mousse keeps in refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Notes
Cream: Make sure you use cream from a carton labelled “heavy whipping” or something similar. Pouring cream, light cream, cream for cooking, half and half, milk or anything that doesn’t say “heavy cream” or “whipping cream” or “heavy whipping cream” will NOT WORK in this recipe. Make sure it is well chilled, or else it will not whip.
Mascarpone: If you can’t get a hold of mascarpone, softened cream cheese works as a substitute. It yields a somewhat different taste and texture, but it still works incredibly well.
Icing sugar: It’s very important to use icing sugar, and not regular sugar here. If yours is lumpy, please sift it before adding it to the recipe.
Chocolate: Dark chocolate adds the deepest flavor and color to this recipe. If you prefer a milk chocolate mousse, feel free to use that instead.
Espresso: You want this brewed really strong, because you’re not adding a lot. If you don’t have an espresso maker, brew very strong coffee instead.
Chocolate melting: Melting the chocolate in a little bit of liquid is a very simple method that’s quite foolproof. That being said, you must stick to medium-low heat. Else, even this method will cause the chocolate to seize up and get ruined.Chocolate chilling: Make sure to chill the chocolate mixture for no more than 5-8 minutes, else it will be too firm and no longer pourable. This would prevent it from properly mixing into the cream base.