February 17, 2016

Chocolate Mousse Tower Cake, and a Weekend of Love

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets birthday cake, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse tower cake, layer cake, love, san valentín, tower cake, valentines

This is not the post I was going to do for this week. In fact, this post was not even planned. What was planned, and what is almost finished, (as you will soon see), is a different recipe, of one of my favorite tapas. But Matthew came home this weekend, almost by surprise (we had known for just a few days), and we had to celebrate. Add to it that it was valentines’ weekend, and there you have it, a very happy post, as I call any post that includes cake, and chocolate.

As you may suspect in a food blogger/cooking enthusiast, I like all things that I can use in the kitchen, or on the dinner table —gadgets, plates, utensils, ingredients. And I particularly like things that make my work easier in the kitchen, or that will bring a better and nicer result. I came across these pretty small cake pans, sold in sets of five, that you can use to make layer cakes. I love them! Up until now, I used to make one large cake, and try to slice it as evenly as I could down the middle into two layers. That’s the most common way to do it, and a very valid one. But I like these better. I can make five small cakes, and presto, ready to frost and decorate. If you don’t have them, never mind, you can still make this cake, with fewer layers if you want to, and it’s going to turn out really delicious.

So valentines for us was one long weekend, since we celebrated all three days. It snowed some, and the deer came to visit. Dave and I went out on Friday, just the two of us, a date. On Saturday, we decided to celebrate birthdays, with two heart-shaped cakes, one for Dave and one for Ethan, who’s having his sweet 16 in a few short days (Dave’s birthday will be shortly after, but more on it later).  On Sunday, Valentine’s, a special breakfast to go with my beautiful roses. And the cake. Late lunch, or early dinner, so we could fit one more good special meal before Matthew headed to college cafeteria food for the next two months, all topped off by this very special Valentine’s cake. I think it turned out very nice, and as impressive as it looks, it’s less hard to make than you’d think. Think of it next time you want to surprise someone special.

 

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TOWER CAKE

Tarta de Mousse de Chocolate

Makes one 5-layer 6-inch cake

Ingredients

cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup + 1 Tbs granulated sugar

6 Tbs cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup boiling water

mousse filling and frosting:

2 cups whipping cream

6 Tbs cocoa powder

4 Tbs icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

cream filling and decorating:

1/4 cup raspberry jam

2 tsp water

1 cup whipping cream

1 Tbs granulated sugar

Berries (raspberries, blueberries…)

 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease the cake pans (I didn’t line them, but if you use larger cake pans, I recommend you grease them and line them with a cutout circle of parchment paper).

Making the cakes:

In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt). In another bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then whisk in the boiling water. Pour the batter into the cake tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 10-12 minutes if you use the small cake pans, about 20 minutes if you use the 8-inch pans. Let cool in the tins for a few minutes, then on a greased wire rack until completely cool.

Making the mousse frosting:

Whip 2 cups of cream until soft peaks form, and gradually add the cocoa powder, one tablespoon at a time. Add in the icing sugar and the vanilla extract and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Making the filling:

Clean the whipping bowl and beating attachment and whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, thin the raspberry jam with the water, stirring. Set aside to cool.

Assembling the cake:

Level the cakes with a sharp serrated knife. Place one cake on a plate or cake board and spread one layer of mousse frosting. Place another cake on top and spread a layer of whipped cream, then drizzle some of the raspberry jam. Place another cake on top, then a layer of mousse frosting, then another cake, then a layer of whipped cream topped with raspberry jam, and finally the fifth cake on top. Gently cover the cake in mousse frosting, smoothing with a cake spatula. Decorate with the berries and finish with a dusting of icing sugar. You can also surround the bottom of the cake with sprinkles or chocolate shavings. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Note1: the cakes can be baked in advance. I baked them the day before and wrapped them in plastic wrap. They can even be frozen until ready to use.

Note 2: you’ll notice from the photos that I used dutched baking cocoa instead of the cocoa powder that the recipe calls for. The reason is that I like the darker color dutched cocoa gives the cake. If you decide to use dutched cocoa, because it is less acidic than cocoa powder, you’ll need to use more baking powder to increase the leavening of the baked cakes (I used 2 teaspoons). Also, you’ll notice a bottle of almond extract in the photos. At the last minute, I decided not to use it, to have a more pure chocolate taste