Chocolate Mousse - Heavenly and Dairy Free

I made this chocolate mousse today and it was really an outstanding chocolate mousse. It was almost souffle like, yet rich and velvety. I found the recipe in "The Cuisines of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking." The following is basically the same recipe except that I recommend using blood orange olive oil if you can find it. 

7 ounces semisweet chocolate (I used 72% Dark Chocolate from Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup mild extra virgin oil (or if you have it in hand, blood orange olive oil)

4 eggs, separated

2/3 cup icing sugar (75g)

1/3 cup brewed espresso

2 tbs Cointreau

Melt chocolate over low heat (either very carefully in the microwave or in a small saucepan over the stove). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Add the olive oil to the cooked chocolate and mix well. 

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk until foamy. Add the espresso and Cointreau and whisk until well blended. And the chocolate mixture and mix well with a rubber spatula. 

In another bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold in 1/3 of the egg white into the chocolate mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining egg whites, and then with the remaining eg whites just until no white streaks are visible. 

In the original recipe, the instruction says to put the mixture into a 10 inch round cake pan and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours (or place in the freezer for at least 3 hours, or until frozen) and then serve mousse cold, cut into wedges or shaped with two spoons into quenelles. I prefer to put them into ramekins. This recipe yields about 8 small ramekins worth of chocolate mousse. 

I like to whip up some heavy cream and put a dollop on top before serving. But you can serve it as is, especially for friends who are avoiding dairy.