White Chocolate Almond Mousse

If you're the type that hates white chocolate, please read this anyways. I promise you might enjoy this recipe. Actually, I'm pretty sure you'll adore it.

I've always loved white chocolate. Terrifyingly sweet but perfectly melt-in-your-mouth, I think it's pretty nice. Sure, it's no dark chocolate, but that's because it's totally different. This is where people usually reply "Well yeah. It's not chocolate."

What stops me from buying white chocolate regularly isn't the fact that it's "not chocolate": I'm just too scared I'll polish off the whole bar before you can say "I only eat artisan 78% cocoa chocolate bars", and everyone knows that would ruin an appetite. Or make me regret it on the beach a few months later, because when I start eating something it becomes a trend in my stomach. Having a few squares of white chocolate one day inevitably leads to having white chocolate every day...until it's all gone. And then, my stomach goes along and makes a grocery list of its own. When I'm shopping and picking up a few tomatoes, sometimes my stomach sends me signals to run over to the chocolate aisle or pick up a box of cookies. Since my stomach apparently has the last say, I can't do anything but obey. Not my fault!

However, I was never a fan of white chocolate desserts. I always found them uninspiring and pretty useless. That was until I was at the grocery store at 10 pm on a Wednesday night, wondering whether or not a white chocolate mousse would work in my dessert planned for Thursday (more on that one later). I decided to give it a go, adding a little almond extract here and there for fun. Let me tell you: I was not disappointed. After a day in the fridge, it was the silkiest, smoothest, most billowy thing you've ever seen. 

Sort of like jumping out of a plane and swallowing up a cloud. Not as hazardous and probably tastier, though.

White Chocolate Almond Mousse

makes 4 very generous servings

38 cl (1 and 1/2 cups) heavy whipping cream
120g (4.2 oz) white chocolate (use baker's or couverture if possible; I didn't and it was a tad bit greasier than I hoped)
2 drops almond extract
toasted slivered and chopped almonds (optional)

Reserve a scant 1/4 cup of the heavy cream. Place the remaining cream in a medium bowl and mix, using a hand-held or stand mixer, until peaks form and cream is almost stiff.

Chop white chocolate and melt over a double boiler. Set aside. In a small saucepan, bring reserved 1/4 cup cream to a boil, pour over melted chocolate and mix. Mix in a quarter of the whipped cream.

Delicately incorporate white chocolate mixture and almond extract to whipped cream until combined. If using, mix in almonds.

Serve immediately or let the mousse firm up in the refrigerator for as long as needed, up to one day.