Rose Petal Yogurt Mousse Chocolate Cups

Temper chocolate and make a light yogurt mousse for this delicious, elegant dessert – yes you can!
Source
The mousse adapted from eCurrey blog

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups non-fat yogurt (180 cal)
- 2 tbsp rose petal jam (100 cal)
- Pinch of saffron
- 6 tbsp low fat milk (50 cal)
- 1 tsp unflavored gelatin
- 1 tbsp cold water
- 50 g bitter-sweet chocolate (300 cal)
- 12 blackberries to garnish (20 cal)
Total 6 (or 12, depending on the size), 550 cal, 90 (or 45) cal / serving

Instructions
1. Drain the yogurt. Line a medium sized sieve with a paper towel, place the sieve over a small bowl, scoop the yogurt into the paper towel, wrap the towel around the yogurt and place a heavy object (a can or a jam jar) on top of the towel. Leave the yogurt to drain for about an hour at room temperature. Unwrap the paper towel, you should have about 3/4 cup of a dense (Greek style-like) yogurt.
2. Prepare the gelatin. In a small bowl, take 1 tbsp of cold water, sprinkle 1 tsp of gelatin over it, stir a little and let sit until your chocolate cups are ready and the yogurt is drained.
3. Temper chocolate. Finely chop your chocolate. In a small microwave safe bowl heat 40 g of the chocolate in short intervals of 15-30 seconds (depending on your microwave power). After each segment stir the chocolate and measure the temperature with an instant read thermometer. When the temperature reaches 113F / 45C add the remaining chocolate and stir well until all the chocolate melts and you the mixture is smooth and uniform.
4. Prepare the chocolate cups. I used the Wilton Cordial Cups Candy Mold; this recipe makes about 12 of those. You can use small muffin tins or paper muffin cups instead, but they are probably bigger, and you will likely end up with 6 servings in this case. Use about 1/2 tsp of melted chocolate per candy mold, or 1 tsp per small muffin tin. Pour the chocolate into the mold and then using a brush or a small silicon spatula spread the chocolate over the sides of the mold up to the top. Refrigerate the mold for 5 to 10 minutes until the chocolate is set and firm. At this stage if your chocolate is tempered correctly, it should be easy to unmold the cups by holding the mold about 1 inch or less above the table, flipping and slightly tapping it. If using paper cups, once the chocolate is hard, simply peel the paper off.
5. Place the drained yogurt, saffron and rose petal jam in a blender and whisk it until mixed well. A small blender such as the Magic Bullet is perfect for it. The mixture will be lighter and fluffier than the original yogurt.
6. Heat the milk in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds and pour into the gelatin, stirring well, until there are no lumps left. Add a small amount of yogurt to the gelatin mixture, stir well, and then pour the resulting mixture back into the blender and whisk again. Now you have your rose petal yogurt mousse.
7. Pour the mousse into the cups and let set in refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes. At this stage you can add fruit or candy if you want to decorate the cups with them – the mousse should still be soft but not too liquid and the fruit should not sink. Refrigerate again until the mouse is completely set.

Afterthoughts
- Chocolate and yogurt might seem like a strange combination, but I found it pretty nice – you get a little bitterness from the chocolate, a little sour flavor from the yogurt and sweetness from the rose petal jam. Plus the saffron adds that eastern touch. Of course, other jams would work as well; I bet raspberry or mango would be delicious. And an additional advantage of yogurt (compared to whipping cream) is huge calorie savings :-)
- This recipe is quite time consuming with multiple stages, but if you enjoy trying out new things in the kitchen like I do, it’s just another experiment and adventure.
- Make sure that your molds are completely clean and dry. Chocolate should not come in contact with liquids or fats. Otherwise it will be difficult to unmold. Even if your mold is dry and grease free, unmolding the chocolate can be challenging. If you are having trouble with it, it might be because the walls of your cups are too thin or because your chocolate was not tempered well. But don’t worry and DON’T THROW THE CHOCOLATE! You can always collect the pieces and temper the chocolate again. And you can do it as many times as you like as long as your chocolate does not come in contact with water or grease and is not heated to temperatures over 130F / 55C.
- You don’t have to use the brush; you can also fill the mold with the melted chocolate and gently rotate the mold until the chocolate coats the sides of the mold. If you have excess chocolate, DON’T THROW IT! Pour it onto parchment paper, let it set, peel the parchment paper and keep the chocolate for the next time.
- You don’t need to add all the rose petal jam at once. You can start with half the amount, taste the mousse right before pouring it into the cups and add the remainder based on your sweetness preferences.