Chocolate Cherry Stout Mousee
By Peter Sheppard, The New Fermenting Gourmet
I got the idea for this one from a book called Best Recipes from the Back of Boxes, Cans & Jars. The original recipe called for brandy as the alcohol additive, but I beg to differ! After trying some of Bruce Brode’s Milk Chocolate Cherry Stout I decided to follow his lead. The cocoa is added for a more chocolatey flavor to the mousse.
Ingredients:
1 cup Dark Sweet Morello Cherries, pitted, drained & quartered, (reserve the syrup!)
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp North Coast "Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout"
3 oz (by wt) Hersey's baking chocolate
1/2 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup Reserved Cherry Syrup
1/2 cup Sugar
3 tbsp Cocoa Power
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Syrup
3 egg yolks, beaten well
2 cup Whipping Cream
2 tbsp Powdered Sugar
Garnish
1 can Redi-Whip Whipped Cream
1 bar Valhrona Extra Dark Chocolate 72% cocoa
1 jar Maraschino Cherries, with stems

Cut pitted cherries into quarters and macerate in stout for 4 hours.
In a double boiler melt baking chocolate, chocolate chips and cherry syrup, stirring constantly over medium low heat.
Add sugar, cocoa & syrup and cook until completely dissolved, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Beat the egg yolks in a small metal bowl.
Temper yolks with a little of the melted chocolate and add to chocolate in double boiler, stirring constantly so as not to set the eggs.
Return to heat and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat, stirring constantly until mixture cools.
Drain quartered cherries & add stout to chocolate mixture and stir to combine.
Whip the cream in a mixer with a whisk, adding powdered sugar, until semi-stiff peaks are formed.
Carefully fold cooled chocolate mixture into whipped cream, then fold in quartered cherries.
Pour mixture into an buttered 1 ½ quart Tupperware bowl – cover tightly – and place into freezer overnight, (about 8 hours).
Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving, cut into chunks into serving bowls. Squirt a generous portion of canned whipping cream over mousse, placing a cherry on top, and grating the Valhrona chocolate over the top.
ENJOY!