For dark chocolate mousse, as was served at the Royal Orleans (and was considered to be the best chocolate mousse anyone had ever tasted), use the list of ingredients below and follow the same procedure as above, except using hot coffee instead of brandy, and whisking the vanilla into he egg yolk-chocolate mixture instead of into the whites. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat. Its a good idea to stand over the chocolate while it is melting and stir it until its completely melted, then take it off the heat immediately. Whip the cream and set aside. Pour the hot coffee and hot water slowly into a bowl with the egg yolks, whisking briskly as you go until completely mixed. Add the vanilla to the egg yolks. Whisk in the melted chocolate. Keep whisking even after the mixture is completely combined; this will help to cool the chocolate. Whip the egg whites and the sugar until peaking but not dry. Fold the egg-white meringue into the chocolate mixture carefully with a wooden spoon. Fold in the whipped cream. THIS IS THE MOST CRUCIAL PART OF THE RECIPE. The key to a great chocolate mousse is that you cant incorporate hot melted chocolate into whipped cream. The chocolate mixture must be cool to the touch or the cream will break. Lightly blend the two mixtures until uniform. This mousse is at its best cloudlike texture right after incorporating the whipped cream. But at Andreas, they pipe it into dish-shaped champagne glasses, sprinkle chocolate shavings and powdered sugar over the top, and refrigerate. This causes the mousse to set, which gives it a different, heavier texture. Walt MM Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V3 #260 Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 22:08:59 -0400 From: Walt Gray