Dark Chocolate Mousse with Hazelnut Praline

This month, we chose to focus on our 88% Dark Chocolate slab, and create something delicious using it. This is what we came up with!

Dark Chocolate Mousse with Hazelnut Praline:

Mousse:
200g 88% Honest Chocolate slab
2 leaves of gelatine
180ml milk
250ml cream
100g caster sugar

Hazelnut Praline:
100g hazelnuts, shelled
1 cup caster sugar

Berry Coulis:
1 cup Mixed berry puree
½ cup Castor sugar

Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of  simmering water to melt the chocolate. Alternatively, simply melt it in the microwave. Once the chocolate has completely melted, remove from the heat and set aside.

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 10 minutes. Place the milk, cream, sugar in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove the milk from the heat, strain onto the melted chocolate and stir well to combine. Squeeze the gelatine leaves to remove the excess water and add these to the mixture, stirring to dissolve the gelatine. Pour into the moulds and allow to cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours.

To make the hazelnut praline, place the sugar in a clean saucepan over low heat and leave to caramelize until you have a beautiful caramel, but keep a close eye to ensure the sugar doesn’t burn. As you take the mixture off the heat, quickly stir in the hazelnuts before it sets and spread onto greased foil to set. Once hardened, place the praline in a food processor and blitz until fine, or roughly bash the praline into small chunks.

To prepare the coulis, simmer mixed berry puree and sugar on medium heat. Add a squeeze of lemon juice if desired. Allow to cool.

To serve, drop the base of the mousse mould into hot water for a few seconds, then turn out onto dessert plates. Serve with a drizzle of berry coulis and hazelnut praline sprinkled over the top.

Serves 4

Recipe inspired by: https://www.nomu.co.za/recipes/desserts-a-treats/cold-desserts/dark-chocolate-panna-cotta–with-hazelnut-praline/