A trio of divine chocolate desserts for your Valentine, or any time

For the unabashed chocolate lover, French cuisine offers three divine desserts that elevate the art of chocolate indulgence to new heights: the chocolate soufflé, chocolate mousse, and chocolate pots de crème. Each transforms simple ingredients like chocolate, eggs, and cream into something magical. Yet each offers a distinctly different experience for the passionate dessert lover.

Together, these three desserts represent a perfect chocolate progression, from light to intense, simple to complex, immediate to lingering. Whether you’re in the mood for something ethereal, velvety, or decadently rich, these classic French desserts prove that chocolate’s capacity to delight knows no bounds.

Yes, you can make them at home

They make a perfect ending to a special meal, or a secret clandestine snack, and are not that difficult to make at home. We found recipes by highly respected bakers and home cooks who have pared the ingredients and preparation down to the essentials without sacrificing their distinct profiles.

The one thing they have in common: the quality of the chocolate will make or break the deliciousness of the dessert. Use chocolate with 60% to 70% for a rich dark chocolate flavor. Use bar chocolate, preferably a cooking chocolate, Avoid chocolate chips. They don’t perform well here.

Chocolate soufflé

Chocolate soufflé is a warm, cloud-like creation that rises dramatically above its ramekin, promising a moment of pure bliss when your spoon breaks through its delicate crust to reveal an impossibly light, airy interior that quite literally melts in your mouth. This is the diva of chocolate desserts-–demanding precise timing and attention, but rewarding you with an ethereal experience that simply cannot be replicated.

How to make chocolate souffle

This recipe comes from Sally McKenney, proficient baker and author of Sally’s Baking Addiction. When I’m looking for a recipe online I will go with Sally every time, as she tests and tries and adapts until her recipe is practically flawless and straightforward. For her chocolate souffle, you only need 7 basic ingredients. The entire process takes about 45 minutes from start to finish.

In a nutshell (yes, it can be boiled down to a nutshell): Melt chocolate and butter in microwave. After it cools slightly stir in egg yolks. Whip egg whites, Fold them into chocolate mixture, Refrigerate for a few minutes, Pour into souffle dish or ramekins. Bake. Serve.

Get Chocolate Souffle recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse seduces with its silken texture and rich, yet surprisingly light consistency.

Each spoonful delivers waves of intense chocolate flavor suspended in a velvety embrace of whipped cream and eggs. Unlike its high-maintenance cousin the soufflé, mousse is a patient lover, waiting contentedly in the refrigerator until you’re ready to indulge.

How to make chocolate mousse

This recipe is from James Beard Award-winning Dorie Greenspan, who has, among other things, written 14 cookbooks, many about French cooking. In fact, Greenspan was awarded an Order of Agricultural Merit from the French government for her outstanding writing on the foods of that country. She lives in New York City, Westbrook, Connecticut, and Paris. Yes, she is living your life.

The process of making chocolate mousse is very similar to making chocolate souffle, except mousse is not cooked.

In a nutshell: Melt chocolate. Stir in egg yolk. Fold in egg whites. Spoon into a bowl or individual serving glasses. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

If using raw eggs makes you nervous you can try heating your yolks and whites first using this method. Or use tofu instead of eggs (see below)

Get Dorie Greenspan’s Top Secret Chocolate Mousse recipe here.

How to make chocolate mousse with tofu

If you’re wary of raw eggs in your chocolate mousse try using silken tofu as the egg replacement. Whipping the tofu in a blender and adding melted chocolate yields a reasonable mousse to satisfy your chocolate craving.

Some recipes are simple and stripped down, like this one for Tofu Chocolate Mousse from noracooks.com. Others have other ingredients that result in a richer mousse, this one for Dark Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Compote from the Today Show. In any case tofu has little flavor of its own so the deliciousness of your mousse will depend on the quality of the chocolate you use.

Pots de crème

Chocolate pots de creme david lebovitz — Image from davidlebovitz.com

Chocolate pots de crème are the most intense and decadent of the trio.

This smooth, ultra-rich custard is like velvet on the tongue, offering an almost overwhelming chocolate experience that demands to be savored in small, deliberate bites. While soufflé showcases chocolate’s ability to be ethereal and mousse demonstrates its talent for balance, pots de crème celebrates chocolate in its most concentrated, luxurious form.

How to make chocolate pots de crème

I would make any chocolate recipe written by David Lebovitz. He spent thirteen years in the kitchens at Chez Panisse and trained as a pastry chef, with certificates from Callebaut College in Belgium, as well as Ecole Lenôtre and Valrhona’s Ecole du Grand Chocolat in France. He lives in Paris. Say no more.

In a nutshell: Egg yolks and cream meet melted chocolate. Pour mixture into custard cups. Place cups in water bath. Bake. Serve warm.