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Would you believe this chocolate mousse cake is so easy to make?
Chocolate Mousse Cake: Elegant But Easy
This beautiful chocolate mousse cake makes such a spectacular presentation that it definitely belongs on your holiday table. Any holiday!
While it this cake looks like you fussed and slaved for hours, it’s so easy, you won’t believe it!
There’s nothing complicated with this recipe. Because it’s so simple to make, it’s the perfect dessert to serve to guests.
Chocolate mousse cake is a chocolate lover’s dream cake. And who doesn’t love chocolate?
Everyone will make room for this dessert so no worries there.
Use Good Chocolate
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s imperative here to use high-quality chocolate.
Milk chocolate won’t do here. You need a good dark chocolate for this cake. I used an imported one that was 60 per cent cacao. Don’t use anything with a higher percentage as it will make the cake too bitter. Sticking to the percentage I used is your safest bet but a good semi-sweet chocolate of around 50 per cent cacao will do nicely too.
As for melting, this is one time I chose not to use the microwave because you can easily overheat the chocolate. Instead, I melted it in a bowl over hot water. You can’t take the chance that it will become gritty. Since the melted chocolate goes in the mousse, not the cake, grittiness is something you want to avoid if you want the best texture.
Make The Cake Special
The base cake layer is a pretty generic-style chocolate cake. It’s not one of those super-moist ones for obvious reasons due to the mousse layer on top. It gets it’s intense chocolate flavor from cocoa. And another boon is you can make the cake base days in advance of actually completing the entire dessert.
You can make this very special by brushing the top of the cake with a nice brandy or orange liqueur. I used the orange one because I’m very fond of the combination of chocolate and orange. Do this while the cake is still warm so it will soak in without making holes with a toothpick. However, you can do it later; just poke some small holes over the top.
The use of anything alcoholic is optional. The cake is good without that addition too.
The Recipe
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 oz cocoa powder
- 3 tbs boiling water
- 4 oz sugar
- 4 oz self-rising flour
- 4 oz very soft unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbs orange-flavored liquor or brandy optional
- Fresh raspberries for garnish
Mousse:
- 11 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels
- 2 cups chilled heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Grease bottom and sides of an an 8-inch/20cm springform pan and line the bottom and the sides with parchment. When you line the sides, you are making a collar that will be for later use when you top the cake with the mousse.
- Place the cocoa in a large bowl. Stir in the boiling water and mix until a paste forms. Add the sugar, flour, butter and eggs. Beat until smooth.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan, leveling the top surface as best you can.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Brush the orange liqueur or brandy if using, over the top of the hot cake. Cool cake completely.
- To make the mousse, place the chocolate morsels in a bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring until it's melted and smooth. Microwave melting is NOT recommended because this needs gentle even heat so the chocolate does not become grainy. Let the chocolate cool slightly.
- Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold in the melted chocolate into the cream, making sure it's blended well and not streaky.
- Spoon mousse on top of cooled cake and level the top. Chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Remove cake from pan and discard parchment. Place on a serving dish and dust with a bit of sifted cocoa. Top with raspberries and dust with confectioners/icing sugar.
Carole from Carole's Chatter says
Wowser! Happy New Year
Judith Hanneman says
You too!!!