Irish coffee chocolate mousse

Donal says: “Certainly not a traditional dessert but one that ticks many boxes for St Patrick’s Day and a fine excuse to open that good bottle of whiskey you’ve been saving. Prepare in advance and you have a simple dessert to savour the day”

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the chocolate mousse

175g dark chocolate

4 large free range eggs, separated

75g caster sugar

175ml double cream

1 tbsp cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting 1 tsp espresso powder

A pinch of sea salt

25g dark chocolate, shaved with a sharp knife Mint sprigs, to serve

For the whiskey cream

375ml of cream

3 tbsps of whiskey

3 tbsps of icing sugar

Method

1 Make chocolate shavings, (approx. 25g) enough to garnish the four glasses, using the full bar. Place on a plate and leave in the fridge. With the remaining chocolate, roughly chop and transfer to a bowl set over a small pot of barely simmering water until melted.

2 Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and whisk together with the sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder and a pinch of salt until the sugar has dissolved. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until it holds light peaks. In another bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

3 Add the whipped cream to the egg yolk mixture and fold through, followed by the chocolate mixing until completely combined. Lightly fold through the egg whites until just mixed through and then divide the mousse batter between 4 serving glasses. Cover and transfer to the fridge to set for 1 hour.

4 For the whiskey cream, whisk the cream into soft peaks. Dissolve the icing sugar with the whiskey in a bowl and then add to the cream, folding to combine. Cover and leave to sit in the fridge until ready to serve. Serve each individual mousse with a generous dollop of whiskey cream and garnish with chocolate shavings and a dusting of cocoa powder.