Simple Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Pearls

Smooth Chocolate mousse with little crisp chocolate pearls. Two different textures that together make me very, very happy.
Serve a little dish of thick whipped cream on the side of the mousse to make this treat exceptional.
Make this mousse a little lighter by subbing Stevia for the sugar and using coconut milk in the custard instead of heavy cream. I would still use heavy cream for the remaining 1 1/4 c. Cream or you will loose the mousse texture and consistency.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Heavy Cream
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 3 T. Sugar
• pinch of Salt
• 1 t. Vanilla Extract
• 7 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate chips
  4 T. Callebaut chocolate pearls(Verhona makes wonderful chocolate pearls as well)
  

Heat 3/4 cup of cream in the microwave until hot. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt until well combined. Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly until well blended. Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens into a custard. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and stir until smooth.
Pour the custard through a small sieve into the melted chocolate chips. Stir the custard and chocolate until well blended and smooth. Let cool.
Whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the whipped cream to the chocolate custard and whisk in well to lighten the mixture. Add the remaining whipped cream to the lightened custard and very carefully fold in until the mixture is well combined.

Spoon the mousse into 8 ramekins and smooth the tops. Sprinkle 1/2 T. Of pearls over the top of each dish. Refrigerate the mousse for several hours, until firmly set and chilled.
Serve cold with whipped cream on the side.