Belatedly, here is your Valentine's Day dessert: Frozen Chocolate Mousse Hearts. Turns out my coeur à la crème molds were good for something after all; line them with plastic wrap and they're just regular old heart-shaped molds. You can't bake with them, but for this cold dessert you don't need to.

This recipe makes enough mousse to fill two standard sized wine glasses, which is a perfect presentation if you don't have heart-shaped molds (or if it isn't Valentine's Day). It's more than enough for two small coeur à la crème molds; fill a couple of wine glasses half way with the excess and save them for another day.

Recipe: Frozen Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

2 eggs, separated
4 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch salt

In an electric mixer (or by hand if you must), whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form.

Whisk together the egg yolks with the sugar until they thicken and turn pale yellow.

Heat half the heavy cream in the microwave until it boils (this shouldn't take more than 45 seconds). Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate in a bowl and mix it together gently with a whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Whip the remaining heavy cream to soft peaks.

Stir the chocolate into the egg yolk mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate and egg yolks, and finally fold the egg whites into the whole lot by thirds.

When the egg whites are fully incorporated, pour the mousse into your molds or wine glasses, cover them with plastic wrap, and put them in the freezer for at least two hours. Remove the mousse ten minutes before service to soften it.

The heart-shaped mousse pictured above is coated with ganache, a mixture of equal volumes of heavy cream and dark chocolate melted together and poured over the top to create a glossy coating. You could also top it off with whipped cream, dust it with powdered sugar or cocoa, or garnish it with some berries. Enjoy.