Chocolate Cups with Vanilla Bean Mousse and Mango

Happy Easter! It seems like this past year I've managed to miss blogging about most major holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving and Christmas). I took the approach of simply not mentioning them and hoped you wouldn't notice. Did you?? I hope not! I've resolved to be much better about that this year.

I recently saw a fun little idea for an easy Easter dessert — dark chocolate cups that look like egg shells, and they're filled with smooth and creamy vanilla bean mousse and a dollop of mango puree to resemble an egg yolk.

 
Pretty cute for the occasion! And did I mention delicious?

Making these is a two-step process: First make the chocolate cups, and second whip up the mousse. Wait, there's a third and fourth step. Third you puree some ripe mango and dollop it in the center of each mousse cup. And fourth? Fourth you eat your heart out.

Dark Chocolate Cups (makes about 20 cups)

Ingredients:
7-8 oz. baking chocolate (I used dark, use what you like! Milk, bittersweet, or dark)
Balloons (I used smaller ones b/c I wanted them to be bite-sized)

Directions:
The directions are about as easy as the ingredients list. Blow up the balloons to the desired size that you'd like your chocolate cups. Put them in a strainer and rinse with water.

Roughly chop the chocolate and put it in a glass bowl. Nuke in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Put it in for another 30 seconds and stir again. At this point it should be getting shiny and melty — if it is, you're on the right track! Keep microwaving in 30-second increments until it is mostly melted. If there are a few chunks left, stir until they're melted. You don't want to over-nuke the chocolate because it will turn gray and dull. Nobody likes a dull chocolate cup. Am I right?

Let the chocolate cool so you don't have exploding chocolaty balloons. Once cooled, dip the bottom of each balloon and place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment. After you've dipped all the balloons, put the cookie sheet in the fridge to harden the cups.

After 15 minutes or so, take the cups out and make a small hold in the top of each balloon to let the air out. You want to let the air out slowly, so make a small hole.

Carefully peel the balloons out, and put the chocolate cups back in the fridge. You're done! These can also be used to serve pudding, ice cream, and other desserts. Use your imagination! Now on to the mousse.



Vanilla Bean Mousse (makes about 4 cups of mousse)
Adapted from SugarLaws

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from the pod
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg whites

Directions:

• Whip the cream with vanilla bean seeds and 1/3 cup of the sugar until medium peaks form. Set aside. 
• Next, in a medium mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy (preferably with whisk attachments for your electric mixer). Add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Fold the egg whites mixture into the whipped cream and the egg whites mixture. Gently pour into individual serving dishes and refrigerate at least six hours, or overnight. Or, if you're serving the mousse in the chocolate cups, immediately spoon the mousse into each chocolate cup for it to set.

Click here for a printable recipe!