Triple Mousse Cake
I have been asked repeatedly for the name of the cake that is pictured on the upper right side of my homepage. The answer is, Triple Mousse Cake, a delicious cake made of chocolate mousse, mocha mousse and white chocolate mousse.
Many of you may very quickly realize that the chocolate mousse calls for raw egg whites, thereby counteracting my intense salmonella phobia. You are correct. I do indeed fear cookie dough, brownie batter, cake batter and everything else that has raw eggs; and yet, when I am able to adapt a Chocolate Mousse recipe of Marcel Desaulniers, all caution gets thrown to the wind. What can I say? He is just that good.
My egg ‘issue’ was not the most difficult thing to overcome in this recipe. It was actually the White Chocolate Mousse. You may have noticed that I do not use a lot of white chocolate when baking. I don’t mind it in some of the cookies and brownies, but I generally find it too sweet to highlight alone.
I also think that white chocolate is far too temperamental for my liking. I tried three times to melt Ghirardelli white chocolate chips for the mousse. Even after cooling the white chocolate, the chocolate clumped together and became a total mess when I folded in the whipped cream. I did some googling and read that many people liked using Whole Foods 365 white chocolate chunks.
I gave the 365 chunks a try and had success first time around. This made me a tad happier, but I know it will be awhile before I mess around with melting more white chocolate.
The Mocha Mousse is the recipe I posted last week, scaled down proportionately. I am sure you have already mastered the technique of mousse making. Not to worry if you have not; the pictures will guide you.
Grating chocolate over the top is not necessary, but it sure does add to the presentation. Chocolate leaves are also a lovely option – paint some non-pesticide leaves with chocolate, freeze them and then peel the leaves off the chocolate.
One other part of this cake that is worth mentioning, besides how incredibly decadent it is, is that the chocolate disc on the bottom of the pan is a must. I have tried making the cake with and without it and found that the mousse will not slice off the pan if the disc is not on the bottom. This looks like an intimidating step but believe me it’s not.
Finally, if you look at the picture of the final product and think “NO WAY CAN I MAKE THAT,” think again. Triple Mousse Cake is a one of those desserts that looks like you have slaved all day, when in fact it does not take that long to put together. Just be prepared for more compliments than you can count.
| Triple Mousse Cake | | Print |
- Chocolate layer:
- ¼ cup chocolate chips, melted
- Chocolate mousse:
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 6 egg whites
- ¼ cup sugar
- Mocha mousse:
- 9 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 teaspoons powdered instant coffee
- ¼ cup water
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- White chocolate mousse:
- 9 ounces white chocolate chips or pieces
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- For the chocolate layer:
- Remove the side of a 10” springform pan and close it. Use a pencil, pen or marker to trace the inside edge of the pan on a piece of parchment paper. Turn parchment paper over (so marked side is down) and tape to a baking sheet.
- Pour melted chocolate onto the center of the paper. Use the back of a spoon to evenly spread the chocolate over the traced circle, keeping the chocolate in the line.
- Place in freezer until hardened, about 10 minutes. Flip the chocolate circle into the closed springform pan. It will drop down. If it cracks, don’t worry about it.
- Place in refrigerator until needed.
- For the chocolate mousse:
- Melt chocolate and set aside until cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, fitted with a wire whisk, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add in sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Quickly whisk ¼ of the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate. Gently fold in egg whites in 2 batches. Gently fold in remaining whipped cream in 2 batches.
- Transfer chocolate mousse to the chocolate lined springform pan. Even off the top and wipe the side clean above the chocolate mousse layer. Refrigerate.
- For the mocha mousse:
- Place chocolate, coffee and water together in a large microwaveable bowl. Microwave until melted. This will not take long, less than a minute. Stir to combine and set aside to cool.
- Once chocolate is cool, beat whipped cream until soft peaks form. Fold into chocolate in 2-3 batches. Pour over chocolate mousse. Smooth the top and wipe the side clean above the chocolate mousse layer. Refrigerate.
- For the white chocolate mousse:
- Place white chocolate in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave, in 15 second increments, until chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool.
- Once chocolate is cool, beat whipped cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold into white chocolate.
- Cut corner off of a gallon freezer bag. Insert large round tip into hole. Pipe white chocolate mousse over mocha mousse layer, starting on the outside and working in circles towards the center. There will be a couple of layers of white chocolate mousse.
- Refrigerate until set before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 6 hours before unmolding.
- To serve:
- Unlatch springform pan and open as far as possible before moving the side either over the top or pull down.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- When folding egg whites and/or whipped cream into chocolate, it is not necessary to fold each batch completely in before adding the next. It is important to fold everything together before transferring the mousse to the springform pan.
- Melting white chocolate is one of the most frustrating things I do. I found that Whole Foods sells their own 365 brand white chocolate chunks that melt beautifully.
- When slicing Triple Mousse Cake, wipe the knife clean after each cut so that the slices look like the one pictured.
Oh, if I could only have had a camera and a recorder to save, forever, the expressions and comments that people made, as they ate this cake. Not only could they not believe the divine taste but I’m not convinced they could believe I, actually, made it. This was a work of art and I have never been prouder to have, successfully, created this masterpiece.
It was fun to hear peoples’ reactions as they discovered the flavor of each new layer. I think the coffee/mocha was the biggest surprise, because I guess they were expecting all chocolate. Apparently, mocha is big, which means we want more recipes with it—-hint, hint!!! The combination of the three flavors was just incredible. I can’t wait to make it again. In my house a little bit goes a long way and I was able to serve many more than just 10. It is a rich dessert just in case you don’t know.
As wonderful as it was as a stand alone dessert, it would be fabulous as part of a dessert buffet. I think it would win the gold with all your others vying for Silver. It was outstanding. And I must add one last comment: I couldn’t imagine what the chocolate disc at the bottom was going to accomplish. Well, I found out with the first slice. I don’t know how I would have ever gotten the slices off the pan without it. Thanks for a hostess saving recommendation.
I am so glad that the Triple Mousse Cake was so well received. I find the same reactions with those I share mine with.
In terms of the chocolate disc, I learned through trial and error that the disc is a must. I am happy you opted to keep it.