Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Sauce

It's time for Reveal Day again at the Secret Recipe Club! I had so much fun perusing Liz's blog (and I love her title: That Skinny Chick Can Bake!); as usual, it was hard to choose just one recipe. But I was baking for a special occasion, and this cake rose quickly to the top of my list. This Chocolate Mousse Cake is certainly celebration-worthy, with TONS of chocolate surrounded by lady fingers and whipped cream. It's actually even more delicious than it is beautiful. I was glad I had made chocolate chip cookies for the kids at the party so the adults could enjoy more of this delicious cake!

I made one change to Liz's recipe: I added a raspberry sauce. This was partly done out of necessity - Liz's recipe calls for soft ladyfingers, and I used Italian ones *(like you use for tiramisu). Because of this, I needed the cookies to soften more, so I added a raspberry sauce on the top and the bottom. It was more than just functional though - the red sauce added a dimension to the dessert that was fantastic - both in color and taste. Raspberries are a wonderful compliment to chocolate and everyone enjoyed the fruity addition.

Start by chopping all the chocolate and combining it in a saucepan, or microwave safe dish, with the water.



Melt the chocolate over low heat on the stove top, stirring constantly, or in the microwave at reduced power, stirring every 30 seconds. The mixture will be extremely thick. Then add the powdered sugar



vanilla and egg yolks



and stir vigorously until well combined. (Making this cake is good exercise! This will give your arm a work out!)



Set the mixture aside to cool. In the meantime, line a loaf pan with foil, and lightly spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Layer ladyfingers in the bottom of the pan, cutting them if necessary to fit.



Now beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold some of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture,



then fold in the remaining until totally incorporated. Pour half of the chocolate mixture over the ladyfingers.



Continue with a second layer of ladyfingers, the remaining chocolate, and a final layer of ladyfingers.



Cover with saran wrap or more foil, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight.

To make the raspberry sauce, combine the raspberries, sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until raspberries are thawed. Stir often to sort of break up the raspberries. Combine the cornstarch and water in a jar and shake until dissolved, then add to the raspberry mixture. Continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened. Let cool completely.

To assemble the cake, carefully spoon half of the raspberry sauce onto the serving platter.



Lift the cake (in the foil) out of the loaf pan using the foil edges.



Invert the cake onto the platter and carefully peel back the foil.



Spoon the remaining raspberry sauce over the top of the cake. You want the sauce to soak into the top layer of ladyfingers, not run all over, so try to contain it as best you can!



Return to the fridge for several hours.

When ready to serve, pour the whipping cream into a small mixing bowl, and add the vanilla and powdered sugar.



Whip the cream, then frost the cake top



and sides,



being careful not to swirl too much of the raspberry or chocolate.



To garnish, I grated chocolate over the top, then added some whole raspberries.





This cake is very rich - be sure to serve with coffee (or tall glasses of milk) and enjoy!



Thanks, Liz, for a great celebration cake!

One year ago: Pumpkin Bran Muffins
Two years ago: Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

For more great recipes, visit Mangia Mondays, Mouthwatering Mondays, Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Mop it Up Monday, Menu Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday (#2), Made from Scratch Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday (#3), A Little Birdie Told Me, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Sweet Treats Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, This Week's Cravings.

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Sauce

2 - 3 oz. packages of soft ladyfingers
(alternatively, use Italian ladyfingers - about 24)
18 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp. water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
7 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

8 oz. frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. water

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Raspberries or chocolate curls or shavings to garnish

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper or foil. Split the ladyfingers in half and arrange on the bottom the pan. Trim ladyfingers to fill any empty spots. Set aside.

Melt chocolate with 3 tablespoons of water in microwave. Start, stop and stir at 30 second intervals till chocolate is melted and smooth. (To melt on stovetop, stir constantly over low heat.) Mixture will be thick. Stir in powdered sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Beat till smooth. Allow to cool.

Beat the egg whites till soft peaks form. Mix some of the whipped egg whites into chocolate mixture, then fold and mix in the rest till completely combined. Spread half of this chocolate mousse over the ladyfingers, then place a second layer of ladyfingers over the mousse. Top with the remaining mousse and then another layer of ladyfingers. Cover with foil or plastic wrap. Chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

For the raspberry sauce, combine frozen berries, sugar and 2 Tbsp. water in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until berries thaw, stirring often to break up the berries. Combine the cornstarch with the remaining 2 Tbsp. water and shake til dissolved; add to the raspberries and cook and stir until slightly thickened. Let cool completely.

Spread half of raspberry sauce on serving platter. Lift cake in foil out of pan and invert over raspberry sauce. Carefully peel back foil, then spoon remaining raspberry sauce over the top of the ladyfingers. Return to refrigerator for several hours.

When ready to serve, whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla. Frost cake with whipped cream and garnish with raspberries or chocolate curls or shavings. Serves 12.