Mint Chocolate Mousse, Where Have You Been All My Life?
The world is divided into two groups: mint-chocolate lovers, and the people who make faces at us. Normally, I’d say no problem — more for me! But I truly feel that mint-chocolate deserves a second chance. Maybe you had a bad experience with a toothpaste-y ice cream, but when it’s done right, mint-chocolate is one of the all-time greatest pairings in dessert history.
With this mousse recipe, baker Lucie Franc de Ferriere does mint-chocolate so very right. Lucie now runs an East Village bakery, specializing in stunning flower-covered cakes. But as a child, her favorite dessert was dark-chocolate mousse. “Even back then, I loved the deepest, darkest chocolate,” she writes in her new cookbook, Cake From Lucie (out this week!). “I would daydream about eating it. In my own recipe, I added mint to give it a light, digestive quality, much like an after-dinner mint — my father’s preferred treat.”
The secret to a great mousse, Lucie says, is in the details: very dark chocolate, eggs no more than one week old, and fresh mint. “That’s a must. Mint extracts have that toothpaste-like flavor, and you’ll miss out on the true essence of the herb.” However, if you are staunchly anti-mint, Lucie is way more chill about this than I would be. “You can experiment with other herbs, like rosemary or thyme. Give it your own spin!” I must admit, those both sound amazing. Mousse is never a quickie dessert, but this one is worth the time and egg separating. So, everyone pick a herb, and let’s make some mousse!
Chocolate Mint Mousse
from Cake From Lucie, by Lucie Franc de Ferriere
Serves about 10
1 stick, plus 1 tbsp (128g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
6 sprigs fresh mint, leaves roughly chopped and stems discarded
7 ounces (200g) dark chocolate*, chopped
Distilled white vinegar
8 large eggs, separated (“Leave them out for an hour, to come to room temperature”)
3 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling
*Note: Lucie recommends using chocolate that’s at least 72% cacao. “That’s what gives the mousse its intense, velvety flavor.”
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat, then stir in the mint. Cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl, pressing on the mint to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the mint leaves.
Fill a medium saucepan with about 1 inch (2.5cm) of water and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. In a large heatproof bowl, combine the mint-infused butter and the chocolate, then set the bowl over the pan of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Warm the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and fully combined with the butter. Remove the bowl from the saucepan (careful — it will be warm!), and use a clean kitchen towel to wipe any condensation from the bottom.
Meanwhile, use a paper towel to wipe down your stand mixer’s bowl with about 1/4 teaspoon of white vinegar. Wipe all over the surface of the bowl, making sure there are no traces of liquid or fat on it. Fit the mixer with whisk attachment, and add the egg whites. Whip on high speed until soft peaks form (3-5 minutes). In a separate, large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 4 teaspoons of sugar vigorously until pale and aerated (2-3 minutes). Pour the chocolate-butter mixture over the egg yolk mixture, and whisk until fully combined. Add the salt and whisk to incorporate.
Once the egg whites are at soft peaks, add the remaining sugar and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form (7-8 minutes). (If you’re unsure if the meringue is stiff peak, remove the whisk attachment from the mixer and flip it so it’s whisk-side up. The peaks should point straight up and be very stiff.) Add about one-third of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate and egg yolk mixture, and whisk until incorporated. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold with a rubber spatula until fully combined and uniform in color.
Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least four hours, or preferably overnight. (It will keep in the refrigerator for up to two days.) When it’s ready, sprinkle each portion with Maldon sea salt, and serve!
Thank you so much, Lucie! And congratulations on your gorgeous new cookbook.
P.S. More favorite recipes, including Natasha Pickowicz’s show-stopping tater-tot cake, and if you’re still in a chocolate-y mood, here’s my Parisian-style chocolat chaud (takes only 10 minutes!).
(Photographs copyright © 2026 by Lucia Bell-Epstein. Illustrations copyright 2026 © Maya Netzer. Excerpted from Cake From Lucie, on sale now from Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group. Copyright © 2026 by Lucie Franc de Ferriere.)
Comments
45 commentsThis recipe almost broke me when I tried to make it for my wife. You may want to check the sugar amount in this recipe. My meringue kept falling apart and I think it was due to not enough sugar. Other meringues I have made require 1 part egg white to 1.5-2 parts sugar. Once I matched that ratio for the number of egg whites in the recipe, it worked! It’s chilling now, the hard part will be waiting until the morning to try some.
I get my love of chocolate mint from my mom. Sending her this recipe right now! Maybe we could make and enjoy it together.
This sounds delicious to me as a mint dark chocolate fan! When I lived in Germany I ate a Ritter Sport peppermint chocolate bar everyday. True story. They’re like an even better York patty.
I would like to sit next to Bekah and her excellent life coaching skills while eating a dish of mint chocolate mousse. that is all.
The bowl in that first photo is the only acceptable bowl for choclate mousse, minty or not :)
Oh wow, Bekah’s comment: ‘I’ve gotten tattoos after bad breakups so that my body is no longer the body they had the privilege of knowing.’ This is going to stay with me for a while 🩷
haha..how quickly I ignored the post seeing Mint chocolate in the title and forwarded it to the friend who loves it..
Yes please to mint and dark chocolate. Only problem – egg allergy..
My son had an egg allergy (since outgrown). Jessie Sheehan has a marvelous chocolate mousse recipe that relies on marshmallows instead of eggs. Great for egg allergies! Also, vegan marshmallows work just fine.
I LOVE mint chocolate anything. Mint always brightens and lightens up a dessert. Also — I live within a few blocks of Lucie’s bakery. I pass it all the time, have never been inside but maybe I’ll pop in soon.
No, no, no. The real question isn’t, Do you like mint and chocolate together. The real question is, is it “pick a herb,” or “pick an herb?” Fellow language lovers, weigh in!!! P.s. I know there is no correct answer ;)
If you pronounce it “erb” like most Americans, then it is “pick an herb” because the an precedes a vowel sound. If you pronounce the h, “her-b,” like most Brits, then it is “pick a herb” because the a precedes a consonant sound.
yes!! kelsey originally had “an herb” but I changed it to “a herb” because I say the h sound!
Love mint-chocolate, and the recipe, but i have a random question – the credits at the bottom include “Illustrations copyright 2026 © Maya Netzer.” I went back over the post to see what constitutes an “illustration” versus a photograph, and I don’t see anything! This is my personal brainteaser today…
Ok now I’m also curious about this! Also I feel naive for not realizing before now that mouse is essentially chocolate flavoured butter.
I know! I know! Maya Nether illustrated the cookbook shown in one of the photographs.
8 eggs puts mousse outside butter in my book.
Am I weird because I only like a mint/choc combo in ice cream? Nope, I’m weird for a whole lot of other reasons.
Me: mint! A wonder! Is there any herb more versatile and invigorating?! Mint chocolate – bitter and sweet and fresh and light and heaven! Husband: mint chocolate? Hard pass. That’s like asking me to brush my teeth with dairy. (And that’s what makes the world go round)
hahahaha
My husband says more or less the same thing 🤣
The way your husband is with mintbis how I am with LAVENDER! Ugh. This drink, this dessert tastes like SOAP.
Meg, I am like this with lavender,too, but I LOVE a rose flavour, which many I know detest. Maybe you will enjoy rose, too…
Well isn’t this a well-timed recipe, as I happen to have a pile of freshly laid eggs on my counter from my backyard flock and a burgeoning mint plant in the same back yard!
what a dream!
Count me in as a lover of chocolate and mint!!!! This looks terrific.
I would happily sit with my feet up and eat the whole thing. Mint-choc is a dark pleasure.
This sounds incredible!
My family loooooves chocolate mint thing. We always on look out for chocolate infused with mint treats. This recipe looks amazing!
this is unrelated to the post but I need help. I was the other woman – he left his wife for me and we lived together for a year until he told me he feels so much guilt and shame that he had to try to reconcile with her. that also failed because she found out that he still has contact with me and that (rightfully) was a non negotiable for her. I’ve been living on crumbs and calling it a meal and so has she. but I can’t get rid of the voice in my head saying, but I loved him. I love him.
Do not treat yourself as an afterthought. You are a child of God— worth someone’s FULL tank of love. You are worth it. You are worth it. You are worth it.
I’m sorry this is happening to you 💜
All true. You have to now vigorously throw yourself into building a life without him, and eventually you will attract a man of integrity. You’ve got this :)
Girl I am gonna hold your hand when I say this, you’ll be so much better in a year. This man is literal trash. He betrayed his wife, he betrayed you. He has very clearly shown everyone what a spineless unfaithful fuck he is. Now it’s your job to use that information to push your life forward, without him. This will be hard but the biggest act of self love you can do for yourself. Get a dog, join a gym, take up knitting to keep your hands busy. Whatever you need to move yourself forward and become the version of yourself he doesn’t get to know anymore. I’ve gotten tattoos after bad breakups so that my body is no longer the body they had the privilege of knowing. You’ve got this.
ANON: this is a comment section and as such, odds are I don’t know you IRL, nor a single thing about you, this other person, your life, or your past. That said, my initial take is that you already know all of the answers within yourself about why this person and situation was, and is, a bad idea for you and your life. It is inconvenient, to say the least, to take a deep look inward at oneself and the choices one has made that do not line up with ones own purported morals, values and beliefs. As you say above, you have been, “living on crumbs” but you knew that would be the case from the jump, and hopped in that pool anyways knowing it would be messy, half-hearted, and lived out in the shadows of your combined worlds. While it’s not impossible for a beautiful and long-lasting relationship to start out that way, it’s certainly rare because it would require both parties to examine deeply how they ended up in that scenario in the first place, and for said couple to take steps together as individuals to explore and grow out of past behaviors so that pattern of escapism doesn’t just repeat itself on loop. There is the mystery and romance of forbidden love, and then there is the reality of it, which is that it was created in a fantasy land that is not meant to sustain real world waves of life’s turbulence and emotions. You tried living out a real life fantasy where you were so desperately wanted, desired, and NEEDED that a man left his wife FOR you. That must have felt really great for a time, until the reality of how this person used you to avoid difficult conversations and their own inner work began to overshadow your romantic moments together. I do believe you can find someone who can be all of that, and more for you, once you take the steps to work on how you ended up in this scenario in the first place. Your own wonderful life has so many things in store for you, so why, dear ANON, would you ever consider settling for so much less than you know you deserve. Like each human on this Earth, you are all that and more, so find a therapist if you don’t already have one you’re honest and real with, and get to the bottom of this ASAP. You deserve to understand why you’re not just settling for less than you deserve, but willingly stepping into someone else’s hurricane of avoidant chaos and calling that, love. Real, true love, which is honest and built on trust, is waiting for you somewhere out there when your inner work that lies ahead, has lined up with your cosmic timing. Wishing you the very best on this journey, and beyond.
Speaking as someone who met my partner when we were both married to other people – and we both msde the brutal choice to end our marriages to be together, and still are together 6 years later, with positive relationships with our exes… This kind of thing is incredibly difficult and requires an insane level of self awareness and work, on behalf of both parties. It requires accountability, repair, and a lot of therapy. And also? It requires gut-level clarity that you are each other’s correct person, and the courage to pursue that without flinching and no matter what. He clearly does not have that. So everyone else’s advice is right – the proof is in the (mint choc) pudding. Time to move on and be the best version of yourself, because your person is still out there.
That sounds so painful, both what happened and the subsequent realizations. My advice: 1. No one who loved either you or the wife would act this way. Love is other centered and wanting the good of the other person. This seems like selfishly embroiling two women in his own personal drama. 2. Don’t waste a good crisis. How can you mine and leverage what has happened to make you a better person? Good luck.
It’s okay that you love him! I feel like this isn’t talked about a lot, but I personally think we can’t rid ourselves of those feelings. I dated someone who would absolutely have done all of those things to me and with me and frankly when we were younger, he cheated on several long term girlfriends with me. I have a lot of shame over this, but you know what? I’ll always love him. I stopped trying to not love him and decided to just try not being with him. I realized that that was just one pice of a life, and that I can love other people in bigger, different ways that make me more whole. This is a ridiculous example, but if you watch sex and the city and realize that Carrie is incredibly insecure in every single situation that involves Big but keeps going back because she loves him, it might be helpful—I am not team Aiden but I’m also team not being with someone who makes you feel like you’re not enough. It’s okay to love someone and choose your own life anyway!
I know this is painful but I couldn’t say anything better than Bekah, she gave you some important real talk. Listen to her, block him.
I got out of a similar situation 12 years ago. The girl I was 12 years ago would not believe the life I have now. And the turning point for me was crying and crying to a friend that “it was always him” – she responded “but what if it was always YOU?!” That simple thought propelled me down a road of loving myself and putting myself first and accepting responsibility for my own feelings. So now I offer it to you to help change the voice in your head. It doesn’t happen overnight – it’s okay if you take it one hour at a time, doing the next right thing for you. Hours make days and days make months! You’ll look back so grateful for finding your way to better things, whatever the future holds.
Just because you love him, doesn’t mean you should be with him.
It’s OK that you love him, and it’s ok that this is over. When it’s less raw you can reflect more on what you’ve learned. My affair taught me that monogamy is not for me, which opened my life up beautifully and now I can live in line with my ethics. Definitely not everyone’s take away but I’m throwing it into your many replies. And yeah I still love him and always will, but the chapter is soooooooooooo closed. And it took me six years to really feel that.
Two things can be true: You can still love him, and he can be unworthy of that love. Get away from the situation and your mind will clear (if possible, get a good therapist). You’re worth more than what he has done to you.
In my youth I spent many years scooping ice cream, and then I (moving up in the world) moved on to gelato. One thing I can say is that people who love mint chocolate, LOVE mint chocolate. I find it very endearing. No one was ever as excited to see a flavour on the menu as mint chocolate people.
I was a strange child who didn’t like cake. Every birthday party up to middle school featured a baskin robbins mint-chocolate chip “cake” (aka, slab of ice cream with frosting on top).