Chocolatey Chocolate Mousse Birthday Cake
Chocolatey Chocolate Mousse Birthday Cake
An easy, homemade cake worthy of any celebration. Plus: Rothkopf's Law of Cakes.
There is a place for all flavors and manner of cakes in the world. However, Rothkopf’s Law of Cakes says if one eats chocolate cake, it should be deeply chocolatey, or it shall not be called chocolate cake.
Rothkopf’s Law of Cakes provides for chocolate cakes covered in sugary snowy white frosting. Rothkopf’s Law says all cakes are good cakes if the cake that is eaten brings the eater pleasure. (Cake = Pleasure x Joy/Proximity)
Rothkopf has even been known to choose a buttery golden cake filled and iced with a fudgey chocolate frosting. But that is not a chocolate cake. That is a golden fudge cake (Hello Entenmann’s fans!).
But, when Professor Rothkopf’s Husband requests a chocolate-chocolate cake for his birthday, like Lola, whatever Husband wants he gets. At least on his birthday.
So, today, here and now, a recipe for a deeply chocolatey cake on what the British would call the “squidgy” side, filled with a chocolate mousse-like ganache filling.
Notes:
The ganache is flavored with Cointreau, but you can substitute vanilla extract, rum, Framboise, or whatever pleases you.
I also filled the cake with sliced and chopped strawberries. The sliced strawberries were used decoratively on the edge, and the remainder of the strawberries were chopped and spread on top of the ganache to make slicing the cake easier.
Want to really go to town? After chopping the strawberries, macerate them in a few teaspoons of sugar and a 1/4 cup of liqueur, such as Cointreau. Drain well before spreading on top of the ganache. Chill the cake for a few hours before serving and plan to eat the majority of it within two days.
As ever, use the best quality chocolate and cocoa you can. I used Guittard Rouge Cocoa and Guittard chocolate in the cake and frosting.
Without further ado:
Chocolatey Chocolate Mousse Celebration Cake
What You’ll Need for the Cake:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (8.35 ounces) butter
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) Dutch process cocoa
1 1/2 cup (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup (6 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (250 ml) milk (I used 2 %)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pint strawberries
What You’ll Need for the Mousse Ganache:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla or Cointreau (see notes above)
What You’ll Do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9” x 2” cake pans. Line the bottom of each cake pan with a circle of parchment paper.
In a large bowl over simmering water, melt the butter, chocolate and cocoa. Whisk frequently until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the simmering water and let cool.
While the chocolate mixture cools, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla. (I measure the milk in a Pyrex measuring jug, then beat in the eggs and vanilla to save dirtying one more dish.)
Slowly, slowly, whisk in the milk mixture to the melted chocolate. I suggest you do this slowly on the off chance you’ve not let the chocolate cool long enough. You don’t want to cook the eggs.
(At some point you will notice the mixture looks rather curdled and you may worry. Don’t. Worry about things you can’t control, which is much more satisfying and contributes to anxiety more efficiently. Instead, stop adding liquid and whisk the batter vigorously until it emulsifies and looks smooth. Then continue to add the liquid until it’s fully combined.)
Stir in the sugar-flour mixture until combined.
Split the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, invert the cakes, remove the pans and let cool fully.
Wash, hull and dry the strawberries. Cut one-third of the berries vertically in thin slices and reserve. Dice the remainder of the strawberries. Refrigerate both until ready to use.
Make the ganache: In a food processor, chop the chocolate into small pieces. Bring the cream to a simmer on the stove, or in the microwave. A simmer is when small bubbles form at the edge. With the food processor running, slowly pour in the warm cream, and continue until a smooth mixture is formed. Pour the ganache into a metal mixing bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to help it cool evenly. To speed the process up, place the bowl in an ice water bath and stir nearly continuously, scraping down the sides of the bowl until thick. Stir in the Cointreau or vanilla. Beat the ganache with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Assemble the cake: Place the first cake face-side down on a serving plate. Spread half the ganache evenly over the top. Place the sliced strawberries on the edge of the cake, pointy side facing out. Spread the diced strawberries in the middle. Top with the remaining cake, bottom side up. Smooth the ganache over the top until swirly and beautiful. Decorate with a few strawberries, or whatever suits your fancy.
Chill the cake for at least a few hours before serving. Remove from the refrigerator for a half-hour before it’s time for dessert. This cake likes being served with whipped cream. It told me so.
Oh, lovelies, what a crazy week it’s been. I apologize for getting this to you later than I wished! (NB: Don’t read further if you’re squeamish) I had an very unfortunate run in with some salad, a shard of glass and my tongue that kept me from baking/tasting, etc. for a few days. Yes, it was incredibly painful. Yes, it was horrifying. And yes I’ve reached out to the purveyor of said salad mix. Also: ew. Serves me right for trying to eat healthfully.
In other news, I had an unusual response to a State of the Union address this week. I enjoyed it. I rather reveled in it. Watching President Biden take on the ridiculous, childish (I have other words, but am trying to be ladylike) bullies in the audience was life-affirming. Watch this video if you haven’t already:
Viva! I also enjoyed watching Mitt Romney (that’s a strange sentence right there) give George Santos an upbraiding.
My podcast this week, which should post later today is a corker. I had the crazy-wonderful pleasure of interview Tamron Hall. I’ll send out a subtack later with the link.
A note: Thank you to all my new subscribers! I so appreciate your support! Please invite a friend or give a gift subscription…maybe to celebrate Valentine’s Day?
My question for you: What is your ideal birthday cake? And your thoughts on the State of the Union (the speech, not the country in general…)?
As beyond delicious as this recipe is, the best part is this parenthetical note, which I have copied and taped to the refrigerator door: “At some point you will notice the mixture looks rather curdled and you may worry. Don’t. Worry about things you can’t control, which is much more satisfying and contributes to anxiety more efficiently.” I hereby award you the trophy for Best Advice Heard All Day.
German chocolate cake. I found a recipe for inside-out German chocolate cake (pecan, caramel, coconut part is the filling, ganache goes over the top) that I'm going to make this year. I actually enjoyed watching the State of the Union and listening to all that Biden has accomplished. I also enjoyed his take down of the crazies (as Governor Sanders would say). He knew when to engage and when to ignore. The GOP rebuttal was bizarre, not surprisingly, but I was amazed at how often Gov. Sanders talked about herself. She used her time as PR for herself, not her party.