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1
De-shell and roast the hazelnuts in a single layer on a piece of parchment paper at 275 F 15-20 minutes.
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2
Remove from oven before the nuts brown completely....golden brown is what we want.
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3
Roll a damp kitchen towel against the nuts and rub the skins off them.
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4
After the skins come off, roll then dry with paper towels and grind them to fine powder, in a processor.
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5
The Mousse
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6
Halve the amount of cream in two separate bowls.
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7
Heat one half over a low flame, till bubbles start to appear. Don't let it boil over.
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8
Add this cream to the bowl of chopped chocolate and let stand for a minute.
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9
Whip the egg whites and sugar (if you're using any), till stiff. An electric beater works perfectly fine unless you're willing to exercise your arms using a hand-beater.
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10
Add the egg white foam to the warm chocolate and cream mixture and gently stir centre-out till no white streaks remain.
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11
Stir in the hazelnut flour into the chocolate. Mix well.
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12
Whip the remaining cream into soft peaks that hold their shape. Pour the cream into the chocolate mixture and fold in gently.
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13
Pour in serving glasses/cups and allow it to set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
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14
Garnish with whipped cream (a little of the heavy cream whipped to peaks with confectioners' sugar) and chocolate shavings (both dark and white, in my case), before serving.
