Chocolate mousse with black garlic

Garlic and chocolate? It works, believe me, but if you don’t think it’s for you, then just use this great chocolate mousse recipe and serve with roasted strawberries without the black garlic. Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen

• makes

  8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 150 g sugar
• 100 g roasted peeled hazelnuts
• Chervil sprigs or tarragon leaves and a little beaten egg white (optional), to serve

Chocolate mousse

• 600 g chocolate (65% cocoa solids), chopped
• 600 ml pouring cream
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 2 tbsp Frangelico 
• 6 eggs
• 110 g (½ cup) caster sugar

Poached strawberries with black garlic

• 500 g strawberries, hulled
• 30 g black garlic, peeled and chopped 
• 80 g brown sugar
• 75 ml Frangelico 

Chilling time: 1 hr

Instructions

For the chocolate mousse, place the chocolate and cream in a saucepan and stir low heat until the chocolate starts to melt. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly, stirring regularly until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the brandy and Frangelico.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale. Gently in the chocolate mixture, brandy and Frangelico until smooth and well combined. Pour into serving glasses, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until just set.

Meanwhile, to poach the strawberries, place all the ingredients into a heavy-based saucepan and gently stir over low-medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until the strawberries are just starting to break down but are still whole. Set aside to cool.

To make the caramel hazelnuts, place the sugar and 50 ml water in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Simmer until the caramel is dark golden but not burnt, then remove from the heat. Working quickly, stir in the roasted hazelnuts and spread over a baking paper-lined tray and stand until cool. Coarsely break up the caramel hazelnuts using a mortar and pestle or rolling pin.

To serve, top the mousse with the poached strawberries and a little liquid, a sprinkling of the coarsely crushed caramel hazelnuts, a few sprigs of chervil or tarragon and a dollop of beaten egg white, if desired.

Note:

• Black garlic is regular garlic that has been gently treated for an extended period of time. This caramelizes the sugars, resulting in soft black cloves of garlic with notes of balsamic and molasses. Available from good grocers or online.

Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen starts 8pm, Thursday 21 June on SBS and then you can catch-up on SBS On Demand. Visit the program page for recipes, videos and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.