This mascarpone chocolate mousse recipe makes a luscious and decadent dessert with a combination of rich and smooth flavors of mascarpone cheese, dark chocolate and cream. It is a truly a luxurious treat that is sure to impress everyone.
The mascarpone cheese provides a creamy and slightly tangy base for the dessert, while the cream adds a light and airy texture. The dark chocolate adds a deep, rich flavor that complements the creamy base.
This is a fairly easy chocolate mousse recipe and a quick one to make too. There is no baking or cooking required and you only need 5 ingredients to make it - mascarpone cheese, dark chocolate, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and heavy whipping cream. There is also no egg whites, which means this dessert is perfect for vegetarians too.
You start by melting the dark chocolate and mixing it with creamed mascarpone cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar, before folding into whipped cream. The resulting velvety mousse makes a luxurious dessert perfect for parties and special occasions.
Table of contents
What is Mascarpone Cheese?
Mascarpone cheese is a rich and creamy cheese that is traditionally made from cow's milk. It is similar in texture to cream cheese, but with a smoother and more delicate flavor.
Mascarpone is used in both sweet and savory dishes. It is mostly commonly used in making Italian desserts such as tiramisu and cannoli. Mascarpone is also great to be used as a topping for fruits, pancakes, or waffles, or even as a spread on crackers or bread.
Mascarpone cheese is typically made by heating cream to a specific temperature, then adding citric or tartaric acid to curdle it. The resulting curds are then drained, and the resulting cheese is rich and creamy, with a slightly sweet and tangy flavor.
How to make
Ingredients
- Mascarpone cheese
- Heavy whipping cream
- Powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- Dark chocolate (or bittersweet chocolate)
- Vanilla extract
Melting the chocolate
- Measure chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate block) into a heatproof bowl.
- Melt it over a double boiler or in a microwave. To melt the double boiler way, fill up some water into a small saucepan. Place the bowl of chocolate over the pot, making sure the water does not touch the bowl. Turn on the flame to a medium-low heat. For this purpose, it helps to use a pot that is smaller than the bowl.
- Let the steam from the water warm up the bowl and melt the chocolate. Stir occasionally to expedite the melting. You can also melt the chocolate in a microwave. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat it up at short intervals of 30 seconds on medium or high until the chocolate is fully melted.
- Once the chocolate melts, set the chocolate aside to cool completely to room temperature.
Assembling the mousse
- In a separate large bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft stiff peaks from with an electric mixer (on medium speed). Place the bowl in the refrigerator while waiting for the chocolate to cool down.
- In another separate bowl, measure the mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar. Whip both until well incorporated.
- Once the chocolate has cooled down to room temperature, add it to the mascarpone cheese mixture. Add in the vanilla extract.
- Whip until well combined.
- Next, remove the whipped cream from the fridge. Add approximately 2 spoonful of the whipped cream into the mascarpone chocolate mixture. Fold until well combined.
- Repeat the process with 2 more spoonful cream.
- And then, set aside about 2 spoonful of the cream into a separate bowl (to be used as the topping later) and fold in all the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mascarpone mixture.
- Transfer the mascarpone chocolate mousse into a large pastry bag.
- Snip the tip and pipe it into prepared mousse cups.
- To level the tops, place a folded kitchen towel on your kitchen countertop or table and tap the mousse cups gently on cloth to level the mascarpone chocolate mousse.
- Next, grate some white chocolate shavings onto each of the chocolate mousse cups.
- And finally, transfer the earlier reserved whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a large star in the center of each mascarpone chocolate mousse cups.
Chill the mascarpone mousse for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving to allow the mousse to set. Keep the mousse chilled at all times, until ready to serve. This mascarpone chocolate mousse is best served chilled.
Notes
Use good quality chocolate
- This mascarpone chocolate mousse have a very rich chocolate taste. For best results, use good quality dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa in it.
- If using chocolate bar, chop it into small, even sized pieces for quick and even melting.
- Also, make sure no water comes into contact with the chocolate when melting it to avoid the chocolate from seizing and forming clumps.
Do not overwhip the cream
- This chocolate mascarpone mousse is best made with heavy whipping cream (with at least 35% fat).
- Whipping cream is sensitive to heat. It will not whip at room temperature and need to chill. For best results, chill the bowl as well so that the cream remains cold as it is being whipped.
- Once the cream reaches a soft peak stage, you can stop the whipping process. Whipping for too long (in the hope that it will stiffen more) could result in the cream becoming butter. Hence, it is advisable to stop once the soft peak stage is achieved.
Serving suggestions
- This mascarpone chocolate mousse is best served in individual serving cups. It is a very rich dessert and is best served in small serving sizes.
- The mousse is great on its own, and tastes even better when topped with cream and white chocolate. Here are some other serving suggestions:
- Sift some cocoa powder for a truly rich chocolate taste before adding the shaved chocolate and whipped cream
- Drizzle the top with some melted chocolate (white chocolate or milk chocolate)
- Top the whipped cream with some fresh fruit like fresh raspberries or strawberries.
- Top the whipped cream with some grated orange rind (orange zest).
How long does the mousse last?
- This mousse should be kept refrigerated at all times. It can last in the fridge for a good 4 to 5 days.
Like this dessert recipe? Here are my other posts you should check out:
Recipe (Printable)
Here is the full printable version of my easy and rich mascarpone chocolate mousse recipe card.
📖Recipe
Mascarpone Chocolate Mousse
For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.
Ingredients
Mousse
- 250 ml cream
- 250 g mascarpone cheese
- 225 g dark chocolate
- 25 g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decoration
- White chocolate
Instructions
- Measure chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
- Melt it over a double boiler or in a microwave. If using chocolate block, chop it into small pieces for quick melting.
- To melt the double boiler way, fill up some water into a small pot. Place the bowl of chocolate over the pot, making sure the water does not touch the bowl. For this purpose, it helps to use a pot that is smaller than the bowl.
- Let the steam from the water warm up the bowl and melt the chocolate. Stir occasionally to expedite the melting.
- To melt using the microwave, place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it up at short intervals of 30 seconds on medium or high until the chocolate is fully melted.
- Set the chocolate aside to cool completely to room temperature.
- In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks from. Set aside in the refrigerator while waiting for the chocolate to cool down.
- In another separate bowl, measure the mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar. Cream both until well incorporated.
- Once the chocolate has cooled down to room temperature, add it to the mascarpone cheese mixture. Add in the vanilla extract and whip until well combined.
- Next, remove the whipped cream from the fridge. Set aside 2 spoonful of the cream. Keep it refrigerated.
- From the remaining cream, add approximately 2 spoonful into the chocolate mascarpone mixture. Fold until well combined. Repeat with 2 more spoonful of cream before folding in all the remaining whipped cream. Mix until well combined.
- Transfer the mascarpone chocolate mousse into a large piping bag. Snip the tip and pipe it into prepared mousse cups. To level the tops, place a folded kitchen towel on your kitchen countertop or table and tap the mousse cups gently on cloth to level the mascarpone chocolate mousse.
- Next, grate some white chocolate onto each of the chocolate mousse cups.
- Transfer the reserved whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a large whipped cream star in the center of each mascarpone chocolate mousse cup. You can also just add a dallop of the cream onto the mousse with a teaspoon.
- Chill the mousse for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving to allow it to set. Keep the mousse chilled at all times, until ready to serve. This mascarpone chocolate mousse is best served chilled.
Nutrition
And that's that. My easy chocolate mousse with mascarpone cheese.
Enjoy!
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