Melted marshmallows play an unexpected role in this coffee and chocolate mousse. The fluffy marshmallows lighten the mousse mixture and the gelatin in them thickens the mousse as it chills.

7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
4 teaspoons instant decaffeinated coffee granules
4 cups miniature marshmallows (about 5-1/2 ounces)
2 cups cold whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 175 F. Put the chocolate in a heatproof container and melt it in the oven, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the chocolate from the oven as soon as it is melted and stir it smooth. Have ready a serving bowl with a 2- to 2 1/2-quart capacity.

2. Heat the milk and instant coffee in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the coffee dissolves. Add the marshmallows and cook, stirring constantly, until the marshmallows dissolve. The mixture will look foamy. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Put the bowl in the freezer until the mixture is cool, thick, and syrupy, about 10 minutes. Stir the mixture once to ensure that it cools evenly. The mixture should not set firm.

3. While the coffee mixture is chilling, put the cream and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until firm peaks form. Whisk the cooled coffee mixture smooth and fold it into the whipped cream.

4. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the melted chocolate and transfer the remaining melted chocolate to a large bowl. Add 1 cup of the coffee cream mixture to the chocolate and whisk it smooth. Use a large rubber spatula to fold 1 cup of the coffee cream mixture into the chocolate mixture. Pour the remaining coffee cream mixture over the chocolate mixture. Use the rubber spatula to swirl the mixtures together slightly to marbleize them. Pour the mousse into the serving bowl. Dip the ends of a fork in the reserved melted chocolate and drizzle thin lines of chocolate over the top of the mousse. The mousse is ready to serve or it can be frozen.

Variation
Fill 8 stemmed glasses with mousse. Drizzle some melted chocolate over each mousse. To freeze, wrap each glass with plastic wrap, then heavy aluminum foil. Individual glasses of mousse will defrost in about 3 hours.

Good Advice

• Use miniature marshmallows for this recipe. They melt quickly in the warm liquid and eliminate the messy job of cutting large marshmallows into small pieces.
• Melt all of the chocolate at the same time but reserve a portion to garnish the top of the mousse. To avoid turning on the oven just to melt the chocolate, you can put it in a heatproof container and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir the chocolate over the hot water until it melts.
• A souffle dish makes a nice serving bowl for the mousse.

To Freeze
Freeze the mousse until the top is firm, about 1 hour. Press plastic wrap on the top of the mousse. Gently press heavy aluminum foil over the mousse. Label with date and contents. Freeze up to 1 month.

To Serve
Defrost the wrapped mousse in the refrigerator, about 5 hours or overnight. Serve the mousse cold. Serve within 2 days. After 2 days some liquid may form on the bottom of the mousse.

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Excerpted from Bake and Freeze Chocolate Deserts by Elinor Klivans Copyright© 1997 by Elinor Klivans. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.