Chocolate Concerto

March is a busy month for me, birthdays & mother’s day, all these take almost all my weekend breaks.

Last week, I made a chocolate mousse cake as a birthday cake.

Even though I wasn’t happy about the photos, I’ll post it on my blog anyway.

The cake tastes great, not very sweet, rich & divine, just how I like it to be.

I made a 8” square but it was a bit thin, I think using a 6” square is much better.

The cake consists of 3 luscious layers of dark, milk & white chocolate mousses & a rich chocolate cake.

To enhance the taste of chocolate, I didn’t put in sugar for the mousses as suggested from the recipe.

Plus, brushing the cake with Grand Marnier syrup adds a sophisticated note.

The original name is Trios Mousses au Chocolat - chocolate trios.

I prefer ‘concerto’ as it really is a showcase of chocolate.

Recipe (8” square):

adapted from here (chinese)

Chocolate Ganache Cake

22 g plain flour, sifted

8 g cocoa powder

1 egg yolk

40 g sugar

1.5 egg whites

50 g 85% chocolate, chopped

30 g unsalted butter

30 g whipping cream

Preheat oven to 160C & grease a 8” square pan.

In a saucepan, combine butter & whipping cream, bring to boil.

Remove from heating, add in chopped chocolate & stir until smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk & 20 g sugar to combine, then add to chocolate batter & whisk until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk up egg whites with remaining sugar.

Fold in flour, cocoa powder then chocolate batter.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 min.

Cake syrup

1 tbsp Grand Marnier

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp hot water

Combine all ingredients & leave aside

Dark/Milk/White Chocolate Mousse

70 g 72% dark, 38% milk or white chocolate, melted

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp water

180 ml whipping cream

4 g gelatine leaves, bloomed

In a saucepan, combine egg yolks & water, whisk while heating gently to 82C until it’s like custard.

Add melted chocolate & stir until smooth.

Whisk whipping cream until it gets thickened; it should be pourable & fluffy.

Combine 2 tbsp of whipped cream with bloomed gelatine & heat in a microwave for approx. 20 sec, stir to dissolve.

Fold whipped cream with chocolate batter, then the gelatine cream.

Assembling

Using a 8” square mousse ring, place the cake at the bottom & brush the syrup on the cake.

Spread the dark chocolate mousse layer evenly, refrigerate to set (about 30 min).

Meanwhile, prepare another mousse layer, when previous mousse layer is set, spread the chocolate mousse & refrigerate to set.

Do the same until white chocolate mousse.

Decorate with whipped cream & white chocolate lace.