This chocolate mousse is so rich and dense, it’s almost a solid mass of chocolate. It is by far my favorite mousse. If you like texture, and you love chocolate, this is the dessert for you. It comes together in a snap (as long as you have electric beaters or don’t mind an arm workout), and needs to be made ahead of time, so you’ll never have to worry about keeping an eye on the oven while company’s over. If you’d like, serve it as part of a complete Gossip Girl TV Dinner!

**Recipe**

Rich Chocolate Mousse
Serves 4-6
From Tasting Table, adapted from Caite Whitbeck of Buvette restaurant

Note: The original recipe is twice this amount, which would create an ungodly amount of mousse, which frankly, is too much for me to trust myself to have in the fridge. This is why the eggs are divided in half—I used egg whites from a carton, but you could divide the egg whites by separating one into a bowl and approximating about half its volume. Don’t sweat it you end up with a little more or less than half an egg white.

Ingredients
8 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate
1.5 sticks unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated, plus 1.5 egg whites, room temperature
Salt
3 teaspoons sugar
Whipped cream (optional)

In a double boiler, or in a small heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water (don’t let the water touch the bowl), warm the chocolate and the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally until just melted. Let cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg whites with a pinch of salt and whisk until semi-firm peaks form, about 10 to 12 minutes. Fold in the sugar and set aside.

In a second bowl, whisk the egg yolks together until they look pale yellow. Gradually add some of the melted chocolate into the yolk mixture, whisking well to incorporate and temper the mixture. Continue to slowly add the chocolate to the egg yolks until all of the chocolate has been incorporated. (If your egg yolk bowl isn’t big enough, once you’ve tempered them with enough of the chocolate, you can add that mixture back into the chocolate bowl).

Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Cover the container with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Serve individual portions with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.