Chocolate Ganache Mousse Cake

After the Christmas Eve dinner, the Christmas morning gingerbread cinnamon rolls, another feast on Christmas Day, and then some leftover turkey paninis, roasted lamb sandwiches, brussel sprouts… and it comes New Year’s Eve.

While Christmas is more a family event, New Year’s Eve is a party. Before I had kids, doing countdown out at a club was almost my must-do every year. In fact it was when I was way younger. I did more house parties with friends after I hit 30. Still loud and drunk and louder and more drunk!

Now we’ve aged a little. We host the party. Invite a few close friends over. All dress up a little. Enjoy the coziness. Relax over a long meal. Create the moments that we will all remember years after.

Dessert is always the last food item that we linger on. Something fancy, crowd pleasing and absolutely delicious. I find chocolate a pretty solid choice when it comes to dessert flavour. Making it into light and airy mousse will surely melt everyone’s heart. I layer the mousse on a bed of chocolate cake, and drape it with a blanket of ganache, some more chocolate shavings, some festive gold sugar glitters and sprinkles… This chocolate ganache mousse cake itself could be quite a topic opener itself.

Ingredients (three 5-inch cakes):
Chocolate Cake
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
Chocolate Mousse
200 grams of dark chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup espresso
3 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup heavy cream
Chocolate Ganache
100 grams dark chocolate, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
Garnish
1/2 cup chocolate shavings
1/4 cup golden sprinkles or glitters

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line the sides and bottoms of three 5-inch springform pans with parchment papers.
In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Crack in the egg, spoon in the sour cream, and pour in the oil and the vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Pour in the boiling water, and slowly mix until smooth and liquidy.
Divide the batter among the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Let cakes cool completely in the pans.
To prepare mousse, make a double boiler and bring the water to a soft simmer. Put the chocolate, butter and espresso in a heat resistant bowl and leave to melt. Put a mixing bowl in the freezer.
Beat the egg whites until soft peak forms. Add sugar and continue beating until it becomes stiff and forms peak. Transfer to another bowl. Set aside.
Using the same bowl that you whip the egg whites, beat the egg yolks until light and creamy. Mix in the chocolate mixture.
Fold the whipped egg whites in the chocolate and egg yolk mixture.
Put the cream in the bowl from the freezer and whip until it becomes stiff. Add the cream to the chocolate mixture and fold with a spatula until it becomes one liquid.
Pour the chocolate mixture evenly into the cake pans. Juggle to lightly level the top.
Keep in the refrigerator overnight.
Prepare ganache before serving. Place chocolate, heavy cream and corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture using a wooden spoon until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Gently loosen the springfrom rings to release the cakes. Peel off the parchment papers. Place the cakes on serving plate(s). Pour ganache over the top of the cakes. Use an offset spatula to gently push the ganache to the sides to create dripping effect.
Garnish with chocolate shavings and sprinkles.

31 comments

  1. I assume that the coffee is used, as usual, to enhance the taste of the chocolate, but doesn’t leave a coffee taste. Is that correct? My husband really doesn’t like the taste of coffee. Thank you!

    1. Hi Delynn, you can halve the portion of coffee for this recipe. Instead of 1/4 cup, you can go with only 2 tablespoons. :)

    1. Hi Nadia, yes! You can make it in advance. Just make sure it’s cover to avoid drying out the cake base in the fridge. I would suggest to pour out the ganache before serving though. :)

  2. Hi Fanny, happy New Years from Denmark!

    This cake looks amazing and I really really want to make it for my guest this Friday. My question is, if I want to make the cake just like the one in the picture, should I just make 1/3 of the recipe??
    Hope you can help :)

    1. Happy New Year, Sanaz! I’m afraid you will have to follow the recipe to use full portion of the ingredients to make sure it tastes good. You could just make one cake, and use the remaining batter to make muffins (freeze them for the future). You could also put the remaining mousse into individual cups/ramekins/glasses/jars and eat them later! :)

  3. Sophie,

    The photo shows one of the three cakes. The dark bottom layer is chocolate cake, & the chocolate mousse (lighter color) is on top of the cake. The ganache is actually the chocolate drizzle you see dripping down the sides in the photo. I hope that helps!

    1. Yes, Ronnie! You can use the same ingredients to make an 8-inch or 9-inch cake. What you need to do to adjust the baking time of the cake by adding another 8 to 10 minutes. Hope you will enjoy the recipe! Happy new year!

  4. Happy New Year Fanny!! Thank you for all those mouth watering photos you take. :) I look forward always to seeing what you have created. May this next year bring your family more love and memories. xo :)

    1. Happy 2016, Shelly! Thank you so much for always being here!!!!! Loving your support like crazy! Hope you are having a wonderful time with your family! :)

  5. Hi Fanny, thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I made this cake last night, and now it’s sitting in the fridge waiting to be served tonight. I don’t have any small pans, so I went straight to make a 7″ cake with a springform pan. I used the excess to make muffin sized cakes which i just tasted and IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! The best cake I have ever made! I cant wait for my family to try the cake tonight! Thank you so much! Happy 2016!

    1. I am so happy to hear that, Annie! Hope your family enjoyed the cake as much as you did! Happy 2016!!! :)

  6. I’m confused as to the three pans…
    Your picture only shows two layers…the cake layer and the ganache.
    So does this recipe make enough for three separate cakes then?

    1. Hi Sophie, this recipe makes three 5-inch cakes or one 8-inch cake. If you aim to make an 8-inch cake, you will have to bake the cake 5 to 10 minutes longer.

  7. Beautiful cake! Can I make an 8-inch or 9-inch cake instead of three small cakes? Thanks!

    1. Hi Rose, yes, you can make an 8-inch cake instead of three 5-inch cake. Just bake the cake base 5 to 10 minutes longer. You might a little tall cake. But I guess it will look quite nice! :)

  8. I am making this tomorrow!!!! Thank you so much for sharing! I’ve looking for a perfect dessert recipe, and I’m glad that your just came out at the right time! :)

    1. Hi Jenny, I am happy that you’ve found the recipe! Just a heads up. If you are planning to serve the cake for tomorrow, you might want to make it today, and leave it in the fridge to set the mousse overnight. Hope you will enjoy the recipe. :)

  9. How good does that look? I love a good chocolate mousse but to make a cake out of it just tastes it to another level! Awesome.

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