Chocolate Mousse Trifle

Ok, so I really can't take any credit for how delicious this dessert turned out. Once you see what it consists of you'll see it just had to be pretty amazing. I wanted to make a trifle for home evening treat last night; a good amount of the fam involved doesn't love fruit so I knew I needed a non-fruity trifle. I LOVE chocolate mousse so I decided to kind of combine a few recipes to come up with this chocolate mousse brownie concoction. This simple mousse recipe could be eaten plain or with anything else that mousse generally goes with. Also I made the whole thing and let it chill for about two hours before serving, but it was even better today because the mousse had really set up, so if at all possible I would recommend preparing it the day before serving. I'm sure this trifle would also be good if you substituted chocolate pudding for the mousse (but not as good). Also I'm sure you could use chocolate pound cake (or yellow pound cake for that matter) instead of brownies.



Chocolate mousse (8 servings)
1 C semisweet chocolate
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla
2 C heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs sugar

Melt chocolate (I prefer double boiler method for melting chocolate, but how ever you do it just make sure not to scorch chocolate); stir until smooth. Stir a couple large spoonfuls of melted chocolate into beaten egg yolk - mix well (this is to ensure that the yolk doesn't turn into scrambled eggs when you add it to the hot melted chocolate); add chocolatey yolk to melted chocolate. Cook on low-medium heat (again, double boiler method) and stir for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool, stirring several times.
In a mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar; beat until soft peaks form. Fold cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate. The longer the mousse is refrigerated the better it sets up.

Trifle:
Bake a 9x13 pan of brownies. Let brownies cool. Cut into 1 inch squares.
Place half of the brownie squares in trifle dish (or other tall bowl if you don't have a trifle bowl).
Spread half of the mousse mixture over the brownies.
Chop up some chocolate (I used Symphony chocolate, but anything would work...even chocolate chips) and sprinkle over mousse mixture.
Spread whipped cream over mousse. I had some Cool Whip left over from something I made a while back so I used that, but I think it would be OH SO GOOD with fresh whipped cream. I don't know exact measurements on the cream and the chocolate chunks because I just winged it, but just use how ever much you want and it will turn out just fine.
Repeat the layers with the other half of the ingredients...brownies - mousse - chocolate chunks - whipped cream; and then top off with some shaved chocolate to make it look pretty. Cover and refrigerate. (You want the mousse to set up for 2-24 hours; it doesn't matter if it sets up before putting the whole thing together or after, but just make sure you give it some time in the fridge one way or the other).

I'm telling you, this is rich and it is good. It sounds like a lot of work, but the most time-consuming part was letting the chocolate and the brownies cool. The actual hands-on work wasn't bad at all. Prepare for some clogged arteries and enjoy :)