Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

This week I wanted a dessert that would satisfy my sweet tooth, and boy, did it. Right up front, I am going to start with a warning; WARNING: This dessert is RICH, proceed devouring with caution! But oh, so delicious. I couldn't believe this came out of my own kitchen and not some nice restaurant, but it will definitely not be the last time it appears there either. On this adventure I also found a new chocolaty love to join my baking cabinet family: dutch processed cocoa! I've been looking for it for a while now, failing, and instead just using regular cocoa, but man was I missing out or what! Well, this is at least partially dutched cocoa, but it will do. I found it at Publix, but I'm sure others carry it too, though I thought it was just "dark" chocolate so I never purchased it before. It's Hershey's "Special Dark" cocoa. As not to mislead you, let me clarify for them, "dark" chocolate is a variety of things: regular cocoa, bittersweet, unsweetened, semi-sweet; these are all considered "dark" chocolate because of the cocoa content in them, as opposed to milk chocolate. Dutched cocoa on the other hand has had the cocoa butter removed from the bean, and is then treated with an alkalizing agent to give it a milder taste. Dutched cocoa is actually lower in calories because of this. In conclusion, Hershey's "Special Dark" has a mixture of natural AND dutched cocoas, so don't be mislead by "Special Dark" as I was, since "dark" refers to all kinds of chocolates and doesn't tell us whether its dutch processed at all.

Onto the sinful eats! This cake recipe is courtesy of Marta Stewart, though next time I might use a tad more oil, and/or bake a shorter amount of time as it was slightly dry (using the dutched cocoa, we need to account for the lack fat after the removal of cocoa butter, of course. I don't think Martha knew that ;) Alton Brown would :-)). I did alter the ratio of milk/water, using more milk than water. The mousse recipes are renditions of my french silk pie filling. Noms! But seriously, these are amazing, and take a bit of time to make, but they are great for a make-ahead dessert, and can be frozen! (Tip: For dieters or not-so-Asa-like-sweet-toothed folks, you may want to share one cake with a friend)



Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Layer #1:

• 6-8 ceramic ramekins
• cooking spray
• 1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lg egg
• 1/3 cup milk +enough water to make 1/2 cup
• 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• wax paper and tape

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously, coat ramekins with cooking spray and set aside. Mix all dry ingredients together until blended. Add in all wet ingredients and mix on medium-low speed until smooth and blended.

2. Pour batter, dividing evenly, among ramekins. (Mine filled 6, but I made slightly larger cakes, so I could eat the extras :)) Bake in oven on cookie sheet for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a little crumb on it, not completely clean as they will continue to cook. Remove from ramekins as soon as you can without burning yourself by running the back of a knife around the edges. Cool on wire rack. (It is okay to let them cool completely in ramekins before unmolding, in fact they weren't too much drier, and it made them come out easier, and in one piece.)

3. Level the cakes by using a knife to cut the tops off. Using the wax paper, cut a strip long enough to go around the cake, and about 4-5 inches high. Wrap it around the cake to make a cylinder and tape to secure. This will make our mousse molds!

Layer # 2:

• 1.5 sticks of butter (12 oz), softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1.5 tsp vanilla
• 3 lg eggs

1. Cream together the butter and sugar in a mixer until smooth. Pour in the chocolate and vanilla and mix until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating for 2-3 minutes after each one. Stiff peaks should form and mixture will become light and airy.

2. Using a piping bag or spoon, pipe a 1-inch layer on top of each cake, flattening the top of the mousse a bit. Place cakes in refrigerator while preparing layer 3, at least 20 minutes, to allow mousse to set up.

Layer # 3:

• 4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1 tbsp or so butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/4 cup whipping cream

1. In a small saucepan, heat together the chocolate, half of the water (2 tbsp), and butter over low heat until butter and chocolate are melted and the mixture is smooth.

2. In another small saucepan, whisk together the egg, sugar, and remaining water (2 tbsp). Cook over low heat until mixture bubbles slightly but DON'T allow the egg to cook. Stir in the chocolate mixture until smooth. Allow to cool, preferably in an ice water bath to avoid the whipped cream from melting in the next step.

3. Whip the cream on high speed until stiff peaks form and you have a nice stiff whipped cream. Fold into the cooled chocolate mixture until blended. Pipe or spoon a 1-inch later on each cake as before. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Top with chocolate garnish curls for added eye-candy, remove wax paper and enjoy!

Photos by The Chocolate Cookie!