Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse Cake

It has been a year since I began this blog. I don't know how I did it--more than 80 posts in the past year, with an average of more than one post each week. It has been a very rewarding experience. I have learned so much about different aspects of baking that it really augmented my knowledge and skill. However there are still a lot of unconquered areas that require me to practice more, like laminated dough making and techniques in working with chocolate.

Besides baking, I really need to work on my photography skills. I keep asking myself: is it imperative to have a good and expensive camera in order to have good pictures?

The slightly tangy raspberry mousse layer is sandwiched between the sweet chocolate cake and mousse. Perfect balance !

Anniversary Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse Cake

Makes a 9 inch cake

Ingredients:

Chocolate cake:
4 oz/115g semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp water
3 large eggs, separated
¼ cup sugar

1)  Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Put parchment paper on the bottom of a 9 inch pan and spray oil onto the sides.
2)  Melt chocolate with water either in a microwave or on top of a double boiler. Stir until your chocolate is smooth and let it cool for a few minutes. Then whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate.
3)  Beat egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar in 3 additions until the peaks are stiff and glossy.
4)  Fold a quarter of the whites into the chocolate to lighten it. Gently fold the remaining whites in until combined.
5)  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, or for about 10 minutes.
6)  Cool the cake in the pan on the rack for an hour.

Raspberry mousse:
115g raspberry puree
56g sugar
158g heavy cream
1.5 tsp gelatin

1)  Puree the raspberries with a chopper or blender. Pass it through a sieve to remove the seeds.

2)  Put the puree and sugar in a small pot and heat until the sugar dissolves. Do not let it boil. Remove it from the heat.
3)  Whip heavy cream to soft peak.
4)  Sprinkle gelatin into a small bowl with 1 tbsp of water in it. Heat it in a microwave for a few seconds to melt the gelatin, then mix with the puree. Stir well to prevent lumps.
5)  Mix the gelatin-puree mixture with the whipped cream. Stir well to blend.
6)  Pour onto the cake layer and refrigerate until set, which takes about an hour.

Chocolate mousse:
42g sugar
12g water
40g egg yolks
17g whole egg
116g dark chocolate 60-64%, melted
166g heavy cream
½ tsp gelatin


1)  Heat water with sugar until it boils, and let it boil for a minute. Beat the whole egg and the yolks with a headheld mixer while the water is boiling. Pour the hot syrup into the egg with the beater on. Continue beating until the volume doubles and a ribbon forms when the beater is lifted.
2)  Melt the chocolate in a microwave and stir until all the chocolate is melted.
3)  Whip the heavy cream to soft peak.
4)  Sprinkle the gelatin onto a tablespoon of water and melt it slightly in the microwave.

5)  Scoop about a fifth of the whipped cream into the warm chocolate and stir until it is well blended.

6)  Pour the melted gelatin into the egg and stir well.
7)  Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

8)  Add the rest of the whipped cream and stir well. It should be very smooth and thick.

9)  Pour the chocolate mousse on top of the set raspberry mousse layer. Spread the top evenly and refrigerate until set.

Glaze:
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp light corn syrup

1)  In a small pot, bring the heavy cream and corn syrup to a simmer.
2)  Pour the hot cream onto the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Let it cool to a pouring consistency, about 10-15 minutes.
3)  Set up a rack with a pan on the bottom to catch the drippings. Put the cake on top of the rack and pour steadily and quickly on the cake.

I intentionally left the sides un-glazed. Use an offset spatula to spread to the sides if you prefer the whole cake to be glazed.

Notes:

1)  The cake base is a flourless chocolate cake therefore it is very thin and delicate. Other types of cake like sponge or butter cake can be used.
2)  Do not over mix the chocolate after it is melted and smooth. Over mixing will turn it to be grainy.