Chocolate Mocha Mousse Cake

 ~Recipe~

MOCHA MOUSSE (make 2 batches of this recipe) :
9 oz. milk chocolate, cut into sm. pieces
2 tbsp. powdered instant coffee, dissolved into 1/4 c. + 1 tbsp. hot water
1 1/2 c. heavy or whipping cream

Place chocolate and coffee in a heat-proof bowl (medium sized). Bring about 1 inch of water to a simmer in a wide skillet. Turn off heat and set bowl in pan of water. Stir constantly until smooth and completely melted. Remove from heat and let cool to about 85 degrees.Whip cream until soft (not stiff) peaks form. Fold carefully into chocolate.

CAKE:

1/4 c. milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. unsifted cake flour
1/2 c. sugar
3 lg. eggs
3 lg. egg yolks
1 tsp. baking powder

The cake can be baked in 2 (8-inch) round pans or in an 11x17 jelly roll pan. Line bottom only of pan with parchment or waxed paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Heat milk with butter in small pan until butter melts (medium heat). Reduce heat to low - DO NOT SIMMER.
Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder twice. Return to sifter and set aside. In large heat-proof bowl use a hand whisk to mix sugar, whole eggs and egg yolks. Set bowl in a pan of barely simmering water. Heat mixture until lukewarm to the touch, whisking occasionally.
Transfer bowl to an electric mixer and beat on high speed until mixture has cooled and triples in volume. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over egg batter and fold in gently by hand. Fold in 1/2 of the remaining flour, then fold in the remainder of the flour.
Pour hot milk and butter and fold in very well. Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until browned and starts to shrink from side of pan. Cool cake in pan on rack. If cake is baked in an 11x17 pan, cut 2 eight-inch circles when cooled.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, cut into sm. pieces
6 oz. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. light corn syrup or honey

Place chocolate, butter and corn syrup (or honey) in a small heat- proof bowl. Heat gently in a pan of water over low heat until almost completely melted. Remove from heat and stir gently until completely melted.

ASSEMBLY:

Place one 8-inch cake layer in a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. Pour one mousse recipe over the cake layer and refrigerate until mousse is set (2-4 hours). Place second cake layer on top of refrigerated mousse. Pour second mousse recipe over cake, smooth and refrigerate overnight.

UNMOLD:

Soak dish towel in very hot water. Wring out and immediately wrap around springform pan. You may have to do this twice. Release form and smooth sides with spatula.

GLAZING:

Refrigerate unmolded cake for 20 minutes. Make glaze while cake is refrigerating. Pour glaze over cake using a spatula sparingly to spread glaze over top and sides of cake. (Put cake on a rack placed over a sheet of foil.)If the sides are not completely covered, scoop some of the glaze from the foil and spread on sides of cake. Refrigerate immediately until ready to serve (up to 2 days).

~Thoughts~

           This recipe is a new one to me and quite a long one to prepare. With the average prepare time between 2-3 hours, this one is nice to do late in the evening and set up overnight for tomorrows dinner. Fortunately, it is worth every hour of preparation with very light mousse, and heavy cake it doesn't become overly dry in your mouth and with the bitter chocolate glaze it gives just a twinge of coffee taste in the background.