Do NOT try this at home…

OK so my husband has been asking me for years to learn how to make his mom’s (Nona to the boys) secret recipe “chocolate mousse cake”.  I’m not sure what you know about my mother in law, but lets just say she is a bit of a fancy pants when it comes to cooking.. First off, the woman has her own catering business… If that is not enough,  the first time I went to visit her home, while Ben and I were dating, I was greeted with homemade Easter candy and cookies… Every time we go to visit we are lavished with fancy meals that are never served without garnish, and to top it all off she makes the best sweet rolls this side of the Mississippi.  Needless to say I really had no desire to make Ben’s favorite dessert, but for him I thought I’d try!  We were going to some good friends for dinner last night and I thought  it’s always good to try a new recipe on those that won’t care if you flop…  It took me about half the day to make this dessert (maybe longer) and I was pretty proud of myself upon completion (mostly because it came out of the spring form pan with ease).  Ben helped me out by making the chocolate curls (because I figured I’d better shower before I went to dinner)…  Since Ben’s mom is such a “pro” when it comes to cooking, I had to make some alterations to her recipe… You see her suggestion was to pipe rosettes of whipping cream around the top prior to adding the chocolate curls.  I did try that (at least what I thought a rosette was), and it looked less than presentable so I went with the “smear” the cream version I am more accustomed to!  I served the dessert to 6 adults and they all LOVED it, including Ben.  I am my own critic, however, and although I cleaned my plate, it was just not the same as Nona’s.  I am not going to share this recipe because I would never want to put you through it, but I will make it for you sometime (or beg Nona to do so)!  For now, here are the photos!