Easy Chocolate Mousse

INGREDIENTS: 1 pkg unflavored gelatin ¼ cup cold water 1/3 cup boiling water ½ to 2/3 cup powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you like it) 2/3 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder (Hershey’s, Droste, etc., see below) 3 cup heavy cream, chilled 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS: 1. In small cup, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand 1 minute to soften. Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Let cool while you mix the other ingredients. 2. Stir together sugar and cocoa in medium bowl. 3. In a large bowl (which I normally chill if I have room in the refrigerator or freezer) mix whipping cream and vanilla on low speed, then add sugar and cocoa mixture. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bottom of bowl occasionally, until mixture is forms soft peaks. Pour in gelatin mixture; beat until well blended and mixture forms stiff peaks. Spoon into serving dishes (or into a large bowl). 3. Refrigerate about 30 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover desserts.

Notes: (1)This is pretty much the recipe on the side of the Hershey’s Dutch Processed Cocoa box except I use powdered sugar, less vanilla and more cream. When I followed the recipe on the Cocoa box, I thought the mousse was too stiff and too dark. (2) Reading commentary from people who’d made this recipe, I gather that the one tricky part to the recipe is having the gelatin be warm enough that it’s still really liquid. I’ve always added it when the bowl it’s in is still pretty warm to the touch. If it’s too cool then when it hits the cold cream it won’t blend well. If you think it’s too cool, give it 5 or 10 sec in the microwave. (3) I made this originally with a Hershey’s cocoa that was just labeled Dutch Processed Cocoa, then the 3rd time I made it I was getting low on cocoa and could only find Hershey’s Dutch Processed Cocoa Special Dark which was much darker than the original. I haven’t made this only with the Special Dark (my last trial was a mixture). If you like really dark chocolate, you should probably go with the Special Dark, otherwise I might opt for just the regular Hershey’s cocoa if I couldn’t find the plain Hershey’s Dutch Processed Cocoa. You could probably also use Droste Dutch processed cocoa since it’s very similar to the Hershey’s (not Special Dark).