I Made Ina Garten's 'Easy Chocolate Mousse' and There's Just One Thing I Would Change

From her homemade ricotta cheese to her elegant potato galette and her viral brownie pudding, Ina Garten’s fan-favorite recipes are well-loved and frequently tested here at Parade. We’re drawn to the Barefoot Contessa’s simple, sophisticated dishes that help us bring a little bit of Ina’s elegance to our kitchens, so it was only a matter of time before we dug our spoons into Ina’s Easy Chocolate Mousse.

Ina first shared her recipe for this timeless treat just a few years ago, but it quickly became a favorite amongst her most loyal fans. And I can see why. This dessert embodies everything that home cooks love about Ina’s recipes: It’s simple, yet dinner party-worthy, and it’s made with high-quality ingredients, like good chocolate, strong coffee, flavorful vanilla extract and plenty of booze.

It’s also easy to make the mousse look fancy and this is one dish that must be made ahead, which is a major plus for dinner parties and holiday gatherings. Top it off with homemade whipped cream because, after all, everything’s better with whipped cream. In true Ina fashion, if you don’t have time to make whipped cream from scratch, store-bought would be fine, though we’re not sure we can imagine Ina wielding a can of Reddi-wip.

After running across this recipe, I knew I had to give it a try in my kitchen, as I’ve done with plenty of Ina recipes in the past. So I gathered the ingredients and started mixing with the hopes of finding a new favorite chocolate mousse recipe. Would this one become my go-to for hosting and entertaining? Read on for my full review of Ina Garten’s Easy Chocolate Mousse.

Related: I Tried Ina Garten’s Salted Caramel Brownies That Fans Are Calling ‘So Decadent’

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What Is Ina Garten’s Easy Chocolate Mousse? 

Ina Garten’s Easy Chocolate Mousse recipe first appeared in her 2022 cookbook, Go-To Dinners. She calls it a beginner-friendly recipe that serves four to five guests—presumably those that she hosts in the gardens of her East Hampton home. It’s a make-ahead recipe that’s perfect for at-home dinner parties and date nights because it’s so simple yet luxurious. 

Related: I Made the Brownies Ina Garten Sold ‘Like a Thousand’ of Every Week—They Are Worth the Hype

Ingredients Needed for Ina’s Chocolate Mousse

To make Ina Garten’s chocolate mousse, you’ll need a duo of bittersweet and milk chocolate, which gives the mousse its rich, complex flavor. You’ll also need freshly-brewed espresso or coffee, plus coffee liqueur (like Kahlúa), which enhances the deep chocolate notes. A little bit of vanilla and kosher salt helps to round out all the flavors.

To give the mousse its luxurious texture, Ina calls for using extra-large eggs (you’ll use the yolks and whites separately). Be sure to check the carton in your fridge because using the wrong size can impact how this dessert turns out. 

Finally, you’ll make a quick whipped cream with heavy cream and granulated sugar, which is folded into the chocolate and egg mixture to lighten everything up and make it ultra creamy. 

Related:I Tried Ina Garten’s Super Simple Meatloaf and It’s an Instant Classic

How To Make Ina’s Chocolate Mousse

Start by grabbing a double boiler or DIYing one by adding a few inches of water to a small pot and placing a medium heatproof bowl (metal or glass) on top of the pot. If you’re setting up your own double boiler, make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl, which can cause the chocolate to burn.

Once you have your setup ready, add both chocolates and the brewed coffee to the bowl and bring the water to a boil. Heat just until the chocolate melts, stirring often. Once the chocolate is melted, carefully remove the bowl and stir in the Kahlúa and vanilla, then set aside to cool.

In the meantime, beat the egg whites and salt together until stiff peaks form. I used a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, but you can also use a hand mixer to do this. 

Next, you’ll whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture, then add the beaten egg whites in two batches (whisking the first batch, then folding in the remainder with a rubber spatula).

In the same bowl that you whipped the egg whites in, make a simple homemade whipped cream with heavy cream and granulated sugar. Once the ingredients form cohesive soft peaks, gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Divide the mousse among four to five small dessert bowls and chill for at least two hours or up to overnight.

When you’re ready to serve, garnish with sweetened whipped cream—which, of course, Ina has included a recipe for (but again, canned whipped cream will work perfectly fine).

Related: I Made Ina Garten’s ‘Outrageous’ Garlic Bread and It’s Rich, Buttery and Impossible To Resist

Ina Garten’s Easy Chocolate Mousse: My Honest Thoughts

Making homemade chocolate mousse isn’t exactly a beginner-friendly task, and despite its “easy” title, Ina’s recipe is no exception. Her version follows several traditional steps for making chocolate mousse, including melting the chocolate in a double boiler, separately incorporating the egg whites and egg yolks, and making whipped cream.

Each of these steps is somewhat time-consuming, creates a lot of dirty dishes and requires the knowledge of some specific techniques. I do think the recipe title and cook level (“beginner”) are misleading and could ultimately lead a novice cook astray. 

But let’s get to the important part—the rich, velvety and chocolatey dessert. When I first tasted the mousse from the mixing bowl before it set, I found it to be extremely rich and decadent—perhaps even too rich and decadent. But after it chilled in the fridge for a few hours and set, the mousse really impressed me.

The texture was perfectly airy and fluffy, while the flavor was still plenty rich and decadent (but not quite as overwhelming). The bonus whipped cream topping helped balance out all of that chocolatey richness, and I’d go so far as to say that for the most enjoyable eating experience, it’s not an optional garnish.

However, this chocolate mousse did taste quite boozy thanks to the addition of ¼ cup of Kahlúa; if you follow Ina’s math and divide this mousse between just four bowls, that amounts to an entire tablespoon of Kahlúa in each serving. Although I enjoy the flavor of the coffee liqueur, I found that it almost overpowered the chocolate mousse rather than enhanced it.

Overall, I did enjoy the chocolatey depth of this mousse, and it’s one that I would make again. However, I’d probably tweak the recipe slightly so it wouldn’t be quite so boozy, and I’d make sure to chill the mousse overnight to allow the flavors to mellow out a bit.

Related: What’s the Best Type of Chocolate for Chocolate-Covered Strawberries? A Legendary French Pastry Chef Weighs In

3 Tips for Making Ina’s Chocolate Mousse

1. Make sure to beat the egg whites to soft peaks

The beaten egg white mixture is key to achieving that airy, light mousse texture. Simply mixing the egg whites won’t get the job done—make sure you beat them to soft peaks first for the absolute best mousse consistency.

2. Consider dialing back on the booze

Although the Kahlúa does give this chocolate mousse a uniquely boozy, coffee-infused flavor, I do think Ina’s recipe calls for a bit too much. If I were to make this again, I’d probably reduce the Kahlúa amount by half. If you reduce the booze and find that you want more, you could always add some to the whipped cream topping.

3. Serve the mousse in smaller portions

While Ina’s recipe says it serves four to five, I think it could easily be divided into six portions. Four servings were extremely generous and quite rich, so it would be easy enough to make this recipe for a larger group without having to actually make more mousse.

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