Janice Baron’s Chocolate and Rum Mousse (well sort of!)

My mum was an incredible cook. I’m not sure of the difference between a cook and a chef (I’m sure someone will be able to help me here), but cooking every day, twice a day, for 9 people, it must have been easy to run out of ideas, energy and inspiration!
Yep, myself and my six siblings (more on that another time!), always ate proper, home made meals. No packets, no take aways, no rubbish. Except on a Saturday which was Mums day off from the kitchen. Not from the cleaning, ironing, washing, football etc – just the cooking.
On Saturdays my Dad was in charge of cooking. Lunch was always ‘burgers in buns’. We loved it. Birds Eye frozen beef burgers fried in some dodgy fat and chucked between a pasty looking bun – also Birds Eye I think. Pudding would be a jam doughnut from Sed Blackburns bakery on Mercer Row in Louth – it was right on the meridian line so we used to wait outside with on foot either side of the world! Jam or cream, you got what you got. For supper my Dad would get his wicker basket and head on down to ‘Mr Chips’ on Aswell street. No prizes for guessing what we had from there. So on Saturdays we ate our weeks supply of fats and processed food!
Occasionally, and it was only once a week if that, Mum would make a pudding. One of her staples was this dish which I have tried to replicate. Tried as I don’t have the full recipe – this is all I have:

As you can see the quantities and instructions are a little sparse! As my Mum is no longer around I can’t ask her and none of my siblings can remember. Anyway this was the recipe I made today and it turned out pretty well, although I think I over whisked the Evaporated Milk so don’t do that!
Ingredients you will need
1 packet of Jelly (I couldn’t find lemon so I used orange)
Half a pint boiling water
410g carton Evaporated milk
150g dark cooking chocolate
100g milk cooking chocolate (to be honest I think all dark would be better but it’s all I had!)
6 tablespoons dark Rum
What to do
Dissolve the jelly in the boiling water in a bowl
Whisk the milk but not too much – bubbles but not really thick
Melt the chocolate in a bowl of water over a saucepan or in a microwave
Whisk the melted jelly into the whisked milk
Stir in the melted chocolate and Rum

Pour into one big bowl or individual bowls and put in the freezer until it’s / they’re set.
Pop some chopped strawberry or raspberries on the top and serve.
I have to say it was really good though not THAT much like my mums. Deserves another attempt another day!

