It turned into Fall yesterday. No warning, no gradual changes, no typical New England back-and-forth. Friday it was hot and sunny shorts-and-a-tank-top weather. Yesterday it was cool and crisp flannel-and-jeans weather.

Of course, I have no complaints. I love Fall. There’s something about Summer weather that makes going to school feel wrong, but once it gets a little chillier I get infinitely happier about curling up inside and doing work. And, in a particularly fortunate random choice of weekend, I happened to go apple picking yesterday with a group of friends, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

I realize this apple picking adventure may come as a surprise based on the fact that I made chocolate mousse this week. Shouldn’t I have a recipe (or 6) to use up all of those apples? Not to worry, those will come in the next two weeks (after which I’ll dive back into pumpkin cooking), but, as I said at the beginning, Fall happened yesterday. I baked Friday, and needed something light that could be enjoyed even in the Summer weather that was still going on then. Thus: chocolate mousse.

I have had a variety of chocolate mousse recipes saved to Pinterest for awhile now, none of which I’ve actually decided to make because they tend to be cakes that involve springform pans (which I still haven’t purchased). But I was going to a dinner and wanted something a little fancy, so I decided to make individual servings in plastic cups – easy clean up, but still impressive.

This is how I found out that chocolate mousse is super easy to make and super fast if you’re short on time.

First, melt the chocolate in 1/4 cup of the heavy cream in a double boiler (or heatproof bowl over simmering water), stirring frequently until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites using a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. In another separate bowl (or stand mixer, I got lazy), beat the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold half of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, and then stir in the remainder.Fold in the egg whites just until no streaks of egg white or whipped cream remain.Distribute the batter between 5 single serve cups (small glasses or mason jars would be cute, too) and refrigerate for at least two hours.They’ll firm up a bit to familiar mousse texture, at which point you can top with whipped cream and chocolate chips to serve.And that’s all there is to it! 3 bowls, 3 ingredients.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup cold heavy cream, divided
• 3 egg whites, room temperature

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate with 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a double boiler, stirring frequently, until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites on high speed using hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. In a large bowl, beat remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream on high speed using a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold half of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Stir in remainder.
5. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until no streaks of white appear.
6. Distribute between 5 individual serving containers. Chill for at least 2 hours.
7. Serve with whipped cream and chocolate chips.