CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

I happened to taste a chocolate mousse cake  in Costco. I loved the combination of chocolate cake and lightly sweetened mousse. Though mousse is usually made with egg whites , I liked the recipe that used whipped cream to get a mousse texture. The recipe is inspired from the hershey's chocolate mousse recipe. I have skipped the gelatin and tweaked the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1, 8 inch classic chocolate cake
2. 1/4 cup normal water for soaking the cake

For the mousse:

1. 3 Tbsp cocoa powder(natural or dutch processed)
2. 1/4 tsp salt
3. 1 tsp vanilla essence
4. 3 Tbsp sugar
5. 1 cup whipping cream
6. 2 Tbsp butter(optional)

METHOD

• Dump all the ingredients , except butter, in a bowl . Whip till stiff peaks form. 

• Take the butter and cut into small cubes . Microwave for 2 minutes on power 2. Repeat as necessary until slightly melted but not very hot.
• Whip the butter till soft. Add a scoop of the whipped cream into the butter and whip it a little using the cake beater. Then dump the butter-cream mixture into the whipped cream and beat till nicely mixed in and stiff. The butter will curdle a little bit as the cream is added but will straighten up when the whole thing is whipped up. 
• Wipe the sides with the spatula and refrigerate.
  

  

  
  
  

  

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE:

• Slice the cake in the middle. I have used a serrated knife for this.
• Run the knife all around the horizontal center of the cake . It's like making an outline of where you are going to cut.
• After you have run your knife around the cake , start cutting the cake  horizontally around the center along the knife-drawn line. As you slice the cake , simultaneously keep rotating the cake. This way , by the time  the knife reaches the middle of the cake , the cake will be horizontally sliced in half. Move one half to another plate.  

                  

• Place one half of the cake on another plate.Sprinkle both halves , with water . You don't want the cakes to be soaking wet.It just has to be moist and not dry out when the cake is kept in the fridge.
  
  
  

• Line the cake base or stand with 4 strips of parchment paper.
  
• take out the chocolate mousse from the fridge .Place one half of the cake on the stand. Put a blob of the mousse on the cake . Spread it with a knife.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Place the other half of the cake on top. Spread the mousse on top and sides and smooth it out using the knife. It doesn't have to be perfect. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
     
• I have used an icing comb in an attempt to give it a neat look without much effort. Use it on the top and the sides.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Fill some of the mousse into a piping bag and pip 5 rosettes.
  
  
  
  
• Take out the strips of parchment paper and wipe the cake stand to get rid of any spilled mousse.
• Sprinkle some grated chocolate on the cake if needed.
  
• Cover the cake and refrigerate the cake for atleast 2 hours before serving.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

NOTES

• The cream need not be very sweet. It just has to accentuate the sweetness of the cake , so 3 Tbsp each of cocoa and sugar is enough, though the color will be light , that's ok .

Chocolate mousse using semisweet chocolate chips:

INGREDIENTS

1. 150 gms semisweet chocolate chips(1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup, appr. 150 gms)
2. 1 cup whipping cream(1/2 pint)
3. 1/8 tsp salt
4. 1 tsp vanilla essence
5. Sugar if required

METHOD

• Whip the cream with salt.
• Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on power 2. Add a small amount of the whipped cream and mix well with the beater. Add this mixture to the whipped cream till stiff. 
• Taste and see and add sugar only if needed.

NOTES

• Trials: The mousse has a nice chocolate flavor even if chocolate is not actually added.  I was wondering if its the butter that was added. I will try skipping the butter next time. Adding butter worked well and there was no issue with the texture, but later on the final whipped cream always looks curdled. Without the butter, there is no issues at all. I need to see if the butter actually adds the chocolate flavor, if not I can skip the butter. Makes it easier and lighter.  Tried this and found that butter actually adds density to the whipped cream.
• Mousse is slightly richer than the ordinary chocolate whipped cream frosting.