Last year I posted a recipe for Chocolate Mousse that my family makes every year for Christmas. That recipe is not very authentic – but it doesn’t discount how delicious it is or how much we anticipate making and eating it each year. For my fondue holiday party, I wanted to try and make something closer to the real deal. The only hold up to this recipe is the raw eggs but you can give fair warning to your guests – mine didn’t turn anything down.

I used this recipe from another one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. She mentions that you can make this a day ahead and chill. I did this and it worked well, although they were much thicker in consistency than I hoped. You may want to consider bringing them to room temperature before serving.

The mousse was beautiful in my European “Glamor Mugs.” If you see these domestically, let me know…I want two more.

Silky, Decadent Old-School Chocolate Mousse from Smitten Kitchen
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, October 2009

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao), chopped
• 3/4 stick (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon Cognac or other brandy (or swap with a liqueur of your choice)
• 1 cup very cold heavy or whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Get out one large heatproof, two medium and one small mixing bowl and dust off your electric hand mixer.

Set the large bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter in it, gently stirring it until smooth. Remove from heat. Alternately, you can melt them in your microwave, stirring thoroughly at 30 seconds and every 15 seconds thereafter until the mixture is smooth.

In the small bowl, beat yolks with your electric mixer until thick enough to form a ribbon that takes a few seconds to dissolve — this will take about two to four minutes to achieve. Whisk yolks into chocolate mixture along with Cognac, then cool to warm.

In one of the medium bowls, beat the cream with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks.

In the other medium bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks.

Fold the whipped cream and beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, gently but thoroughly. Transfer to 8 (4 ounce) ramekins or one large serving bowl, or go restaurant-style, serving it in stemmed glasses with white or dark chocolate shavings on top.

Do ahead: Mousse can be chilled, its surface covered with parchment paper, up to 2 days, though I’ve never heard of it lasting that long with hungry people named Deb around. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.