Recipe: Bear’s Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake

At the beginning of the summer Bear and I had this cake that we haven’t been able to get out of our heads. It was a sponge cake layered with three different versions of chocolate mousse, and the effect was rich and chocolatey while also being so dang edible I could have eaten three pieces in a row. It is a very rare chocolate dish that makes me want seconds, and this was exactly the right level of richness to make me go all Cookie Monster on it.

As the months passed Bear kept thinking about this cake and how he’d make his version a little bit different. Instead of layers of milk, white, and dark chocolate mousse, Bear decided to make a milk chocolate ganache, a raspberry white chocolate mousse, and top it with a dark chocolate glaze. It is sick. In the best possible way. Totally sick. The change in textures between the three different fillings keeps things interesting and the flavors are bright and beautiful.

There are several different components to this cake that would make typing out a recipe pretty complicated, but all you really need is the Raspberry Mousse. A simple sponge cake recipe – even a boxed cake would be great – sings when filled with this mousse and topped with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Raspberry Mousse

1 C heavy cream
1 1/2 T powdered pectin
3 oz sugar
1/2 C egg whites
1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
1/4 C cold water
4 oz white chocolate, melted
1 1/4 C strained raspberry puree
3 T lemon juice

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Reserve in the refrigerator.

Combine the pectin powder with sugar. Add the egg whites. Heat the mixture over a simmering water bath until it reaches 140 F, stirring constantly to make sure that the egg whites on the bottom do not get too hot and cook. Remove from the heat and whip until the mixture is cold and has formed stiff peaks. Reserve the meringue.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and set aside to soften.

Stir the melted white chocolate into the raspberry puree. Make sure the raspberry puree is not colder than room temperature. Add the lemon juice.

Place the gelatin mixture over a bain-marie and heat until dissolved. Do not overheat. Quickly add the gelatin to the raspberry mixture. Gradually fold this mixture into the reserved meringue. Fold into the reserved whipped cream. Refrigerate for about 2 hours to set.

If you serve this mousse by itself – in lovely glasses, say – you should add more sugar until it’s sweet enough to eat alone. This recipe is quite tart to act as a great companion to the sweetness of the chocolate and cake. But sometimes I love a tart dessert all on its own.