National Chocolate Mousse Day
03
April
The third day of April we celebrate “National Chocolate Mousse Day!” Today we are excited to welcome Shannon Imlay as our guest blogger. Check out her recipe for “Chocolate Mousse Cake” from her blog “Shannon’s Shanonigins.” Her talents can also be found on Facebook and Pinterest. Be sure to follow her and support your fellow contester and blogger!
“If you are looking for a delicious, decadent, dessert (that’s not difficult) to make, look no further. I’m going to give you my FAVORITE chocolate recipe. Now, I’m known far and wide for being the ultimate chocoholic, so when I say this is my favorite chocolate recipe, that is saying a lot! This cake is actually a chocolate mousse that is baked, and part of the mousse is used as a filling. It bakes almost like a soufflé in that, after the cake cools, it will fall in the middle. It’s at this point that you will use the unbaked portion of the mousse to fill in the “sink”. The result in a divine cake that will leave your guests begging for more.”
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Author: Shannon Imlay
Ingredients
- 7 ounces semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate
- ¼ pound unsalted butter
- 7 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar, separated
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- Whipped Cream Frosting
- 2 Cups of Heavy Whipping Cream
- ¼ cup of sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- ). Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- ). Melt butter and chocolate together either in a double boiler, or in 30 second intervals in the microwave until melted, and combined. Stir in vanilla, set aside.
- ). In large mixing bowl beat egg yolks and ¾ cup of sugar until doubled in volume, pale yellow and thick enough to leave a ribbon on itself, this will take 3-5 minutes
- ). Fold the egg yolk mixture into the melted chocolate mixture until combined
- ). In separate clean mixing bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Once soft peaks form, slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar until mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form.
- ). Fold egg white mixture gently into chocolate mixture. Reserve ¼ of the mixture for filling, cover the ¼ chocolate mousse mixture and refrigerate.
- ). Put ¾ of the chocolate mousse mixture into a 9 inch spring form pan. You can line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper to make cleaning the pan easier. Cover and refrigerate ¼ of the chocolate mousse.
- ). Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes, do not over bake. When cake is done baking, let it cool completely.
- ).The cake will fall as it's cooling (like a souffle) take your ¼ remaining chocolate mousse and fill the top of the cake
- ). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let mousse set, you can let this set in the refrigerator overnight
- ). Frost with Whipped Cream Frosting: Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Once soft peaks have formed, slowly add sugar, then vanilla until stiff peaks form. Once it has formed stiff peaks it is ready to use. Garnish with shaved chocolate or sift on some powdered cocoa. Here I made leaves from chocolate molds. If you have heart molds it would be perfect with 4 hearts (with the points towards the center of the cake.) Keep this cake refrigerated when not serving.
I have had the distinct pleasure of experiencing this fantastic dish first hand from the author. Let me just say this is without doubt the best desert experience I have ever had. It hits all the highest notes in taste, texture, and visual appeal. Having spent most of my career traveling across this country and overseas, I have been “forced” to try and find a better desert dish than this. I have not yet found one! Shannon sure hit a home run with this one, and I feel lucky to have had her make me one personally!!!
Mmmm….chocolate mousse is one of my favorites! I will have to try out your cake 😀
Thank you so much Mark and Jen <3