Chocolate Cake with Berries and White Chocolate Mousse

I recently bought a new springform pan to make the Lemon Torta and have been dying to use it again. A springform pan is great for layered cakes with Savoiardi (ladyfingers) or mousse. It has a base that can be detached from the sides.

I had a dinner party the other night and decided it was a good opportunity to use it again. So I found a recipe and tweaked it a little. It has layers of moist chocolate cake and creamy white chocolate mousse with a layer of berries slathered between.

It was my first time working with mousse and gelatin sheets, but it turns out that it’s not so difficult and I’m excited to try a few other ideas that are rambling around in my head, so stay tuned!

I served this cake at my dinner party and everyone was so impressed! It is delicious with “wow” factor! A word to the wise, It is better made the day before so the gelatin can firm up, plus this reduces the stress on the day of your dinner, less to do!

This cake would also be delicious with a cherry filling which you can do in the same way as the berry filling

Chocolate Cake with Berries and White Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 reaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup leftover brewed coffee (or just use water)

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1/2 tablespoon vanilla

For the Chocolate Mousse:

2 sheets gelatin or 1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) powdered gelatin

12 ounces (1 1/2 cups chopped) or 340 grams white chocolate

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

For the Berry Sauce:

1 cup frozen berries (Raspberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries or Blackberries)

1/2 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 cup water

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (177 celsius)

Spray a 9 inch springform pan with oil, dust with flour to coat and cut a piece of wax paper to fit the bottom of the springform pan. I do this to make sure the cake will come out of the pan easily. Place the pan on a sheet of wax paper and trace the circle with a pen and then cut it out.

Stir together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside

Mix together the wet ingredients: egg, milk, oil, coffee and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated and smooth. If you don’t have coffee you can just use water. The coffee intensifies the flavor of the chocolate. I always seem to have a little sitting in my coffee pot..

Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

For the Mousse:

Place the two sheets of gelatin in a small bowl of cold water and allow them to soften, about 5-10 minutes. If using powdered gelatin, dissolve the gelatin in 2 Tablespoons of cold water and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.

Heat 1/2 cup of cream in a pan but do not let it boil. Remove from heat and add the softened sheets of gelatin or the dissolved gelatin. It should dissolve immediately.

Pour the warm milk over the chopped chocolate and allow to melt. If you have trouble getting the chocolate to melt you can return it to the heat, but just to heat it a little, then turn the heat off. You just want to melt the chips, don’t let it bubble.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, the same as making whipped cream, adding spoons of sugar while you are beating it until you have used the 1/4 cup of sugar. When it is completely whipped, you can add the white chocolate mixture. I let mine cool in the freezer and it even congealed but I just added it to the cream by the spoon fulls and it still whipped nicely and had a creamy consistency.

You can place the whipped cream mixture into the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Berry Sauce:

You can also use cherries, but I would use 2 cups of frozen cherries instead of 1 cup bowl of berries. Place the frozen berries in a sauce pan, ombine the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and stir until it is combined. Pour sugar over berries. Add the water and bring to a boil. It should thicken as it starts to boil. Remove from heat and allow it to cool by giving it a stir every now and again. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Then using a serrated knife slice it in half making two layers. Don’t try this with a warm cake because it will crumble.

Once the layers are completely cool you can spoon the whipped cream mixture on the layers in the springform pan. Layer the chocolate cake, berries, then the cream, more cake, cream and berries on the top.

Allow to firm up in the refrigerator over night.

dissolve the gelatin — Dissolve the gelatin in milk and turn off heat. Add the chopped chocolate, stir until the chocolate is melted.

Beat the cream and slowly add the sugar until peaks form. Add the white chocolate mixed with gelatin and milk, beat until incorporated but don’t over beat it. Put in the refrigerator until you are ready for it.