Nutella Chocolate Mousse is an elegant and decadent dessert sure to impress your valentine and make your romantic evening perfect!
You can’t have a Valentine’s Day meal without a rich chocolate dessert. I love chocolate mousse for many reasons: it’s easy to make, tastes amazing, and is the perfect ending to a romantic dinner! Though I love the classic chocolate mousse, I decided to add some Nutella to make things a little more interesting. Best. Idea. Ever.
Don’t let the light and fluffy texture of the mousse fool you, this dessert still packs a nice punch of rich, chocolate decadence. The Nutella just elevates chocolate mousse to a whole new level. This is one dessert you won’t be able to stop thinking about it once you taste it!
For the perfect balance of sweetness, I use bittersweet chocolate against the Nutella. I really wanted the hazelnut flavor to be noticed so I added hazelnut-flavored coffee, which also enhances the richness of the chocolate. Coffee is wonderful in chocolate desserts; you don’t really taste a strong coffee flavor, but it does make the chocolate taste chocolatier. Try adding a small amount of espresso powder to your favorite chocolate baked-goods to see for yourself!
You should make the mousse a few hours before you plan on serving, or even a day or two ahead of time. You want it to have enough time to set up, so making ahead is a must here! It’s the perfect dessert to end your Valentine’s Day meal; it’s chocolaty, yet light enough that you won’t feel weighed down after eating it.
I like to serve my chocolate mousse in beautiful serving dishes and top with hazelnuts, chocolate espresso beans, whipped cream, fruit, etc. Get creative with the toppings, or just eat it on it’s own! Either way it will be amazing.
What are your favorite desserts to serve up for a romantic meal?
- 4 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
- ½ Cup Nutella
- 2 Egg Yolks
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- ¼ Cup Brewed Hazelnut Coffee, cooled (or any coffee will work!)
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- Assorted Toppings For Serving: Chopped Hazelnuts, Chopped Chocolate Espresso Beans, Fruit, Whipped Cream, etc.
- Using a double boiler melt the chocolate and nutella until very smooth.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the egg yolks and sugar. Whip with a hand mixer on high speed until the yolks are a pale yellow color and the mixture is fluffy. Mix in the cooled coffee.
- Using a whisk, quickly mix in the chocolate-nutella mixture into the egg mixture. Set aside and cool completely.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the cream into the chocolate mixture in 3-4 additions. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or overnight. Scoop mousse into pretty serving dishes and garnish with desired toppings.
- You can set up a double boiler by placing a bowl over a simmering pot of water - use a tempered glass or stainless steel bowl and make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. You want the steam to gently melt the chocolate.
- It's important to allow the chocolate-egg mixture to cool down before folding in the whipped cream. If you do this step while it's warm, it will deflate the cream and you won't have a nice fluffy mousse!
This looks really delicious and i can’t wait to try it as my first attempt at mousse. However, the cream just making sure it’s heavy cream and not heavy whipping cream. Is that a difference? Thank you!
Heavy cream is what you want, but heavy whipping cream will also work. The only difference in the two is the fat content – the heavy cream whips up a bit stiffer so holds longer in a mousse. However, it’s not so much of a difference that heavy whipping cream won’t work also. Hope you like it! 🙂