Chocolate Mousse Cake (with Eggless Option)

This particular cake has been on my mind since the time my husband bought one for my birthday.. it had a chocolate cake base with a light, airy chocolate mousse topping, not too sweet but chocolatey. I've been scouting for recipes since then that would come close and I had to combine several elements from different recipes to fit what I had in mind. Inspite of all that, this cake is fairly easy to make and I used a boxed chocolate cake for a base which turned out to be very moist, thanks to the chocolate mousse layer on top. But you could just as easily substitute it with any chocolate cake recipe that you prefer or even this eggless version and make this a totally eggless chocolate mousse cake! Isn't that neat?

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE


Ingredients:
Cake Layer:
1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's food cake) , eggs, oil as specified in the box of the cake mix. I followed the baking directions for a 9 X 13 inch pan
OR
this Eggless Chocolate Cake (double it to make it fit a 9 X 13 inch pan)

Method For the Cake Layer: Follow directions on the box and bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Allow to cool and refrigerate. If you use a 9 inch spring form pan then you can layer the cake, mousse and then remove the sides for a beautiful presentation. Since i wanted a bigger cake, I just referigerated it in the pan itself. If the top is not level (mine had risen more in the middle), slice the top to make it level.

Chocolate Mousse Layer:
Heavy Cream - 2 cups (ensure it's very cold)
Semi sweet chocolate - 9.33 oz (measured using a weighing scale)
Cocoa powder - 2.5 tbsp
Hot water - 6.5 tbsp
Sugar - 1.5 tbsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp

Method:
1) Dissolve cocoa powder in the hot water and keep aside.

2) Melt the semi sweet chocolate in a medium bowl - i microwaved for about a minute to 90 seconds in 30 second intervals, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth. Ensure there is no water in the bowl or the spatula to prevent chocolate from seizing (and becoming crumbly).

3) Mix the dissolved cocoa powder with the melted chocolate

4) Place bowl and whisk in freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes before making whipped cream.

5) In the well chilled bowl, put the 2 cups of cream, salt and sugar and whip until mixture begins to thicken and soft peaks form.

6) Using a rubber spatula, fold / mix a third of the whipping cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten.

7) Then fold in the remaining two-thirds of the mixture using the spatula until there are no white streaks. That's it! The chocolate mousse is now ready. Spoon or pipe this mousse mixture onto the cooled cake. Refrigerate for about 2 to 3 hours atleast.

Whipped Cream Layer:
Whipped Cream - 2 cups (ensure it's very cold)
Sugar - 2 to 3 tbsp
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Salt - a small pinch

Method for whipped cream:
1) Place bowl and whisk in freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes before making whipped cream.

2) In the well chilled bowl, put the 2 cups of cream, vanilla, salt and sugar and whip until mixture begins to thicken and soft peaks form. Beat some more until peaks stiffen.. (ensure you don't beat too much and turn it into butter) :)

3) Top the chocolate mousse layer with this whipped cream topping as a uniform layer.

I decorated the cake with some drizzlings of melted chocolate (lightened with a bit of milk) and some shaved chocolate curls. Mine was refrigerated for more than a day before we served it and it was extremely moist and stayed that way for nearly 2-3 days after.

I made this for a family reunion we had 2 weekends back - we had a lovely celebration.