This Bailey's Mousse keeps it vegetarian by eliminating the gelatin, getting its lift only from whipped egg whites. This also makes it an incredibly easy dessert.
This easy mousse is even quicker if you melt the chocolate in the microwave oven like I do.
Jump to Recipe
Jump to:
- 🤷♀️ What is a mousse?
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- ⏰ Tips for melting chocolate in the microwave
- 👩🍳 Best Tasting Melting Chocolate Wafers
- ⏰ Tips for whipping cream
- ⏰ Tips for whipping egg whites
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Easy Bailey's Mousse
- 🌱 Sign up for my emails, and get my 5 tips for easy vegetarian meals!
Looking for a special dessert that's easy to make and doesn't overwhelm the dinner you just ate? Sometimes, I really really want dessert, but only a few bites. This Bailey's Mousse is PERFECT. And it's super easy to make since it doesn't include gelatin.
Other small bites of chocolate I like to make are these chocolate truffles, but they take a little more trouble to make, and this chocolate bark, which is super easy, but doesn't feel special.
🤷♀️ What is a mousse?
A mousse can be sweet or savory - we made a lot of both when I was in culinary school. They typically include folding stiffly beaten egg whites into a base. Sweet mousse's often additionally include stiffly beaten cream, and may include gelatin. The effect is to make the finished dish fluffy.
Unlike a pudding, which a mousse can be confused with, a mousse isn't cooked. It's served either chilled or frozen.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy recipe that eliminates the gelatin, and the chocolate is melted in the microwave oven.
- Only 5 ingredients plus any garnishes you plan to add at the end.
- It's like a fluffy chocolate dessert with a whisper of a cocktail.
- Perfect for dinner parties since you can make it ahead, and keep chilled until ready to serve.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Semi-sweet chocolate - chips are fine, or melting wafers.
- Bailey's Irish Cream - I've also made this with Grand Marnier!
- Eggs - I recommend pasteurized eggs for this recipe if you have a compromised immunity system.
- Heavy cream - or whipping cream.
- Granulated sugar - or super fine Baker's sugar
- Garnishes - chopped nuts, Maldon salt flakes or cherries in a syrup
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
- Microwave-proof bowl
- Hand mixer
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this Bailey's mousse are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Melt the chocolate. Place the chips or wafers in a microwave - safe bowl and microwave on high in 30 second increments. When the chocolate is close to completely melted, switch to 15 second increments.
Step 2
Eggs. Separate the eggs. Stir in the yolks, one at a time. It's important to stir each yolk into the chocolate before adding the next one.
Step 3
Whip. Whip the cream and Bailey's to stiff peaks with the sugar. Separately, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Step 4
Fold. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites at a time into the whipped cream. It will be a little lumpy from the whipped egg whites.
Step 5
Fold into the chocolate. Using the same rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream and egg whites, one-third at a time, into the melted chocolate.
Step 6
Serve. Serve with garnishes.
⏰ Tips for melting chocolate in the microwave
Chocolate can be tricky. Especially when melting it. And always if melted chocolate comes into contact with liquid.
- If you melt the chocolate in the microwave using short 30-second bursts, you won't burn the chocolate. I recommend switching to 15-second bursts at the end.
- The total time to melt the chocolate will depend on the power of your microwave. With my microwave, it took a total of 3 ½ minutes to get a glossy, melted bowl of chocolate.
- If your chocolate chips aren't melting, but are instead turning gray-ish, a little grainy and hard, this means a little water got into the chocolate or the bowl. This is called seizing, in chocolate-speak.
- Chocolate melting wafers melt better than chocolate chips, but both will work. Chips are designed to hold up in cookies during baking, so the chips will just take a little longer to melt.
- I generally choose chips or cut a block of chocolate into pieces instead of using wafers only because then I have more varieties of chocolate to choose from.
👩🍳 Best Tasting Melting Chocolate Wafers
If you decide to take the path of using chocolate wafers designed for melting, you need to know there is a big range in flavor. Here are the best tasting in my opinion:
- Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers
- Callebaut Belgian Dark Chocolate
⏰ Tips for whipping cream
- Don't add the sugar until the cream just begins to whip into soft peaks.
- When adding the sugar, do it gradually, not all at once.
⏰ Tips for whipping egg whites
- Be careful not to have any yolks at all in the egg whites. If there's even a drop of yolk in the whites, they will not whip up to stiff peaks.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
I've also made this very successfully with Grand Marnier. If you use this, or other liquors, you can gently stir it into the mousse as a last step, to prevent the melted chocolate from seizing. Other liquor choices can include Kahlua, Amaretto or rum.
Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
Easy Bailey's Mousse
Equipment
- Microwave safe bowl
Ingredients
- 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 large eggs separated
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Bailey's Irish Cream
- pinch kosher salt
- Cherries in syrup optional garnish
- Maldon's salt flakes optional garnish
- Crushed nuts optional garnish
Instructions
- Place all of the chips in a microwave-safe dish, and in 30-second cycles on high, melt the chocolate. Stir the chocolate using a rubber spatula between each cycle. When the chocolate is almost completely melted, switch to 15-second cycles until completely melted.
- Separate the 2 egg yolks from the egg whites, and stir the yolks, one at a time into the melted chocolate. Reserve the egg whites.Separate 2 more eggs. Save the yolks for another use, and add the whites to the first batch you separated.
- Place the egg whites in a large bowl, and add a pinch of salt. Whip them to stiff peaks.Start whipping the egg whites on medium, so they don't splash all over the counter and you, and then move the mixer to high.To test how stiff the egg whites are, dip the beaters into the froth, and then turn them upside down, with the beaters pointing up towards the ceiling. The tips of the frothy egg whites shouldn't droop - or may droop only slightly.Warning: don't whip the egg whites to a grainy texture. It's better to slightly under-whip the egg whites than to over whip them.
- Combine the Bailey's and the heavy cream in a separate bowl, and whip them to stiff peaks using the same hand mixer on high. It's fine to use the same beatersStart whipping the cream on medium, so it doesn't splash, and then move the mixer to high. When the cream is frothy and beginning to increase in volume from the air being beat into it, gradually add the sugar.To test how stiff the cream is, perform the same test as for the whipped egg whites.
- Pro-tip: Whip the egg whites first and then the cream. If you reverse this order, any fat on the beaters from the cream will prevent the egg whites from achieving stiff peaks.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the whipped cream. Perform this in thirds, instead of adding the whipped egg whites all at once. The mixture will be a little lumpy from the egg whites.Next, fold the whipped egg whites and cream mixture into the melted chocolate. Do this in thirds, rather than adding it all at once. The best way to fold the whipped froth into the chocolate is with a rubber spatula. Add ⅓ of the froth to the middle of the chocolate. Cut down the middle of it with the spatula, all the way through the chocolate, and swoop the chocolate up and over the froth. Turn the bowl a little, and continue to do this until the froth is mostly folded in, before adding the next ⅓ of froth.
- Chill until ready to serve. Serve with your choice of garnishes.
Judith
Do you actually need 8 eggs for thus recipe?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Oops. No. My original recipe did call for 8 eggs, but I cut the recipe in half since it made a LOT. I changed the ingredients, but didn't in the instructions. My apologies, I've updated now. So just 4 eggs. You'll have 2 yolks left over. Thank you for catching that!