Chocolate and orange mousse, salted caramel sauce, shortbread love hearts

Serves 4-6 For the chocolate and orange mousse, you will need:

• 120g dark chocolate

• 120ml cream

• ½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest

• 2 eggs, separated into yolks and whites

For the shortbread love hearts, you will need:

• 150g plain flour

• 50g caster sugar

• 100g soft butter

• Icing sugar, for dusting

For the salted caramel sauce, you will need:

• 225g caster sugar or granulated sugar

• 75ml water

• 110g butter

• 175ml cream

• A good pinch of sea salt 1 First, make the chocolate and orange mousse. Chop up the dark chocolate. In a saucepan, bring the cream up to the boil, then turn off the heat, add the chopped dark chocolate to the cream, and stir it around until the chocolate melts. Add the finely grated orange zest and whisk in the egg yolks. 2 In a separate, clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are just stiff, then stir a quarter of the egg white into the dark chocolate, cream, orange zest and egg yolk mixture. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites, then divide the mousse mixture among small glasses or bowls. Put them in the fridge to set the mousse. See the note at the end of the recipe for guidelines on preparing this recipe ahead of time. 3 Next, make the shortbread love hearts. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas 4. Put the plain flour and the caster sugar into a mixing bowl, rub in the soft butter and bring the whole mixture together to form a stiff dough. Do not add any water. Roll the dough out to about a thickness of ½cm, and cut it into love hearts. Carefully place the dough love hearts on a baking tray, and cook them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are pale golden. Take them out, and carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool. I lift them off using a palette knife or a metal fish slice. Only dust them with the icing sugar when you are ready to serve them. 4 Next, make the salted caramel sauce. Put the caster sugar or the granulated sugar, whichever you’re using, the water and the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, and stir as it heats up to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to high and cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until the sauce turns a rich golden-toffee colour. Do not stir the pan — although you might need to swirl the pan occasionally if you see it turning golden on one side of the pan before it does so on the other. Once the sauce is a rich golden-toffee colour, take the pan off the heat for a moment, and stir in the cream and the sea salt until they dissolve. 5 Serve the chocolate and orange mousse with some shortbread love hearts — don’t forget to dust a little icing sugar over them — and a generous drizzle of the salted caramel sauce.

Note:

If you want to prepare ahead: The chocolate mousse will keep covered in the fridge for up to two days. The shortbread love hearts will keep in an airtight box for two days, but don’t dust them with icing sugar until just before serving. The salted caramel sauce will keep in the fridge for a month or more, just reheat it gently before serving.