Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake

It is the month of luuuurve and you will fall in love with this Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake! This cake is so decadent which makes it perfect for sharing ;). If you are like me however and have a partner that doesn't 'believe' in Valentines day, you can make this cake and eat it all yourself!

I made two versions of this cake, one that is just mousse and raspberries inside a type of thin sponge cake and the other is layers of sponge, ganache, cream and mousse. Both are devine and use the same ingredients, it's up to you really to do whatever layers you want, get creative!

This recipe comes from my advanced bread and pastry text book that I received during my apprenticeship. It has been a great reference for me for reliable recipes and has introduced me to many new desserts and sweets. I have tagged many recipes to try and hopefully I will get around to all of them one day.

Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake

Adapted from Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas

What you will need

For the Biscuit Viennois
110g almond meal
110g icing sugar
50g egg yolks (approx 3 egg yolks)
90g eggs (approx 2 eggs)
200g egg whites (approx 6 egg whites)
20g sugar
45g cake flour
45g plain flour

For the Chocolate Mousse
300ml light cream
300g dark choc
90g egg yolks (approx 5)
90g sugar
30ml water
300ml heavy cream

Frozen raspberries
Cocoa for dusting

What you will need to do

To make the biscuit viennois, preheat oven to 200*C and prepare two baking trays with baking paper. Sift together the almond meal and icing sugar. Add the egg yolks and whole eggs, whip on high speed until tripled in volume. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites and add sugar to make a medium stiff meringue. Fold the meringue into the whole egg mixture and fold in the sifted flours. Divide the mixture between the two trays and spread out evenly. Bake for about 7 minutes. Once baked, flip the sponges onto new pieces of baking paper and remove the old baking paper.

To make the chocolate mousse, make a ganache with the light cream and chocolate by bringing the cream to the boil then pouring over chocolate. Stir the ganache until smooth then set aside. Dissolve the sugar in the water and cook in a saucepan to 121*C. While it is cooking, begin whipping the egg yolks. Slowly add the sugar syrup to the yolks and whip on a medium-high speed until cool to the touch. Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Add the egg yolk mixture to the ganache (which should be a similar temperature) then fold in the cream gently.

To assemble, cut out four strips of biscuit viennois to line four small loose bottomed cake tins (cheesecake tins). Cut out four circles the size of the bottom of the cake tins. Line the tins with the sponge and place a circle in the bottom of each. Half fill each tin with chocolate mousse. Place a layer of raspberries on top of the mousse then cover with another layer of mousse. Make sure the mousse is divided equally amongst the tins, if you have any excess biscuit viennois protruding the top just trim it off so that it is flush with the top of the mousse. Refrigerate over night.

When ready to serve, remove from tin and sprinkle with cocoa. You can add some raspberries for decoration too.

Black Forest Cheesecake

I am right back in the swing of things with this ridiculously rich and completely indulgent Black Forest Cheesecake. Confession time, this recipe is straight from Brown Eyed Baker and they only just published it last week. It popped up in my inbox and I immediately HAD to make it!

I may have slightly undercooked the cheesecake as it is very soft in the middle, but it has a mousse-like texture that is just divine. The dark chocolate makes the filling very rich, you can change it to milk chocolate if you prefer something a bit sweeter. The whipped cream is a little different too in that it contains cream cheese. I think this gives it a more stable quality and does not melt as easy. Enjoy this bad boy in moderation!

Black Forest Cheesecake

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

What you will need

For the crust
24 Oreo cookies
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the filling
280g dark chocolate, chopped
900g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
4 eggs, at room temperature

For the cherry topping
600g bottled cherries
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the whipped cream
100g cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 180*C. Prepare a cheesecake tin by lining the bottom with baking paper and spraying the sides lightly with oil. Place the Oreo cookies into a food processor and pulse until they resemble fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse until all combined. Press the mixture evenly into the base of the cheesecake tin and bake for about 8 minutes until the crust is set. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool down.

To make the filling, place the dark chocolate over a double boiler until melted then set aside to cool. Place the cream cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment beat until soft. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs to the mix beating well after each addition and scrapping down the sides every now and then too. Add the chocolate and mix until use combined. Pour the mixture over the base and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 hour or until the top of the cheesecake looks dry and there is still a bit of a wiggle in the middle. Once cooked, turn oven off, remove cheesecake and let cool to room temp on a cooling rack. Place cheesecake in fridge to chill overnight (or at least a couple of hours if you can resist it).

To make the Cherry topping, lightly drain cherries but reserve 1/4 cup of the juice. Place cherries in a saucepan with sugar and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to boil. Whisk the reserved juice with the cornflour and add it to the saucepan. Stir until thickened then remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let the mixture cool before putting it into an airtight container and storing it in the fridge until needed.

[NOTE: I would make the whipped cream when you are ready to assemble the cheesecake]
To make the whipped cream, place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until soft. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Slowly add the cream and whisk on high until stiff peaks form.

To assemble the cheesecake! Remove the cheesecake from the fridge. Run a knife around the edge of the tin and remove the cheesecake from the tin. Place on a serving plate. Fill your piping bag with the whipped cream and pipe around the outside edge of the cheesecake. Spoon your cherry mixture into the middle of the cheesecake. Enjoy!