Chocolate + Wattle-seed mousse

It’s Wattle season and with the bloom of golden flowers everywhere, the excitement for balmy evenings and outdoor dinner parties grows. I’m lucky enough to live with ‘The Weedy One’ Diego Bonetto and have grown and embraced a love of foraging and utilising the abundance of wild edibles in my cooking. This recipe is perfect for spring time gatherings and I love to serve it disguised as a tiny house plant in mini terracotta pots with a cookie crumb dirt or in vintage glassware. For all the info you need on edible wattles and how to find and identify them, Diego has just written a fantastic post. Check it out here.

Prep time: 25 minutes

Set time: 2-3 hours

Storage: Mousse can be kept covered in the fridge for up to a week

Serves: 6-12 depending on the size of glasses or serving dishes

Ingredients

200g good-quality dark chocolate

20g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 room temperature free range eggs

1 ½ cups of thickened cream

1 tbsp finely ground wattleseed

Method

•Stir the chocolate, butter, vanilla and wattleseed in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until smooth. To avoid overheating, don’t let the bowl touch the water. Cool slightly.

•Separate your eggs. Set aside the white in a large clean, bowl for later.

•Add the egg yolks to your melted chocolate mix and stir to combine. Make sure the chocolate mixture has cooled slightly first to avoid cooking the egg yolks. Set aside.

•Pour cream into a clean bowl and use an electric mixer to whisk just until soft peaks form. Don’t over whisk or the cream will split.

•Use a metal spoon to fold the cream mixture into the chocolate mixture until just combined. This cuts through the mixture easily and keeps it fluffy.

•Now clean your beaters because moisture or grease will stop your egg whites aerating. Whisk until soft peaks form.

•Fold the egg white into the chocolate mixture in 2 batches until just combined – this helps gradually loosen the mixture so it stays light and fluffy.

•Spoon the chocolate mixture into glasses or small bowls and refrigerate for 2-3hours.

•Serve with a sprinkling of wattle flowers or extra wattle seed or as an edible mini pot plant to delight your guests like I do for my Forage to Feast events. YUM!!