I decided to make a cake for my mom's birthday last week. My sister suggested chocolate mousse frosting. Unfortunately she couldn't make it to dinner due to a sick child. She missed out on a really great tasting cake. However, she also missed out on the drama before dinner was served.
I found this really great chocolate cake recipe on Cooks.com. It is called Chocolate Mousse Cake. Its a really simple recipe and comes together so quickly I didn't even think about getting pictures.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (9") round cake pans.
Mix 2 cups of sugar, 1 3/4 cups of flour, 3/4 cups of cocoa, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, and 2 tsp vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Remove from the mixer and stir in 1 cup of boiling water. The batter will be very thin. Pour it into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks.
Now, that was the easy part. This has become my number one go to chocolate cake. It is the moistest cake you have ever eaten and definitely chocolatey even though there isn't much chocolate in it. I was shocked.
The chocolate mousse frosting goes together fairly quickly as well. And it tastes really yummy. I might have to emphasize the really.
Sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin over 3 tbsp of cold water. Let it stand for 1 minute to soften. Add 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp boiling water and stir until clear and completely dissolved.
In a large mixing bowl mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 3/4 cup of cocoa; add 3 cups of whipping cream and 3 tsp of vanilla. Beat at medium speed until stiff peaks form. Pour in gelatin mixture and beat until well blended. Chill for 30 minutes before frosting the cake. Fill and frost the cake layers and chill for 1 hour.
This cake came out wonderful. That was the end of that.
On our way out, I decided that I would drive because I am more considerate of the bumps in the road when I have a cake in the car. I handed the cake to my husband who said, "Wow, Leanne, that looks great!" Right before he put his hand in the top of it. I brought the extra mousse along, just in case I need to do touch ups. He set the container on the dash, and what do ya know? It fell off the dash and into the cake. So, no problem. I can fix it later. No big deal. Then, in the dark of the car, my husband started to panic and said the cake was moving toward him. I quickly turned on the light and discovered the top layer of my "beautiful" cake had slid about 3 inches in the direction of my husband.
I asked if he had any straws in the car and he thought I was nuts and asked what the heck he would have straws for. I do. Doesn't everybody put extra straws in the center console? In the middle of all of this, my 3 year old announced that she didn't have to go potty anymore. Wonderful. She wet her carseat.
He managed to hold the cake together to get to the grocery store. I found the deli and grabbed some straws and those wonderful little cardboard hot cup sleeves. After buying my mom flowers I went back out to the car to perform minor surgery.
I realigned the layers and inserted 4 straws as dowels to keep it from sliding. Then, I used one of those cardboard cup sleeves to scrape the mousse off the sides of the cake and back into the container of extra mousse that I am lucky I decided to bring. We made it to my mom's where I removed the straws and reapplied the frosting to the top and sides of the cake. Good as new! Then I carefully placed it in the refrigerator to chill through dinner. For all of that, I made my husband change our daughter.
Following dinner, we did the usual candles and gifts. I was a little leery of cutting into the cake by this point. It may not have looked pretty on the plate, but OH MY GOSH! It tasted WONDERFUL!! The cake was so moist and chocolatey. The mousse was light, chocolatey, and not too sweet and so incredibly light. It was the perfect combination.
So my first cake catastrophe turned out to be one of the best tasting cakes I have made yet.
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| Sorry for the picture Mom. |
