3-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Here are three reasons that this 3-ingredient chocolate mousse recipe is a great choice for dessert: It's delicious, it's blissfully easy to make, and your guests will think it was hard to make.

Also there's the fact that it uses just three ingredients, and ingredients you may well have on hand, no less. Chef and food writer Sher Castellano, "This mousse is one of my go-to desserts to make for guests because of its preparation ease. It can be made ahead of time, and I think people like single servings of desserts — they're fun and all to yourself."

And as noted, this is a seriously easy dessert. Castellano says: "This is really fool-proof," but thanks to the elegant presentation you can create when serving mousse, the lucky folks to whom you serve it will ooh and ahh at your culinary prowess. And while, as Castellano says, "It's perfect on its own — mousse is quite rich," you can always dress it up even more. She suggests: "Little chocolate shavings on top with cacao nibs for crunch, a touch of maple syrup, and pinch of salt."

Leaving out the many options you have for topping and dressing up this 3-ingredient chocolate mousse recipe, from coconut flakes to chocolate syrup to powdered sugar to crumbled candy cane and more, the base recipe here really does call for just three things: whipping cream, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and fine sea salt.

When it comes to chocolate mousse, as with so many recipes, it's all about how you handle the ingredients. Because with the right handling, those three things will combine into rich, creamy, chocolatey perfection.

Place a half cup of the whipping cream in a sauce pan and heat it until it's good and warm but not scalding. As you heat the cream, place the chocolate chips in a mixing bowl. Before you add the chocolate chips, you'll want to be sure that they're stored at room temperature. Once the cream is sufficiently heated, pour the warm whipping cream over top of the chocolate bits. Let this mixture sit for five minutes so the chocolate has time to soften.

Once you have let the chocolate soften and melt in the hot cream for about five minutes for this 3-ingredient chocolate mousse recipe, add in the salt and stir the chocolate and cream mixture with a whisk or spoon, working it until the chocolate and cream mixture is completely smooth.

Now, using a stand mixer with its standard whisk attachment (or, of course, you can use a handheld mixer and a mixing bowl or a whisk and a lot of elbow grease), whip the remaining cup of cream until it starts to form firm peaks.

Once the cream has formed those stiff peaks, pour the chocolate mixture into the stand mixer bowl (or whatever mixing bowl you are using). Now, mix everything together on low until they are well combined. Note that you will very likely have to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go, pushing any stuff that sticks down into the mix, so to speak.

This mixing should only take a minute or so. Once the color is uniform and the 3-ingredient chocolate mousse recipe is smooth, you're all set. See? That wasn't very difficult.

Portion the 3-ingredient chocolate mousse recipe out evenly in dessert cups (ideally glass) and refrigerate them for an hour before serving. 

"The mousse can be made ahead of time," says Castellano, "but bring it to room temperature if the mousse has been refrigerating for longer than an hour." Otherwise, it will be too thick, whereas what you want here is that perfect creaminess.

And while you can totally serve this mousse as is, now is to add on any toppings you want. Don't be afraid to get creative here — use whatever is in your fridge or you pantry at the time.