chocolate mousse cake

I make mousses all the time but chocolate mousse has always scared me, it just seems more daunting and temperamental. the thing that makes it less scary is just remembering to get the temperatures of everything right. every time it went waaaayy wrong was when I didn’t take the time to get the temperatures right I was like “oh it’ll be fine, what’s the worst that can happen” it was bad, unrecoverable, but I learnt that temp is king with this mousse, and you can’t really take shortcuts.

chocolate cake

125g flour

37g cocoa

1/2tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

150g brown sugar

1 egg

112g sour cream

112g warm coffee

chocolate mousse

recipe from elements of desserts

120g eggs

50g sugar

160g dark chocolate (70%)

260g whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks

extras

250g cherries, pitted and halved

1tbsp sugar

for the cake preheat the oven to 350F, grease an 8inch springform cake tin.

whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar in a large bowl, then whisk in the egg, sour cream, and coffee to form a lava-like batter, pour the cake batter into the cake tin, smooth out the top, bake for 20-30 minutes, stick a toothpick in the thickest part if it comes out clean the cakes done.

leave the cake to cool.

wrap the cake in acetate, return it to the cake tin.

in a small bowl, stir together the cherries and sugar, leave for 30 minutes.

evenly spread the cherries across the top of the cooled cake, pouring the juice from the cherries on there too.

mousse

combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, continually whisking until the eggs reach 60C, transfer the bowl back to the stand, whisk until the egg mixture cools to 35C.

melt the chocolate to 35C, once both the eggs and chocolate are at the same temperatures whisk them together, it’s okay if it deflates a bit.

in two additions fold the cream into the chocolate mixture, leaving no streaks.

pour the mousse into the cake tin, tapping it on the counter to help it settle.

leave in the fridge overnight.

the next day, remove the cake from the tin, carefully peel off the acetate.

decorate it with a dusting of cocoa, extra fruit, and a bit more chocolate:)