In honor of Becky's Golden birthday this 23rd of April, I have decided to post about birthday cake. Flourless chocolate cake, layered with chocolate mousse and topped with dark and white chocolate curls to be exact - a perfect chocolate trifecta. Yes, we celebrated one night early, but we wanted to be the first ones to send you warm birthday wishes and thought, you of all people, would appreciate the action shot.
We begin by separating the eggs. This is the part where I bow down before the almighty Kitchenaid mixer for saving my life. I've done this cake before with just a hand mixer, but my deltoids were hating me after the egg whites, and even more after whipping the cream. Best Christmas present ever – thanks Maria! Sorry for the digression, but I just had to give credit where it was due. Back to the task at hand… we melted the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and added the egg yolks one at a time. While all this was happening I let the mixer do its thing with the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. I then folded the two together and baked it in a 10" springform pan at 325 degrees for a smidge less than 40 minutes.
After letting the cake cool, I prepared the mousse. Back to the double boiler and the mixer. Chocolate slowy melts in the double boiler while the heavy cream whips up in the mixer. This cake practically makes itself! I added a few eggs to the chocolate and folded it all together. I spread the mousse over the cake. Now all it needed was some chocolate curls for garnish – a functional garnish though, adding both taste and texture. Time to celebrate.
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