Sunday 16 February 2014

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake; A beautiful mess!

This was for a friend of mine.. For her birthday as well as for Valentine. She loves chocolate so I decided to make this triple chocolate mousse for her. Dark chocolate base with chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse as the top. The combination is ... almost to perfect. Not too sweet because of the dark chocolate. This is quite a ugly cake (it's my fault definitely, not the recipe) because when I remove the cake from the cake pan, some of the mousse was smudged all over, so I thought of an idea to use chocolate biscuit sticks to cover the sides of the mousse cake.. But definitely, it still taste nice.

Makes a 8 inch cake 
Serve 10

Bottom:
85g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing pan
198g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 tsp instant coffee granules 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
60g light brown sugar

Middle: 
2 tbsp cocoa powder, preferably dutch processed
5 tbsp hot water
198g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 
350g heavy cream (cold)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Top:
3/4 tsp gelatin powder
1 tbsp water
170g white chocolate chips
350g heavy cream (cold)

Garnish: (Optional)
Chocolate Curls
Biscuit sticks

Method for bottom layer:

Preheat oven to 165C. Butter bottom and side of 8 inch springform pan that is at least 3 inch high.
Melt butter, chocolate and coffee granules in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water stirring occasionally until smooth.
Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and egg yolks. Set aside.
Beat egg whites with stand mixer till frothy, about 30 seconds. Add half of brown sugar and beat till combined, about 15 seconds. Add remaining brown sugar and beat at high speed until soft peaks form. 
Whisk one third of egg whites into chocolate mixture. Using rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whites until no white streaks remain. 
Carefully transfer batter to prepared pan, gently smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
Bake until cake has risen, is firm around the edges and the center has just set but is still soft. (The center of cake will spring back after pressing gently with your fingers), about 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool completely about 1 hour. (The cake will collapse as it cools). Do not remove cake from cake pan.

Middle:

Whisk together cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl and set aside. 
Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of simmering water, stirring occasionally till smooth.
Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Whipped heavy cream, granulated sugar and salt on medium speed until mixture begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip till soft peaks form when whisk is lifted. About 30 to 45 seconds.
Whisk cocoa powder mixture into melted chocolate until smooth.
Whisk one third of chocolate whipped cream into chocolate mixture to lighten.
Using rubber spatula, fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streak remain.
Spoon mousse into springform pan over the cooled cake and gently tap the pan on counter 3 times to remove any large air bubbles. 
Smooth the top with an offset spatula. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes while preparing for top layer.

Top:

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water and let it stand for 5 minutes.
Place white chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring 150g of heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, whisking until fully dissolved.
Pour cream mixture over white chocolate and whisk till chocolate is melted and mixture is completely smooth.
Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. (The mixture will thicken slightly)
Whip the remaining heavy cream at medium speed until it begins to thicken, about 30 seconds.
Increase the speed to high and whip till soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, about 30 to 45 seconds.
Whisk one third of whipped cream into white chocolate to lighten. 
Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining whip cream into white chocolate mixture until no white streaks remain.
Spoon the white chocolate mousse into the pan over the middle layer. 
Smooth the top with an offset spatula. Return cake to refrigerator and chill until set, at least 2 1/2 hours. 


Remove the cake from fridge and let sit and room temperature for 45 minutes before releasing it from the pan.
Garnish the top with chocolate curls or dust or cocoa powder. 
Run a thin knife between the cake and side of springform pan then remove the side of pan.
(**Please be very careful because of my carelessness, the cake was smudge)
Cut into slice and serve.  
For clean slices, dip a sharp knife into hot water and wipe dry between cuts.





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