Chocolate Mousse Cake

This was a cover recipe from a late 1970’s Bon Appetit Magazine. This is hands down the best Chocolate Mousse I have ever made or eaten. So I’m happy to get this recipe back into circulation. Yes, there’s some uncooked egg in here, so you may want to use those pasteurized eggs, or live a little dangerously…

INGREDIENTS

    Crust:

  1. 3 Cups Chocolate Wafer Crumbs, you know, the famous ones.
  2. 1 Stick unsalted butter melted
  3. Filling:
  4. 1 Pound semisweet chocolate – (I’ve had great luck with Callebaut)
  5. 2 whole eggs
  6. 4 egg yolks
  7. 2 cups heavy cream
  8. 4 egg whites, room temperature
  9. Chocolate Leaves: (they’re a pain but look really cool)
  10. 8 oz. semisweet chocolate
  11. 1 T solid vegatable shortening
  12. Camelia or other waxy leaves with 1/8″ stems
  13. Topping:
  14. 2 Cups Heavy Cream (yes, more cream, we’re not talking diet here)
  15. Powdered Sugar – to taste
  16. 1/2 t Pure Vanilla

PREPARATION

  1. For Crust: Combine crumbs and butter. Press on bottom and up sides of 10″ spring-form pan.
  2. For Filling: Melt chocolate in top of double boiler. Let cool back to 95 degrees F. Add whole eggs and mix well. Add yolks and mix until thoroughly blended. Whip heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. In a large bowl, pour in chocolate. A little at a time, add some of the egg whites and fold, then some of the whipped cream, and fold. Keep alternating into chocolate until all cream and eggs whites have been incorporated. Pour the mousse (that’s what you have now) into the crust and let chill in the refrigerator overnight, or at least 6 hours.
  3. For Leaves: Melt Chocolate with shortening in top of double boiler. Spread thin layer on shiny side of the leaves. Don’t let it drip on the underside or you wont be able to pull the chocolate off. Let rest on some parchment and place in refrigerator until firm Whip Remaining 2 Cups of cream until firm and add powdered sugar to taste and add a bit of vanilla. Not too sweet works best. Assemble: Loosen crust on all sides with a sharp knife and remove the spring-form. Spread all except 1/2 cup of the whipped cream over the top. Pipe remaining cream in rosettes in center. Gently peel off leaves from chocolate starting at the stem end. Arrange in overlapping pattern around rosettes, Cut pie in wedges with sharp knife.