Chocolate Mousse Cake

5/20/2015

Beginner Cook - Lengthy Cooking Time - Desert - Vegetarian

The blog is turning one today! It has been a wonderful first year of documenting recipes and sharing stories. I look forward to posting many more during the coming year.

In our family, ever birthday and name day is celebrated with chocolate mousse cake. The whiskey spiked lady fingers layered with chocolate mousse make for a deliciously light and airy cake, while the almond brittle topping adds texture and crunch. It's a good thing we only make this cake for special occasions. I tend to eat more than my fair share!

This is a modified version of my mother-in-law's recipe. She uses a whipped cream substitute (morfat elli ermol), which is only available via on-line stores in the United States. In order to share a recipe with ingredients that are readily available outside of Greece, it has been modified to include real whipped cream and mascarpone as a stabilizer. The end result is very similar to the original version. However, it is important to use a mild flavored mascarpone. On one occasion, I used a brand with a more pronounced cheese flavor, which was noticeable when tasting the chocolate mousse. While the cake was still very good, the overall flavor differed from my mother-in-law's version. Also, beware! The mascarpone will curdle if any of your ingredients are colder than room temperature. If you are not one to follow recipes to the tee, please be sure to at least follow the temperature recommendations. Lastly, if you have a nut allergy or don't care for almonds, you can always change the topping to your liking or skip it altogether. Personally, I love shaved chocolate.

Ingredients (yields a 9" x 13" cake)

4 ounces 100% cocoa chocolate
24 ounces room temperature heavy whipping cream
8 ounces room temperature mascarpone

4 room temperature egg whites
1 cup powdered sugar
About 38 lady fingers
1 and 3/4 cups milk (divided)
1/4 cup aged whisky
1/2 cup blanched almonds
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon olive oil (divided)

Time - 24 hours

Preparation - 45 minutes
Chilling - 24 hours

Preparation

Place the chocolate and 3/4 cups of milk in a small pot over low heat and melt the chocolate. Be sure to watch the chocolate as it melts and stir to prevent the chocolate from burning
If needed, add up to 1/4 cup of milk. The consistency of the melted chocolate should be smooth and creamy

Once melted, remove the chocolate from the heat and set aside to cool
In a large mixing bowl, combine the room temperature heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar

With a mixer, whip the whipping cream
Once the whipping cream begins to thicken, add the room temperature mascarpone and continue whipping until combined

In a separate bowl, whip the room temperature egg whites until soft peaks have formed

In a large mixing bowl, combine the chocolate, whipped cream, and egg whites using a spatula. Once well combined, set aside

In a medium size glass dish, combine 1 cup of warmed milk and a 1/4 cup of aged whisky
Dip the bottom half of the lady fingers in the spiked milk and lay them side by side in a 9 by 13 inch cake dish
Once dipped, the lady finger should resemble the consistency of a moist sponge

Cover the spiked lady fingers with half of the chocolate mousse and repeat the process a second time so that you have two layers of spiked lady fingers and chocolate mousse

Let the cake sit at room temperature while preparing the almond brittle
Oil a sheet of aluminum foil with 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil and set aside
Combine 1/4 teaspoon olive oil, 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup blanched almonds in a small pan and heat over low heat
Stir occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning. As the almonds cook, they will begin to brown. Continue to cook until the almonds reach a rich golden color (approximately 5 minutes)