This Ultimate Chocolate Mousse Cake is made with a chocolate sponge and a Baileys Chocolate mousse filling, topped with Chocolate ganache.
I was inspired making it after watching Julie and Julia film.
I have waited eagerly the past few months for the film Julie and Julia to come out in the theatres in Greece and finally it came out on Thursday, so I couldn’t wait any longer and my husband and I went on Saturday evening to see the film.
I am sure that by now you have all heard about this film, which is based on two books: My life in France, which is the autobiography of Julia Child and Julie Powell’s book: Julie and Julia.
Julie worked as a Secretary for the Government and at a certain point of her life she was fed up of everyday life and wanted to challenge herself and do something different.
Discussing it with her husband she decided to create a blog, back in 2002 and cook all 524 recipes of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days and blog about it.
Back in 2002 I didn’t even know what a blog was but I can relate into a lot of incidents in the film when in 2007 I had to close my bookshop, as business wasn’t going well and since I couldn’t find a job, I was feeling very bored at home, so I also started blogging about something I really enjoyed doing and that was cooking!
The movie was fantastic. It was hilarious and so pleasant to watch, taking us to a wonderful journey of tastes, sensations and emotions.
The only thing that didn’t seem right and bothered me was Meryl Streep’s accent.
Before the release of the film I had never heard of Julia Child before and of course, knew nothing about her.
The following day I google searched to see if I could find a video to see how Julia Child really was and was pleasantly surprised to see how well Meryl Streep had impersonated her.
The funny thing about the video is that Julia Child is making chocolate mousse!!
I wish I had seen this video before making mine!!!
Today it’s time for celebration as it’s my husband name day. As Julia said to her husband “You are the butter on my bread and the breath to my life”.
Thanks Demetri, for your love, your support and understanding. Inspired by the film, today I will be cooking one of his favourite dishes Boeuf Bourguigon and yesterday I made this lovely Chocolate Cake for him.
Hope you enjoy my cake. I may have not graduated from the Cordon Bleu but after two years of blogging, I have graduated the “Blogging School” as everyday we learn something new and I feel very proud that I can now make creations of my own.
Hope you’ve enjoyed and as Julia used to say “Bon Appetit”!!
I wanted to make something different so instead of cutting the cake horizontally, I cut it vertically into six stripes, removing from each piece 1 cm of cake to fill it in with the cream.
You can use these leftover pieces to make a few truffles or a trifle or call your kids and eat it as it is 🙂
How I made the Ultimate Chocolate Mousse Cake
To make the ultimate chocolate mousse cake, I made a sponge cake which was cut into two pieces.
I then wet them with some syrup and baileys liqueur and then joined them together with a thin layer of cream.
It is better to make the sponge cakes from the previous day as it can be cut much easier.
For the cream, I had seen a chocolate mousse on Chapot’s blog and I envisioned the cake with some mousse in it.
However, I had never made mousse before and I don’t remember French as I used to, so I must have done something wrong and when I added the yolks to the melted chocolate it became very stiff, so the first thing that came to my mind was to add some heavy cream.
That made it creamy again but when I added the beaten egg whites, it didn’t come out as mousse at all. However, that didn’t discourage me, I found other ways to use it.
Some of this mixture was mixed with some whipped cream to form the filling and the remaining was mixed with the chocolate ganache to cover the cake on top.
Result: The title says it all. This was the most delicious yummy, indulgent ultimate chocolate cake I have ever tasted in my life, lots of ingredients, a bit fussy to make but so worth it.
I served this ultimate chocolate cake with some syrup from the poached grapes and you cannot imagine how the spicy, peppery sauce matched with chocolate. If I had thought of it before I would have decorated the cake with some of the grapes.
The Ultimate Chocolate Cake
This Ultimate Chocolate Cake is made with a chocolate sponge and a Baileys Chocolate filling, topped with Chocolate ganache.
Ingredients
For the Sponge Cake:
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 3/4 cup self raising flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
To wet both the sponges:
- ½ cup syrup (I used syrup from cherry spoon sweet)
- 25 ml baileys
- Cherry spoon sweet for decoration on top
Chocolate mousse:
- 250 grams couverture chocolates
- 120 grams (½ cup) heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 25 ml baileys
- 2 egg whites
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
Whipped Cream:
- 500 ml heavy cream,
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
Prepare the Sponge Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180o C.
- Line with parchment paper a spring form tin (24 - 26 cm diametre).
- Beat the eggs and powdered sugar for approximately 10 minutes till mousse like and thick.
- Add vanilla and beat.
- Meantime, sift the flour and cocoa powder and add the salt.
- Stop the mixer, add in the flour and mix gently so that the beaten air doesn't escape.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes till done. Turn out onto rack to cool. (If you have never made a sponge cake before, see my step by step instructions here).
Prepare the Chocolate mousse:
- In a bain Marie add the chocolate and when it melts add the egg yolks, one at a time. The chocolate becomes hard. Add the heavy cream and whisk until it becomes soft again.
- Mix in the baileys.
- Allow to cool.
- Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar and gently incorporate it in the chocolate mixture.
Prepare the whipped cream
- Whip the heavy cream with the icing sugar, until it forms peaks.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare the chocolate ganache:
- In a bain Marie add the chocolate and when it melts add the butter and mix. When it comes to room temperature add the remaining mousse and gently fold until incorporated.
Putting the cake together:
- Cut the cake horizontally to make two cakes.
- Heat the syrup and 25 ml of baileys liqueur and wet both sponge cakes.
- Put one cake on the platter with the ring of the spring form tin and add a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture and place the other sponge cake on top, so that they may stick together.
- Cut the cake vertically into 6 stripes, removing 1 cm sponge to leave a gap.
- Mix a few tablespoons chocolate mixture in the whipped cream and fill the gaps with the whipped cream using a pastry bag (reserve some for decoration on top). Use a spatula to push in the cream.
- Refrigerate until you prepare next step.
!Prepare the chocolate ganache:
- Melt the chocolate in a bain Marie.
- Add the butter and mix. Let it come to room temperature and
then add the remaining mousse mixture. - Cover the cake with the ganache and allow to cool.
- Decorate the cake with the reserved whipped cream and add some candied cherries.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 1704Total Fat 158gSaturated Fat 100gTrans Fat 5gUnsaturated Fat 48gCholesterol 597mgSodium 305mgCarbohydrates 58gFiber 2gSugar 43gProtein 19g
"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."
Birthday Cakes
If you want some inspiration to make a Birthday Cake, here are a few more cakes I have made!
Chocolate Peppermint Almond Cake)
Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Salted Caramel Lemon Poppy Pound Cake
A moist, buttery and subtly flavoured lemon sponge, with pastry cream between the layers and topped with salted caramel and whipped cream.
Strawberry Red Velvet Cake
An amazing red velvet cake sandwiched with strawberry cream cheese filling and topped with cream cheese frosting.
Two Tier Valentine’s Cake
This Valentine's Dark Chocolate Cake is rich and delicious. It is super moist, filled with cream cheese, whipped cream and sour cherries and gets all its flavour from the sour cherries.
White Chocolate Genoise Sponge Cake with Caramelized Bananas
This spicy white chocolate cake is made with a Genoise, filled with cream cheese, whipped cream, white chocolate and spicy poached grapes and decorated with caramelized bananas and dark chocolate.
Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake
Ferrero Rocher is a cake made with chocolate sponge, filled with a cream cheese chocolate ferrero rocher filling and topped with chocolate ganache.
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!
maria yorgakopoulou
Wednesday 28th of October 2009
Hronia Polla for your Dimitri, It is a special day for me- my dad was Dimitri( James), and we now have his grandson, Demetrius Constantine. I went to liturgy at St Demetrius in Mystra, where the last Paleologus was crowned. I spent the day walking, going to the Castle, seeing the nuns & cats of Pantanassa monastery, then I walked down to the Xenia restaurant where my husban's cousin, the chef treated me for dinner! I hope you had a beautiful day! The lemons are getting ready in the garden- I shall have to try the cake. Ivy, I wish you could have been with us when we ran our Greek restaurant in Amherst Mass-using up your mistakes is integral! Julia Child really saved cooking for the US. Her library is now at Radcliffe( Harvard)- She went to Smith College, the women's college near us!
Peter
Wednesday 28th of October 2009
Xponia Polla to your husband Dimitri, no doubt everyone enjoyed your chocolate cake and glad you enjoyed the Julia & Julia movie. I still have to see it!
Angie
Wednesday 28th of October 2009
The white stripes in between look cool.... Heard about the movie earlier from The Little Teochew, I think I will wait for the DVD.
lisaiscooking
Wednesday 28th of October 2009
That's such a good idea! The stripes in the cake look fantastic. Great job.
Rosabela
Wednesday 28th of October 2009
Absolutely devine! Your husband is lucky to have you. :-) And happy name day to your husband!
I have only recently heard about Julia Child and I am dying to get her books (hubby is the obstacle - he says I have too many cookbooks). Every since I moved to Germany I don't keep track of new movies that come, but Julie and Julia sounds like something I would love to watch.
I think it was a clever idea that you cut the chocolate cake vertically rather than horizontally. It makes for a beautiful presentation and your last photo looks scrumptious. :-)