We’ve been invited over to a good friends place for a late Sunday lunch today and our contribution will be dessert.  Our host is a complete foodie and comes up with amazing meals every time we visit so we are under absolutely NO pressure to provide something decadent that will complement her cooking.

I didn’t want to rely on my old favourites as our host has already sampled my Pink Pavlova, chocamocharetti cake and bumbleberry crumble, so I thought I’d check the kitchen for inspiration.  I had some dark chocolate in the cupboard, some eggs in the bowl and some cherries in the freezer so I thought I’d whip up a dessert which was one of my mums favourites, chocolate mousse, but pimped up with some sour cherries to cut through the richness.

So here it is, my chocolate and sour cherry mousses, which if I do say so myself were something of a success!! (of course we made extra and of course we tried some, just to make sure they were good.

The below measures will make approximately 4 small (incredibly rich) mousses, depending on your glass size.

Ingredients

• 30g unsalted butter
• 100g dark chocolate
• 3 eggs
• 25g caster sugar
• 1 shot amaretti
• handful frozen cherries

 Method

• Preheat the oven to 180c/gas 4
• Melt the chocolate and butter over a bain-marie, stirring  till melted, smooth and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pearlescent and thick.
• Stir the whisked yolks into the butter and chocolate, then add the amaretti.
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks,  then gently fold into the chocolate mixture, together with the defrosted sour cherries, until just combined.
• Transfer the mousse to small glasses (or other suitable receptacle) and chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, or preferably overnight.

These are absolutely amazing served with delicate almond thins and an espresso.