Chocolate Mousse with Cherries

Cook Time 45 minutes plus refrigeration

Servings 4-6

Ingredients

600ml thickened cream

5 tbsp caster sugar

2 eggs (separated)

300g dark chocolate (chopped or buttons)

Cherries

415g tin of cherries (keep the juice from the tin)

¼ cup caster sugar 

Method

In pot add half the cream (300ml), 3 tbsp sugar and egg yolks. Whisk together and place on medium heat. In a heatproof bowl, add the chocolate. Once cream begins to steam hot, take off immediately and pour over the chocolate. Allow to sit for 2 minutes before using a spoon bring all together until glossy and smooth.

In a separate bowl, add the egg whites with 2 tbsp caster sugar and whisk hard until you have soft meringue light peaks. Use a stand mixer with whisk attachment if you like.

In a separate bowl add remaining cream (300ml) and whisk hard until you have soft peaks.

Add two spoonfuls of the chocolate and whisk into cream. Add the rest of the chocolate and half the meringue in and fold through. Add remaining meringue and fold through. Pour mousse into cups of container to spoon out. Place in fridge for minimum 3 hours, or preferably overnight.

Place the cherries, the juice from the tin and sugar in a small pot and place on medium heat to make simple syrup. Allow the syrup to come together and bring to a super high bubbling heat, before pouring over cherries and mixing through. Allow to sit whilst mousse chills.

If you have cherries that are quite hard, add them back into the pot on a little bit of heat and allow to soften and become syrupy. To serve, add cherries to a scoop of mousse with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt on top.