Chilli Chocolate Mousse

I am a bit of a geek in that if I get my hands on some lovely food I always want to think of something really fun I can make with it, rather than just eating it.

This was the case when the fabulous Janey gave me a posh box of Hotel Chocolat Chilli & Nibs Sweethearts for my birthday - delicious heart shaped delights of dark chocolate, chilli and Madagascan cocoa nibs!

I had been saving them for a couple of weeks with the intention of making a Chilli Chocolate Mousse, then the perfect opportunity arose when Roy and Aída came to Manchester for a Sunday afternoon barbecue.

It was also a great excuse to use my gorgeous sundae dishes that I've been collecting in a variety of colours over the last few months! I totally love them.

I made the recipe quite healthy (apart from the chocolate of course) so that we can still get into our playsuits and things in the coming summer months, however, I did make sure I saved a good few choccies for us to eat on their own and of course to decorate the mousses!

I was really happy with how the mousses came out - really light and bubbly, not too sweet, chocolatey and with a surprising hot chilli kick at the end of a mouthful. The cocoa nibs in the Sweethearts were an excellent addition as they were a nice surprise every now and again in the mousse. Right up my street as well as Roy and Bailey's as we all like a bit of spice. Poor Aída isn't so into spicy but she still ate her's up! 

I will definitely be making this Chilli Chocolate Mousse again but now that I've come up with a basic recipe that works, I will have a little play and see what other summery puds I can come up with!

Recipe:
1 sachet gelatine
135ml hot water
500g Greek yogurt
5 tbsp Splenda
1 tsp chilli powder
100g chilli chocolate
2 egg whites
4 chilli chocolate shapes, to decorate

Whisk together the gelatine and hot water and leave to cool for around 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the Greek yogurt, Splenda and chilli powder together in a large bowl.

Melt the chilli chocolate in the microwave or over a bain marie. Pour the melted chocolate into the bowl with the yogurt mix and stir well. Add the cooled gelatine water mixture to the bowl and make sure it is fully combined.

Now whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mousse mixture using a metal spoon.

Transfer the chocolate mousse into four serving bowls.

Refrigerate the mousses for a few hours until fully set and moussey. Top each chocolate mousse with a chilli chocolate shape and serve! Deeee-licious!