Monday, January 18, 2010

Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake


There is a cute little community market down the street from me in Birmingham, MI http://marketsquarestores.com/ (they are on twitter: @MarketSquareMI). They carry a large amount of grocery staples and wine/liquor and have an amazing deli and prepared food section. I usually shop there several times a week. While waiting in line a few days ago, I spied the magazine, The Best of America's Test Kitchen Recipes from Cook's Illustrated and The America's Test Kitchen TV Show. There was a picture on the front cover of the most beautiful slice of dessert. I scooped it up and added it to my purchases. Boy am I glad I did!! I have tried several of the recipes and all have been winners. My favorite so far is The Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake. It is a tower of dark, milk and white chocolate that is a taste of heaven! It is smooth, creamy and decadent. It is not that difficult to make, just a little time consuming. However, it is well worth the time invested! This would be a fabulous dessert to prepare for any special event or dinner party. Your guests will think you are a master pastry chef who spent days in the kitchen. Here is the recipe:


BASE LAYER:

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
7 ounces Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped fine
3/4 tsp. espresso powder
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs separated
pinch salt
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

MIDDLE LAYER:
2 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
5 tbsp hot water
7 oz Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1-1/2 cups cold heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

TOP LAYER:
3/4 tsp powdered gelatin
1 tbsp water
6 oz white Ghirardelli chocolate, chopped fine
1-1/2 cups cold heavy cream
Shaved chocolate for garnish



The Ingredients


THE BASE LAYER: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 9-1/2" by 3" spring form pan. Melt the butter, chocolate and espresso powder in large heat proof bowl over a saucepan filled with 1" of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and cool mixture slightly about 5 minutes. Whisk in the vanilla and the egg yolks: set aside.
In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt at medium speed until frothy, about 1 min. Add half of the brown sugar and beat until combined about 15 seconds. Add the remaining brown sugar and beat at high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides half way through. Using a whisk, fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain. Transfer the batter to the spring form pan, gently smoothing the top with a spatula.

Bake until the cake's center has set but is still soft (it will spring back after pressing gently with your finer ) 13-18 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely about 1 hour. Make sure the cake is completely cooled!!! The cake will collapse as it cools. Do not remove cake from the pan!


MIDDLE LAYER: Combine the cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl; set aside. Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, 2-5 minutes.

In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream, sugar and salt at medium speed until it begins to thicken about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form (another couple of minutes). Using a whisk, mix the cocoa powder mixture into the melted chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain. Spoon Mousse over the cooled cake and gently tap the pan on counter 3 times to remove any large bubbles; gently smooth the top with an offset spatula. Wipe the inside edge with a damp cloth to remove any drips. Refrigerate the cake for at least 15 minutes while preparing the white chocolate layer.



TOP LAYER: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water; let stand at least 5 minutes. Place the white chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat add the gelatin mixture and stir until fully dissolved. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth about 1 minute. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, 5-8 minutes until thickened.

In a clean bowl of a stand mixture fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the remaining 1 cup of cream at medium speed about 1 minute until it begins to thicken. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form about 2 minutes. Using a whisk, fold 1/3 of mixture into white chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture until no white streaks remain. Spoon the white chocolate mousse into the pan over the bittersweet chocolate mousse layer. Smooth the top with an offset spatula. Return the cake to the refrigerator and chill until set at least 2-1/2 hours (the cake can be refrigerated up to 1 day). Let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes before releasing from cake pan and serving.









The Finished Product!!

NOTE: when slicing use a hot knife to make a clean cut.

ENJOY THIS FABULOUS DESSERT!!!

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