Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake

Dessert - my favourite part of the meal. I have my own recipe for Chocolate Mousse but its a little too light to be used in a cake, as in it turns gooey if left out too long. What I do for the mousse cake is to leave out the egg whites - so that makes the mousse a lot firmer and yet with the same delicious taste. I also normally use a sponge mix for the cake but this time I made the sponge from scratch!

Ingredients
Chocolate Sponge Cake
3 eggs
½ cup plain flour
¼ cup cocoa
½ cup caster sugar

Chocolate Mousse
250g Good Quality Dark Chocolate
3 egg yolks
300 ml cream

Ganache Topping
250 g Good Quality Dark Chocolate
200 ml Cream

Soaking Syrup
½ cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp rum (optional)

Method
Make the sponge - Grease and line a 8” (20 cm) round cake tin. Sift flour and cocoa together. Beat eggs until thick and mouse like. Carefully and quickly, fold in the flour mixture. Pour into the pan and bake in a preheated 190C oven for about 30 mins or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool on a cake rack.


Make the Mousse - Melt chocolate in a double boiler with about 20ml of the cream. Mix well and then quickly add in the egg yolks and stir vigorously for about a minute. Chocolate will thicken. Don’t worry if the mixture seizes or becomes a little lumpy. Take off heat and beat with an electric mixer for about a minute or two. Chocolate will become smooth and thick. Let cool. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until nicely incorporated.


Make the syrup - Boil water and sugar until the sugar is melted. Let cool and then add in the rum if using.

Assemble the cake - Cut the cake in half lengthwise and place one half in a 10” round springform. Brush with half the syrup. Spread in half of the mousse mixture, making sure you work it into the sides of the pan. Cover with second half of cake and brush with remaining syrup. Spread remaining mousse evenly onto the cake and smoothen the top. Chill in fridge for about 3 hours.

Make the Ganache Topping - Bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Mix well until it thickens and leave to cool. Remove cake from fridge and remove springform. Coat tops and side with the ganache. With remaining ganache, decorate tops if you desire by piping flowers on it.

YUMMMYYY in my Tummy!