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Salted Butter Caramel-Chocolate Mousse
With butter-and-cream richness, bittersweet notes from the chocolate and caramel, and sea salt to cut through the sugar, this simple six-ingredient dessert from “My Paris Kitchen” by David Lebovitz is far greater than the sum of its parts. You can whip the egg whites by hand using a whisk, or use a handheld or stand mixer. Whatever method, make sure the bowl and whisk are perfectly clean and free of any residual oil, which will prevent the egg whites from achieving maximum loft. (Note that the eggs here are not cooked.) Fleur de sel is a hand-harvested, somewhat coarse-grained sea salt from France. Just about any variety of finishing sea salt can be substituted, but don't use very coarse salt (the type meant for grinding). The salt particles in the mousse don't fully dissolve; the little bursts of salinity are what makes this dessert so unique and delicious.
6
Servings
Tip
Don't overwhip the egg whites; stop whisking when they hold stiff peaks. Overbeaten egg whites appear dry and won't incorporate well with other ingredients.
30 minutes
plus cooling and chilling
Ingredients
-
104
grams (½ cup) white sugar
-
3
tablespoons salted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
Directions
-
01Spread the sugar evenly over the bottom of a medium sauté pan or wide medium saucepan, then set the pan over medium. As the sugar begins to melt at the edges, use a silicone spatula to push the liquefied sugar toward the center. Continue to cook, stirring gently, until all the sugar is melted, caramelizes to a deep amber color and begins to smoke, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, quickly add the butter and stir until melted. Gradually whisk in the cream and continue to whisk to dissolve any hardened bits of caramel.
Reviews
May 14, 2026
A Reliable Staple I Make Again and Again
I've been making this consistently for years--it's a recipe I come back to again and again when I'm wondering what to make for dessert. The biggest challenge is making sure the caramel gets fully dissolved within the chocolate mixture. It takes a while, a pit of patience, and when patience runs thin, taking out the remaining chunks that are taking too long to melt (and just eating them solo, ha!). The result is a dense, rich mousse. I'm curious to try modifications to make it lighter, but I don't mind the stickiness/density of this.
May 17, 2023
Perfect in small ramekins. Gooey in a large serving bowl
First, let me say that I've made this several times to universally rave reviews. Don't be afraid to let the caramel really darken. Each time I think I might have burnt it but it works out in the end product. Also, the flake salt is essential to its complexity. Bittersweet chocolate shavings and freshly whipped cream also bump it up yet another notch. My problem is this: when I make it in a large serving bowl, the pudding deflates and the center is runny/gooey. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. When I divide the mousse into ramekins I don't have the same problem.
March 23, 2026
This was a nearly-perfect chocolate mousse, so I fixed it.
I’ve made this recipe with bittersweet and with semisweet chocolate and much prefer it with semisweet. The flavor was great but I thought the texture was a little too dense and sticky for a mousse. I decided that the reason was the lack of sugar in making the meringue, which was too dry and fragile to withstand being folded into the chocolate caramel mixture without over-deflation. Because adding sugar to the meringue would make a semisweet chocolate mousse too sweet, I decided to counteract the sweetness by using bittersweet chocolate and adding 1/4 cup of sugar to the meringue. The resulting meringue folded into the chocolate caramel very nicely and resulted in serving sizes that were about 20% more voluminous than the original method for the same 105g serving. Yes, I weigh my servings; I’m a retired engineer, so i have no choice. I served it this evening to guests who had tasted the previous attempts; all said that it was much better and I was asked for the recipe.
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We usually are making dessert for 10-12 persons. Anyone try doubling this recipe?