Cardamom Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Cherry Compote
Servings 6
Ingredients
For the chocolate mousse
- 5 cardamom pods
- 175 g dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 15 g butter
- 4 medium eggs
For the cherry compote
- 350 g cherries
- 5 tbsp pink port
- 3 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod (I used a half a tsp of vanilla essence instead)
Instructions
For the chocolate mousse
- Bruise the cardamom pods. Separate the medium eggs. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces. Stone the cherries.
- To make the mousse, steep the cardamom pods in 1 tbsp of boiling water per pod for 10 minutes.
- Strain the water into a heatproof bowl and discard the cardamom pods. Add the chocolate.
- Sit the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and stir occasionally, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat.
- Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, followed by the butter.
- Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff, then gradually add the sugar, whisking between each addition.
- Fold into the chocolate mixture and spoon into 6 dessert glasses. Chill for at least 2 hours.
For the cherry compote
- To make the compote, put the sugar and port in a small pan and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Stir them into the port mixture and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the cherries and continue to simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until just tender.
- Chill until the mousses are ready to serve, then spoon over the compote.
