Sin, Quantified

We taunted you back on Valentine’s Day with this shot of Chopper’s scrumptious Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. Recipe to be posted later, we said.

Well, guess what! It’s later!

I can see it now: Belly Timber readers shaking their fists in our general direction. “Later? You call this Later? Later is all about hours, not days or — harrumph — weeks! Shame on you, depriving us for so long!”

Yes, we’re evil that way.

Or distracted.

Or frightfully busy.

You decide.

(If I weren’t so A. evil, B. distracted, or C. frightfully busy, I’d create a poll wherein you could all vote.)

Three notes regarding Sin, Quantified:

1. You need a 9-inch springform pan to do this. Use of any other pan would be folly. Parchment is also a must.
2. Chopper makes this cake at work. Patrons weep tears of joy over it. I, however, can eat no more than one tiny bite per sitting due to the ultimate evil known as “heavy cream.” If you make this cake and love it, please weep for me.
3.This is a three-part recipe. Needless to say, you should proceed in the proper order, otherwise you’ll end up with a very strange cake. I’m sure it’ll still taste good, though.

Chopper’s Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Serves 16

For the cake base
(Adapted from Joconde Sponge Cake, page 354, Professional Baking, Fourth Edition by Wayne Gisslen.)

1 1/4 ounces ground hazelnuts
1 1/2 ounces confectioners’ sugar
1/2 ounce cake flour
1/2 ounce cocoa powder
2 1/2 ounces whole eggs
1 3/4 ounces egg whites
1/4 ounce granulated sugar
1/2 ounce butter, melted

Method

Mix together hazelnut, confectioners’ sugar, flour, and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Add whole eggs and mix until smooth and light.
Whip egg whites and sugar together until they form firm peaks.
Gently fold egg whites into the other mixture, being careful not to allow much air to escape.
Fold in the melted butter.
Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring-form pan with parchment, and brush the sides with more melted butter.
Pour cake batter into the pan, making sure it is evenly distributed.
Bake at 400 F for at least 10 minutes, until firm to the touch. Then remove from oven and cool in the pan.
When pan is cool, brush the sides again with melted butter and line with strips of parchment.

For mousse
(From Chocolate Mousse IV, page 488, Professional Baking, Fourth Edition by Wayne Gisslen.)

1 pound bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces butter
6 ounces egg yolks
8 ounces egg whites
2 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
8 ounces heavy cream

Method

Melt chocolate in a dry bowl over a hot water bath.
Remove from heat and add butter, stirring until melted.
Add egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
Whip egg whites and sugar together until firm peaks form, then fold into the chocolate mixture.
Whip cream until firm peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture.
Transfer mousse into the parchment-lined cake pan that contains the baked cake base, making sure it is evenly distributed.
Place pan in the freezer.

For ganache top layer

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces heavy cream
2 ounces butter

Method

Place cream in a pan over medium-high heat and bring just to a boil.
Add chocolate and butter, and remove from the heat.
Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk contents together, and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture starts to thicken and temperature is under 100 F.
Take your cake pan from the freezer and pour ganache on top, making sure distribution is even, and there are as few bubbles as possible.
Place back into the freezer and allow everything to set, about 4 hours, though overnight would be ideal.
Remove from pan and serve. Makes 16 decadent slices.

Plating suggestion: Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and use the leftover ganache as a sauce.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 at 8:11 pm and is filed under recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

MM Says:
March 7th, 2006 at 11:56 pm

Oh baby (the cake, not you), how long I’ve waited for you. Evil, poor evil. Colour me a sinner.

Kalyn Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 5:33 am

Luckily (for my diet) I am more of a savory eater than a sweets craver, but this does look sinfully delicious.

bea at la Tartine gourmande Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 5:43 am

Ou lala, Nice!! Tempting and devilish! What a way to start the day!! And I am chocolate lover! Help!

B'gina Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 2:35 pm

Fortunately for my calorie count, I’m allergic to chocoate. Otherwise I’d be on this NOW! Chopper is a god. And you’re a goddess for typing it in for us, too.

Heh. All bases covered.

cookiecrumb Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 3:33 pm

Huh. Silly me. When you first posted the picture of the cake, I assumed Chopper was making you a lactose-free dessert. Nice man, I thought.
Whoa! That’s a half a quart of heavy cream!
Well. We still like him.

Barbara (Biscuit Girl) Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 3:57 pm

I just about licked my computer screen. If sinning is wrong, I don’t want to be good.

mrs D Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 4:15 pm

Oh, you crazy, sinful kids, you.

Yes, CC. Heavy cream. Much sadness.

Nic Says:
March 11th, 2006 at 7:10 am

Good lord. That cake is too much - of perhaps just enough. It looks fantastic.

kent Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 10:39 am

So, how many eggs are in an ounce?! What kind of crazy measurement is that?

mrs D Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 11:06 am

Hey Kent,

Good question!

::puts on geeky chef-wife hat::

The recipes above are adapted from a professional baking book, and that’s pretty much the way pro bakers do it: by weight rather than amount. Thus the term “Pound Cake” which comes not from anything being pounded (heh), but rather from the pound amounts of its main ingredients.

Since eggs come in so many sizes, many bakers prefer to use a kitchen scale to get their accurate amounts rather than go by number of eggs. Three jumbo eggs will be quite different from 3 regular eggs, and even within those categories, there’ll be slight differences from egg to egg or from farm to farm.

Your “average” small egg weighs about an ounce and a half, so if you don’t have a kitchen scale and need to convert measurements, you can work it out that way. Here’s more on egg weights.

Ore Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:31 pm

That cake looks amazing -

Ore

wojo Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 4:23 pm

Someone’s gotta help me with these “ounces”! An ounce and a half of confectioner’s sugar?? 1/2 ounce flour? Can some please translate these to cups or tablespoons? And a half ounce of butter–there are 16 ounces in a pound, a stick of butter is 4 ounces, or 8 tablespoons–so we’re talking very little butter–doesn’t ring true–

mrs D Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 6:13 pm

Wojo, Chopper bakes this cake on a regular basis for restaurant patrons so I can assure you that the butter amount does ring true. That entire cake-base recipe (with the half ounce of butter) is simply a half-inch layer at the very bottom of the cake you see in the photos.

As I said above, weight measurements are how the pro bakers do it, and these recipes are adapted from a professional baking book.

Baking is more of a science than an art, and the use of weight as a measurement rather than volume leads to far more accurate and consistant results, and it serves to mitigate random factors such as humidity and altitude that could otherwise adversely affect your product.

There are websites and books that will help you convert weight to volume, but you’ll get better results if you stick to the pro recipe and pick up a kitchen scale. The one we use is a Salter 5-pound Microtronic, and it serves us well.