This past weekend, some lovely lady friends and I gathered together to celebrate Galentine’s Day. The soirée was a perfect excuse to pull out food gadgets that I rarely use, namely, my fondue pot and crepière (crêpe machine). Additionally, the festive occasion provided an opportunity to try my hand at a classy-ish dessert. After brainstorming many possibilities, from cakes with chocolate collars to cream puff towers, I decided to concoct Pomegranate Mousse in Chocolate Cups.
I’ve experimented with chocolate cups in the past. Twice before, to be precise. A few years ago, I made tiramisu cupcakes in chocolate shells. Then, about a year ago, I made chocolate cups filled with pistachio and chocolate mousse. Chocolate cups as dessert are pretty impressive, but making the cups can be a bit time consuming. My friends loved the pomegranate mousse and the chocolate cups, so it was well worth the effort. I brought some of the leftover cups to work; one of my colleagues said it was the best thing I had ever made. I’ll take the compliment.
Before you dive in, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Add red food coloring to achieve a reddish shade; pomegranate molasses is almost dark brown in color, so the mousse will look slightly brown without some help.
- This pomegranate mousse is not very sweet; it’s slightly tart. If you want a sweeter mousse, consider adding another tablespoon or two of sugar to the cream. You can also reduce the pomegranate molasses to 1/4 cup.
- For a stiffer mousse, use a full packet of gelatin, instead of half.
- I generally melt chocolate using the double boiler method. However, you can also melt chocolate in the microwave using 15 to 20 second intervals.
- To temper chocolate, I referenced this handy guide from Serious Eats: The Best Way to Temper Chocolate.
Here are some of the supplies that I used:
- These Boston Sweets Silicone Cupcake Liners are what I used to make my chocolate cups.
- If you can’t find pomegranate molasses at your local store, you can buy Pomegranate Molasses online.
- If you make a purchase from either link above, I will receive a small referral fee.
Pomegranate Mousse in Chocolate Cups
Ingredients
Pomegranate Mousse
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 tsp gelatin
- 1/3 cup pomegranate molasses
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3-4 drops red food coloring
- rose petals remove stems
Chocolate Cups
- 24 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate divided
Instructions
Pomegranate Mousse
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Add the cream, powdered sugar, food coloring and vanilla to a bowl. Whip until stiff peaks form.
The key to whipping cream is to keep everything cold, cold, cold. To cool the bowl, you can: 1 - chill it in the freezer until its cold, or, 2 - fill a bowl with ice, and place the bowl with cream inside the bowl with ice.
Also, cream tends to splatter everywhere when mixing, so consider using a large bowl.
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In a heatproof bowl, add the gelatin and tablespoons of water. Let is sit for a few minutes, until the gelatin coagulates. In a microwave, melt the gelatin until it's liquid. Add the pomegranate molasses and mix.
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Incorporate the molasses into the whipped cream. Fold the molasses in gently; aggressive stirring will deflate the whipped cream.
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Scoop the mousse into a piping bag, and pipe into the desired vessel. Sprinkle with crushed dried rose petals. Mousse can keep for a day or two refrigerated.
Chocolate Cups
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Fill a small pot with about an inch of water. Place on the stove and turn heat to low. Place a heat safe bowl on top of the pot. Add 12 oz chocolate.
While melting the chocolate, you never want the water in the pot to boil - that means the heat is too high and your chocolate will likely seize.
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Heat the chocolate until melted. It should reach a temperature of about 115 degrees F.
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Remove the bowl of chocolate from heat. Add 4 oz chocolate and stir until melted. Add another 4 oz chocolate. Stir until melted. Check the temperature of the chocolate. You want to stir until it reaches about 81 degrees F. Add more chocolate if needed (as long as the added chocolate is still melting).
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When the chocolate hits about 81 degrees F, move the bowl of chocolate back to heat (on top of the pot with warm water). Reheat to 88 degrees F. Remove from heat.
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Scoop a spoonful of chocolate into a cupcake mold. Spread chocolate (using a knife, spoon, or just swirling) until the inside of the mold is completely covered.
You shouldn't see any of the mold peaking through the chocolate. Try not to cover the lip of the cupcake mold with chocolate; it will make peeling the hardened chocolate a bit more difficult.
Keep an eye on the temperature of the chocolate. You want to maintain 88 degrees F. You may need to put the bowl of chocolate back on heat for a few minutes as you are making the chocolate cups.
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Repeat until all the chocolate is used, or until the molds are all filled. Allow the chocolate to harden completely before peeling the molds from the chocolate.
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