Suzy’s Chocolate Mousse Cake GF

My SIL Suzy, as I’ve mentioned many times, is a skilled baker and I’m happy to say, along with my other sisters-in-law, a dear friend. Who says you can’t get lucky with family? I still remember at one of our family events her turning to me and saying, “aren’t we lucky”? Yes we are, thank G-d. So, we’ve always been in and out of each other’s homes for the holidays and she was always gracious in bringing her top hits of baked goods. This cake, always a wild hit, is incredibly simple in its ingredients, but sorry Suze, you know I changed it up just a bit. (She even asked me, what did you change? She knows me well). An important note. This is gluten free (and I served a slice to my delighted nephew who came to visit) and is perfect for Passover as well.

This cake is all about the eggs. Since many people are afraid to use raw eggs nowadays, I decided to purchase pasteurized egg whites and yolks which come in boxes (which look suspiciously like our milk cartons and people nearly used it in their coffee, yikes!). This simplified the prep beyond belief and I can see myself making this over and over again. But! warning, warning, this is incredibly rich – truly a holiday dessert – not something you’d make for everyday, hence my writing it up now. Of course, it’s up to you if you wish to use regular eggs or pasteurized.

The big change I made was dividing the sugar between the whites and the yolks and not whipping it all together with the whites as well as adding some o.j. to the chocolate when melting it in the microwave. This keeps it smooth and prevents it from seizing.

So start by preheating the oven to 350 F/180 C. and gathering your ingredients.

And begin with your egg whites.

I can’t speak to every brand of pasteurized whites but mine was 8 whites per cup. I went with 2 cups simply because it’s not 100% accurate and I wanted the lift. You are using a truckload of chocolate so you will want it.

Start whipping them till they get a bit foamy and then add half the sugar and continue whipping till they get nice, thick and fluffy. A note. I did a double recipe here so if the ingredients seem like a crazy large amount, they are! Yours will be half as much and will look less full in the mixer, that’s correct.

Okay. Remove the whites from the bowl and place in a separate one and in the same (dirty) mixer bowl, no need to wash out, place the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar.

Beat them till thickened and lightened in color about 5 minutes or so.

As you can see it turns a pale yellow. That’s correct. Now take the chocolate which may seem like a huge amount (it is) but that’s what you need and don’t skimp or it won’t turn out correctly (another reason it’s holiday worthy).

Put the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and add the orange juice and zap for a minute, see if it can be stirred, if not continue at 30 second intervals (shouldn’t take too long at full power) till it stirs smoothly and the chocolate melts into a smooth mass. An important note. Not all your chips will be melty when you zap, it takes the stirring to complete it so don’t overcook it! Keep trying to stir till it stirs smoothly. and looks like this:

Good. Let it cool for a bit while you mix the beaten whites and yolks together in the mixer with the whisk beater just till combined and add the chocolate which doesn’t take long at all to cool and shouldn’t be left too long or it will harden up on you and be super difficult to work with. Beat very briefly but make sure whites, yolks and chocolate are completely incorporated. The mass will deflate somewhat, that’s fine.

Good. Now you will bake 1/3 of the mixture on the bottom of a springform pan which I put a circle of parchment paper on for ease of serving. This becomes the cake’s base.

Place in hot oven for about 20 minutes or till it rises slightly and is somewhat firm to the touch. Let cool on a wire rack.

Then, as it cools, it deflates a bit, that’s correct, and looks like this:

Make sure it’s completely cold and then mound the rest of the mousse on top of the cake base.

Cover well (carefully so cover doesn’t stick to mousse) and place in freezer. Keep in freezer until 10 minutes before serving. Serve elegant thin pieces since it’s so very rich. Delicious!

Suzy’s Chocolate Mousse Cake GF

12 eggs separated (if using pasteurized eggs, check amounts according to manufacturer’s recommendation. Mine was 8 whites per cup of egg whites; 12 yolks per cup of egg yolks), so although the recipe calls for 12 separated eggs, I used 2 cups of pasteurized whites since it’s not precise and I wanted lift. If using real eggs, 12 whites is fine.

1/2 cup sugar with whites;

1/2 cup sugar with yolks

500 grams (3 cups + 1 tablespoon if using chocolate chips) (17.5 ounces) semi sweet or dark chocolate

2 tablespoons orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.

Whip egg whites with half a cup of sugar till stiff. Remove from mixer and place in bowl. In same mixing bowl (no need to wash out) place egg yolks and whip with half cup of sugar till thickened and lighter in color about 5 minutes or so. Set aside and place chocolate in microwave bowl with orange juice. Melt in microwave, trying to stir after 1 minute, add time in 30 second intervals but stop and stir at each point. Do NOT overheat them. Chips will not look completely melted even if soft so stir till the mass is smooth. Place whites with yolks and whisk in mixer gently just till combined then add chocolate and whisk just till incorporated. Mixture should be quite thick.

Take a springform pan and place a round of parchment paper on bottom (or lightly grease bottom of pan) and place 1/3 of mixture in spreading evenly on bottom of pan. Place in hot oven and bake approximately 20 minutes or till cake base rises a bit. Remove and cool on wire rack. This will fall/deflate somewhat, that’s correct. Let cool completely. When cold, place rest of mousse mixture on top of base and smooth all about. Cover carefully, try not to let cover touch mousse top. Freeze in pan till ten minutes before serving. Slice into thin slices, this is very rich.