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Dear The Simmering Chef,
I like to party, and when I say party, I mean I like to cook a nice meal for a select group of friends every once in a while. I’ve got the entrée down fine and make a mean salad, but I struggle with the dessert. It’s just not my thing, but I am not interested in buying it because they are so expensive. Is there something I could do that’s quick and almost disaster-proof?
Dinner Party Diva,
Durham, North Carolina
Dear DPD,
The simplest and most full-proof method is to ask someone else to bring the dessert, but if that isn’t in the cards, you have options.
If you are willing to buy ice cream, be guided by O. G. MFK Fisher, who used to serve to her guests scoops of vanilla ice cream with a healthy sprinkle of cocoa powder on top. It’s one of the most delightful desserts, and you can’t get much easier.
Now, you can make mousse, which is superb and easier to make than most people think. The New York Time Chocolate Mousse recipe without butter is what the French serve at their dinner parties. Nigella Lawson’s Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse is an excellent alternative if anyone has a dairy sensitivity, or go all out and make Crema di Mascarpone if you want to knock everyone’s socks off. The technique for all three is essentially the same, except there's no need to nuke anything in the microwave for the Crema recipe.
NOTE: I fold the whipped whites into the Crema, whereas the recipe link doesn’t even use them.
Funny story. I’ve been trying to make Nigella Lawson’s Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse for the past month and failing miserably. My friend, Dale, got a blow-by-blow every time I made it.
“Too dense. It should have that lovely silky light texture that mouse has.”
“Oh, my god. It’s hard as a rock today. What is going on?”
“I figured out that if you pop it in the microwave for 5 seconds, the texture is lovely!”
On and on, it went for 30 days until I figured out that I was mixing up my recipes and getting the quantities all wrong. That happens when the NYT's recipe is right above Nigella’s on my handwritten notes. Mea culpa.
Here’s why I like Nigella’s recipe. It’s fast, probably takes all of 15 minutes to put together, if that much, and it tastes great, including its texture. It’s got the richness you crave from chocolate mousse, with the olive oil intensifying the chocolate.
Here are the directions:
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 24-second bursts. Mine took three of those when using 75 grams of chocolate.
While it’s cooling, I whip the whites to where they start to get fluffy, sprinkle in half the sugar and salt, then carry on beating until I have stiff peaks and there’s a beautiful glossiness to the whites.
Next, I add the rest of the sugar, salt, and vanilla to the yolks and whip them until they lighten in color. I’ll add a splash of brandy, but you could use rum or whatever you like and whip the yolks some more to mix the alcohol in them.
The olive oil gets stirred into the chocolate, and then that gets stirred into the yolks.
Stir in a spoonful of the whites to lighten the chocolate mixture before folding in the rest of the whites. Think of folding as using the spatula’s side to combine the whites and chocolate in a circular motion, sort of a gentle cut-in-the-center-curl-up-the-side-while-turning-the-bowl motion.
If you were a chef, you’d have to do this until all the whites were incorporated, which could deflate the whites. Think more French, relax, and bring it together with as slight deflation as possible. If somebody gets some unincorporated white, shrug your shoulders and say in your best French accent, "There are more important things in life."
Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
NOTE: Buy your organic eggs from a local egg farmer to help prevent salmonella poisoning.
Here’s hoping any of the above options help, and here’s to a great next dinner party.
If you have questions, please ask, subscribe to, and like The Simmering Chef on Substack, and go ahead and comment. It’s good to hear from you!
Thank you so much for listening! As always, fail brilliantly and eat well.
The Simmering Chef
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