You might not thank me for this. Especially those who find it hard to resist something decadent and sinfully rich.

It all started innocently enough.

Our daughter M has this thing about meat. There is only one sort she ever eats without complaint, pink meat. No, I don’t mean rare or medium cooked beef, but meat that is actually pink to start with and after about one and a half hours of slow poaching is still pink and also meltingly tender. The meat that M favours above all others is pickled pork. Whenever we serve beef, chicken, fish or fresh pork the refrain we hear is “I only like pink meat.”

We as parents of course would like M to have as broad a palate as possible, so while we like to give her what she wants, we regularly have each different type of meat and in turn we serve up her favourite pickled pork. So it was a few nights ago that we had pickled pork, cooked in a large pot with spices until almost done, and then some carrots and broccoli were added. All this was served with some horseradish sauce.

A nice meal and there was no battle to get M to eat her meat.

Thrifty cooks amongst you would realize that we now had a well-flavoured stock leftover from cooking the pickled pork and I had been waiting a while to make something of which we are all very fond – soup veg soup – and this stock was the perfect foundation. We had everything we needed in the pantry, a pack of mixed soup pulses along with some cabbage and carrots. Ordinarily celery would have a starring role, but M is no fan; we only like to participate in battles we have some chance of winning.

So the next day I planned to have soup veg soup but maybe a bowl of soup wouldn’t be quite enough for dinner. What to have with it? I leafed idly through a cookbook searching for some inspiration when I came across a recipe for chocolate mousse. Mmmmm, hadn’t had that in a while, years in fact. In the 1980’s chocolate mousse was served at practically every dinner party and why not? It is a perfect dessert - easy to make, could be made ahead of time and pulled out of the fridge at the last minute, and was very, very nice to eat. The best friend a hostess ever had.

Of course fashion eventually caught up with it, not to mention it is also notoriously difficult to match wines with, and even though it has never gone away, it is not often served now. But, it is still good and a revival was imminent. However a search through the pantry failed to turn up any chocolate. Well, not chocolate in the strictest sense of the word, but there was a big, fat jar of Nutella. You know, the chocolate spread made from hazelnuts, a sort of semi solid chocolate paste.

I don’t imagine for one minute that I am the first one to think about using Nutella in chocolate mousse, I had seen a recipe for a Gianduia Chocolate Mousse cake in Gourmet many years ago that used Nutella, but it was the first time I thought of using it and the idea seemed sound enough. So off to the kitchen I went with my kitchen hand M and we set to. M melted the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, and then stirred in the egg yolks one by one. I supplied the grunt work whisking the egg whites until firm and glossy, then we delicately folded them into the cooled chocolate mixture and put it in a bowl in the fridge to set. Then the ever helpful M cleaned all the dishes, whisk and all…with her tongue!

My only worry at this point was would the mousse set properly because Nutella is not firm like chocolate, but at the cool temperature of the fridge it did set well, though once at room temperature it did melt slightly, not that it had much chance for we wolfed it all down.

The verdict? It was absolutely sensational, a lovely deep chocolate essence enhanced by hazelnut flavours, unlike regular chocolate mousse, which can be one-dimensional. Rich, luscious and full flavoured. Anyone who likes Ferrero Rocher chocolates - you know the ones, crispy, nut studded wafer balls filled with the most amazingly wicked chocolate hazelnut praline - would love this dessert. And it may even be good for you.

Sort of.

A check of the label revealed it is low GI. Well, when I read that in connection with oats or the like, it is reassuring…but with chocolate? The label goes on to say it contains hazelnuts, well that is reassuring, maybe the addition of skim milk is too and also that there are no artificial colours or preservatives. But it would be too much of a stretch to say it is good for you, the sugar and fat content are probably enough to sink a battleship.

So, if your hips and thighs try to leave any slanderous comments, I will delete them

Nutella Chocolate Mousse

200 g Nutella
100 g unsalted butter
4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon caster sugar

In a bowl set over simmering water but not touching the water, place the Nutella and butter and stir until melted and combined and then beat in the egg yolks, one by one and remove from the heat. In another bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks, sprinkle on the caster sugar and keep whisking until smooth and glossy. Add one quarter of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently fold in to loosen the mixture, then add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in as well. Spoon into serving dishes or pile it into one big bowl. Leave to set in the refrigerator for at least four hours. Serve with some plain whipped cream.

Note: If you wanted to serve this at room temperature or use it as a cake filling, adding one leaf of gelatine to the melted chocolate/butter mixture would help it to hold. Also you need to be sure that your eggs are safe to use raw.

Edited to add: After I posted this, Cindy from where's the beef? alerted me to World Nutella Day, hosted by Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Shelley from At Home in Rome. Ladies, I'm in!