Happy New Year Twelve! - Chocolate Mousse Cake to Celebrate (part 2)

Yesterday I posted on how to make the chocolate chiffon layers for my 12th year of food blogging celebration.  Today I show how to assemble the cake.  Click here to see yesterday's post.

I'm using a recipe for Chocolate Mousse Cake as found on pages 134-135 in The Greyston Bakery Cookbook, by Helen Glassman and Susan Postal.

ISBN 0-87773-323-6

It is time to bring all the parts together!

Chocolate Mousse Cake

1 recipe Chocolate Chiffon Layers (2 layers, baked and cooled)

Chocolate Mousse:

3 cups heavy whipping cream

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

3/4 cup sugar

Chocolate Water Glaze:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup water

1/8 cup simple syrup (see directions below)

1/8 cup beaten egg (1/2 egg)

4-ounce semisweet chocolate bar, slightly softened in a warm place

Carefully split cooled cake layers in half.  Place carefully on waxed paper on a flat surface.

Mousse:

Whip cream with sifted cocoa and sugar until quite firm, using an electric mixer.

Place first cake layer cut side down on cake plate.  This prevents cake crumbs from coming loose in the mousse.  Spread top evenly with about 3/4 cup mousse.

Repeat with additional layers, always placing cut side down. 

Frost the entire cake, top and sides, with remaining mousse, covering thinly but completely.  Chill in freezer about 1 hour.

 Chocolate Water Glaze:

Melt semisweet chocolate and water in heavy saucepan over low heat.  Stir well to make a smooth chocolate syrup.

Blend in the 1/8 cup simple syrup, made by boiling 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup powdered sugar together for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for 3 - 4 minutes.

Blend in the beaten 1/2 egg and mix thoroughly.

Let glaze cool until it is just a little warmer than body temperature.

To Finish:

Carefully shave warmed chocolate bar with a potato peeler or sharp paring knife.  Use the entire 4-ounce bar.

Pour the warm glaze on the chilled mousse cake, sides first, smoothing with a knife, followed by the top.  The top should be as smooth and even as possible and should be poured on, not spread like a frosting.

Press the chocolate shavings all around the sides, working quickly before the glaze sets.  Keep refrigerated until you are ready to indulge.

Ingredients for the mousse

Ingredients for the water glaze

My Notes

I make the simple syrup before starting on any of the other steps, although you have time to make it during the 1 hour chilling time.  Once the powdered sugar and water mixture comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium low and simmer.  Stir occasionally.

To split the layers, I prefer to use toothpicks as guides and dental floss or heavy thread to cut.  This keeps everything accurate while making the layers simple to split.  See the pictures below.

If any of the layers break while moving them, just piece them back together in place.  

Chill the mixing bowl and beater before making the whipped cream. 

Plop a spoonful of mousse in the middle of the layer and then work the mousse out to the edges.  This cuts down on crumbs embedding in the mousse, too.  Aim to even it off across the top before the next layer is placed on it. 

I use up all (well, most) of the remaining mousse to frost the entire cake, even if the layer isn't thin.  Then I eat the little bit of mousse that is in the bowl.

Once the sides have mousse on them, make a final pass over them with a clean, slightly damp spreader held vertically.  This smooths the sides.

When mixing the beaten 1/2 egg into the water glaze, whisk the mixture while drizzling in the egg.

Shaving warm chocolate bars is messy!  Chocolate gets all over my hands.  Plan for that mess during the procedure.  I included in the pictures below the difference between the small shavings of a room-temperature bar and the long ones of the warm bar.  I thought some were too long to go on the cake well, so after they cooled to room temperature, I broke them.  That worked well.

I used a ladle to put the glaze on the sides.  Once some was on the sides, I used a lightly buttered spreader to even it out.  The order was:  glaze the sides, then the top, then smooth the sides, then press on the shavings.

I did my best to get the glaze on smooth and evenly, but I did manage to drop a piece of shaved chocolate on the top, which messed up that smoothness.  So I took a spoon and swirled the glaze decoratively around the edges of the top.  That covered the mistake and still looked good.

Here are pictures of the process:

Place 5 or 6 toothpicks at the halfway point of the layer.

Wrap the dental floss around the cake.  Pull the ends to cut the cake.

One half of a layer, neatly split.

The mousse

The first layer with mousse

All layers with mousse.

Ready for the freezer!

Chocolate and water.

Smooth.

Cooling.

Room temperature shavings.

Warmed chocolate shavings.

Glazing the sides.  Spread the glaze upward after the pour.

Glazing the top.

The final cake.  Note I cleaned up around the bottom of the cake, too.

The Verdict

I imagined Paul is in the tent and is judging my creation.  The first step is to critique the portioning of the layers and mousse.

I think Paul Hollywood would say I did a good job in getting the proportions right:  the mousse layers are fairly even in their thickness and are close to (but smaller than) the thickness of the cake layers. The water glaze thickness is consistent across the top of the cake and not too thick on the sides.

Generous but not too much so.  Well, I really don't know what Paul would say, but I'm happy with it!

The next step is to judge the flavor.  I love this cake!  The layers are rich and slightly bitter.  The mousse is light in both flavor and texture, keeping the cake from becoming too heavy.  The water glaze adds a bit of chewiness, which is nice.

But let's not go with just my very-biased opinion.  I shared the cake with several other guest tasters.  Everyone thought it was GOOD.  One guest, AD, noted that she has purchased a similar cake from her favorite bakery, but that mine was better overall and definitely more generous with the chocolate shavings.  

Another guest, FT, put her piece in the freezer until she was ready to eat it.  The book authors suggest this idea and say if you only let it defrost a little, it is like eating an ice cream cake.  FT agrees.

Success!  Again!  I'm labeling this recipe as a Most Favorite and not waiting for the end of the year.  At some point I'll try other cake recipes from the book, or at least I think.  : )

Hint:  the authors give us many variations on the mousse flavors along with ideas on how to use them other than on cake.  You can see some examples on the book cover picture.  Well worth it!