Chocolate Mousse Cake Recipe

I am finally back!

I know I haven't written in a while, especially through the time of the year where food bloggers go crazy over Christmas-themed recipes. Well, I failed on that point.

I recently started working in an office, and I didn't expect that it will consume a lot of my time. But I still bake almost every other night but it leaves me no time to take photos, to edit it, to make a write up, and to research more recipes. And seriously, I miss it! Not a week passed without me itching to make a post. But aside from time-constraints, my internet connection has been failing me miserably. :( #firstworldproblems

Anywoo, let's kick off the year with something easy to do, yet very sophisticated -- chocolate mousse cake! There's this dense, moist chocolate cake on the bottom layer (which is honestly delicious by itself), the amazingly soft, creamy, and rich chocolate mouse middle layer, and the unmistakable whipped cream layer on top! Layers of chocolate goodness wrapped in one cake!

What inspired me to do this cake is the famous chocolate mousse cake from a local bakeshop. Chocolate mousse quite popular here. It's even bundled as the Christmas cake for a KFC bucket meal! And I thought, I have made a red velvet mousse cake before, why not make the classic chocolate version?

When I was starting to learn how to bake, almost all my creations were "too" sweet. Well for me, the definition of "sweet" is subjective - like it may be just right for me, tooth-aching sweet for some, and a little bland for the others. I tend to cut down the sweetness anyway since my family ain't a big fan of it. But in this cake, I think my family and I finally agreed that this is the perfect level of sweetness!

This cake may seem time consuming, but it's actually just like building a regular cake - if not faster. Treat the chocolate mousse like frosting; make it while the chocolate cake is baking. This has been my go-to cake recently (not to mention our Christmas cake as well) because it cuts down the decorating time. All you have to do is prepare layers, pour chocolate mousse after cake is cooled, spread whipped cream after chocolate mousse has been refrigerated for a while, and sprinkle chocolate jimmies (or chips, whatever you prefer!).

Ingredients (for chocolate mousse layer)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 1/2 tbsp hot water
3.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cups cold heavy whipping cream
*1/2 tbsp granulated sugar*

(Whipped cream layer)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
*1/4 cup granulated sugar*

Instructions

1. Bake chocolate cake in an 8" springform pan. Use only 1/3 of the quantity of the ingredients, or use the remaining batter for cupcakes or another cake. Set aside and let it cool.
2. Dissolve cocoa powder with hot water in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Whip the heavy whipping cream using a mixer in medium speed until it begins to thicken, approximately half a minute. Then, increase the speed to medium-high to high and whip until soft peaks form. This will take another 15-60 seconds.
4. Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the finely chopped chocolate for 20 seconds. Stir the chocolate until it becomes creamy. If it isn't completely melted yet, return to microwave and heat in 10 second intervals until it is completely creamy when stirred. Let cool for around 2-5 minutes. 
5. Whisk cocoa powder mixture into melted chocolate. Fold in the chocolate mixture to whipped cream, being gentle enough not to deflate the cream.
6. Pour the chocolate mousse over the cooled chocolate cake base layer (still in the pan), then refrigerate for 30 minutes-1 hour. 
7. Whip the cold heavy whipping cream in medium-high for 1 minute, until the cream doubles in volume. 
8. Simply pour the whipped cream over the cake (still in the pan), or take out the chocolate cake-chocolate mousse layers out of the springform pan first before piping the cream in tall curled dollops (like what I did in the photo). Or pour out a thin layer of the whipping cream before piping all the cream. 

Makes one 8" cake. 

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.

Notes for success

• The amount of sugar you'll use for the chocolate mousse and whipping cream depends on the sweetness of your chosen brand, so play around with sugar by adding little by little until you get your desired taste. The brand I use is already sweet by itself, so I omit the sugar.
• To get a cleaner cut between layers (unlike mine), level your cake first. Then, make sure to level the choco mousse layer as well. When pulling it out the pan, blow dry the sides of the pan two to three times just to let the outer layer pull away from the pan. Slowly pull out the springform pan.