Intense Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Total Time
- 1 hour 5 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 10ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 9tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6large eggs, room temperature and separated
- Pinch of salt
- ¾cup sugar
- 2tablespoons brandy
- 1teaspoon confectioners' sugar
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Position the oven rack in lower center of the oven. Cover the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with a double layer of foil. Using a microwave oven or double boiler, melt together chocolate and butter; set aside to cool slightly.
- Step 2
In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and ½ cup sugar until pale, frothy and increased in volume. Whisk in brandy, then fold in chocolate mixture. Place a kettle of water over heat, and bring it to a boil. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites and salt until thick. Add remaining ¼ cup sugar, and continue to whisk until stiff and shiny but not dry.
- Step 3
Fold about ½ cup whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in remaining whites, being careful not to let the mixture deflate. Pour mixture into lightly-buttered springform pan, and place pan in a roasting pan. Add boiling water to roasting pan to come halfway up side of springform pan. Bake for 45 minutes; top of cake will be hard and inside will be gooey.
- Step 4
Remove cake pan from water, and place on a rack to cool completely. Unwrap foil and remove side of springform pan. Place cake on a serving platter. Just before serving, dust top with confectioners' sugar passed through a sieve.
Private Notes
Comments
Delicious! Very rich but more-ish!
My only comment is regarding the order of procedure in the recipe. I only have 1 set of blades for my mixer and if you use on the egg yolk mix you cannot then use to whisk the whites (they will not whisk because of fat in the yolks so means washing the blades in between) . Therefore I whisked the whites first and then used same beaters for the yolk mix.
I made it with maybe half the sugar and a shot of cold espresso. I forgot it in the oven and went over cooking time by 15 minutes with no discernible negative result. Great easy cake that is extremely forgiving. You can't go wrong with this one.
This has been one of my signature desserts since I learned it from cookbook author Jeanette Seaver in 1975. Only hers was easier in that it didn't use a water bath. Just bake it in a springform at 375 for 15 minutes , turn off oven and crack open the oven door, and let cake remain in oven another 15 minutes.
Another variation that comes from the NYTimes is to set aside about 1/2 cup of the bittersweet chocolate morsels and fold them into batter. Wow!
Delicious, and a big hit with my Christmas crowd. Every bite of it was eaten. It is quite rich, so you'll definitely want whipped cream or even milk or ice cream. I also used espresso instead of brandy because I didn't have any and didn't want to buy it just for this. One comment I received is that it had a nice light texture rather than just being a dense chocolate cake. I attribute that to really taking my time whipping the egg whites, and trying hard not to deflate while folding them in.
I once made a gloriously decadent and simple chocolate torte (?) to celebrate my daughter's one week old birthday (first time parent much?). I soon after forgot where the recipe had come from entirely and searched far and wide in vain. I looked back on photos of us and that cake with multilayered of wistfulness. But, alas! I believe this is the one! So happy to have stumbled back upon you, dear old friend!!
I add 1/4 c cocoa powder such as Drost and substitute high quality vanilla for the brandy. This is my go to recipe for wowing - it tastes great for days.