Chocolate + Water = Mousse?

Counterintuition can be so delicious. [Photograph: Liz Gutman]

You're never, ever, under any circumstances to mix water with chocolate, right? The water will cause the fat molecules in the chocolate to seize and clump up, and your chocolate is no good to anyone anymore.

Right?

Well, kinda. Heston Blumenthal of the famed Fat Duck restaurant in London is known for his scientific approach to cooking (and the fact that his restaurant is consistently ranked amongst the top three in the world). There's a video in which he makes a "mousse" (conceived by one of the fathers of molecular gastronomy, Hervé This) just from chocolate and water—and it looks too easy to be true. So I decided to enlist the help of my business partner Jen and film the results.

Despite the questionable camera work (sorry!), it really was that easy. This is a cool kitchen trick to try at home, and since there's no other flavor to get in the way of the chocolate, the results are surprisingly rich and sumptuous. I encourage you to give it a try.

Making Mousse with Water and Chocolate