Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Posted by GourmetGal at anonymous

Pretty easy and one that never fails to impress company! (So it goes well with the Chicken Almondine for company!)

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
    (equal to 1 and 1/3 cups chips)
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp (I use
    salted if I don't have any unsalted in the house...I don't
    know why it matters, but maybe it does...)
4 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons raspberry flavored liqueur (I use Chambord liqueur)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Topping
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pint fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Line with circle of wax paper and grease and flour wax paper and sides of pan.

Place chocolate in top of double boiler and cook over simmering water until just melted. (I now do this in the microwave, 10 - 15 seconds at a time until it is melted.) Remove from water and set aside to cool.

In large bowl with electric mixer, beat together butter, egg yolks and liqueur until smooth. Add cooled chocolate and beat for 1 minute or until light and fluffy.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in small bowl with electric mixer (use clean beaters) on high speed. until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are stiff and glossy, about 1 minute. Stir about one-quarter of beaten whites into chocolate mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites until no streaks of white remain. Turn mousse mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. (Cake will sink slightly back down into pan as it cools.) Remove pan sides and cool completely. (Cake can be made up to 2 days ahead; wrap airtight in plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Invert cake onto serving platter and remove wax paper.

Prepare Topping. Beat together cream, confectioner's sugar and cocoa in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Spread topping in even layer on top of cake. Arrange raspberries on top of cream. Refrigerate for up to 8 hours, if you wish, or serve immediately.

Raspberry Liqueur Sauce
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen quick thaw raspberries in syrup
2 tablespoons raspberry or cherry flavored liqueur

Place berries with syrup and liqueur in processor or blender; whirl until pureed. Serve with Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Additional Notes
(Some people use raspberry brandy instead of Chambord liqueur because it apparently is a lot cheaper.)

I also buy an extra container of heavy cream and whip it and sweeten it (and add one teaspoon vanilla) and use it to decorate the top, but it is purely optional!

Also, note that it says "cake will sink slightly" as it cools. I found that it sinks quite a bit!!! It ends up being about the height of one small layer cake - 1 1/2 to 2 or 2 1/2 inches. So don't be alarmed it it does that! The outcome is a thick chewy cake, more like a torte or brownie consistency - decadent chocolate!

Enjoy!