Chocolate mousse with Spanish tortas de aceite
Treat yourself to this rich chocolate mousse with tortas de aceite – a deliciously sweet biscuit made with Spanish olive oil.
makes 6x 100ml ramekins
For the tortas de aceite
300g plain flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp fennel seeds
½ cup robust extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking sheets
120ml cup warm water
3 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
Demerara sugar, for dusting
plain flour, for the work surface
1 large egg white, beaten
Toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from the heat. When cool, smash lightly.
Preheat the oven to 210C.
Mix flour, salt and fennel in a bowl. Set aside. Pour the olive oil into a bowl with the water, then add the sugar and yeast and mix well. Set aside for a few minutes.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and slowly pour in the yeast mixture, using a fork to mix in the flour from the outside as you go. When it all starts to come together, use your hands to mix it into a smooth dough. If the dough is sticky, add some extra flour, a little at a time, until a smooth but soft dough forms. Cover and set aside to double in volume.
Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets, then dust them with demerara sugar. Lightly flour a clean work surface and a rolling pin with plain flour. Divide your dough into 16 equal-size pieces and shape each one into a ball, then roll out each ball until it’s very thin, almost translucent and about 10cm in diameter. Place each torta on a baking sheet and lightly brush with some beaten egg white. Dust the biscuits lightly with demerara sugar.
Bake for 6-12 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Watch carefully as they can burn quickly. Immediately transfer the tortas to wire racks to cool.
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For the mousse
150g 70 per cent dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100ml mild extra virgin olive oil
zest 1 orange
4 large eggs at room temperature, separated
pinch of salt
50g caster sugar
zest 1 orange, extra
black olive powder – finely chop pitted black olives set out to dry in a low temperature oven for an hour
Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a large heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water (but not touching the water). Make sure you remove it from the heat before it is completely melted, then stir it gently so that the last little pieces of chocolate dissolve. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the oil and zest to combine and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the yolks, sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt until pale, thick and about doubled in volume. Gradually pour the chocolate-oil mixture into the beaten yolks and fold to mix completely.
In a meticulously washed bowl, whisk the egg whites and a pinch of salt until you have firm peaks.
Add a third of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture, folding to lighten the mixture. Next, gently fold in another third of the egg whites, then follow with the remaining whites (leave any liquid in the egg white bowl). No white streaks should be visible.
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, but allow to come back to room temperature to serve either in ramekins or spread out on a plate, sprinkled with sea salt mixed with orange zest and a drizzle of oil.
This recipe first appeared in the May 2026 issue of SALIFE magazine.
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