The Melaniff Family Cookbook
Berry Chocolate Mousse Cake
from Michael’s Cookbook 1989, by chef Michael McCarty, owner of Michael’s Restaurant in Santa Monica, CA
Ingredients
Chocolate Genoise
3 eggs large, at room temperature
1/2 C granulated sugar
5 T (1 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
Chocolate Mousse
10 oz bittersweet chocolate
3/4 C simple syrup
3 large egg yokes
3 C heavy cream, whipped to a firm peak
Assembly
1/3 C simple syrup
3 T flamboise liqueur, Chambord
6 C raspberries or blackberries
1 Lb semisweet melting chocolate, broken in pieces
1 1/2 C creme anglaise
Procedure
For the Chocolate Genoise
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a cake ring 9 inches wide and 3 inches deep and place it on a baking sheet lined with buttered parchment paper.
In a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk the eggs and sugar together until smooth and warm to the touch. Remove from the simmering water, then, with an electric beater on high speed, beat the mixture until tripled in volume and is cool.
Sift together the flour and the cocoa powder and, with a rubber or plastic spatula, fold them together throughly into the egg mixture. Pour the butter into the cake ring and bake until the cake springs back when touched at the center, about 25 minutes. Let the cake cool for about 30 minutes, then remove ring
For the Chocolate Mousse
Melt the bittersweet chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.
In a saucepan, bring the syrup to a bowl.
Put the egg yolk in a metal mixing bowl and beat them lightly with a wire whisk. Add the boiling syrup yo the yolks and beat with a wire whisk just until the mixture forms ribbons when the whisk is lifted out. Then beat with an electric mixer at high speed until the mixture is cool and has tripled in volume, 5 to 7 minutes. Then, at medium speed, beat in two thirds of the melted chocolate. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
For the Assembly
With a long, sharp, serrated knife, carefully trim the top and bottom crusts from the cake, then cut the cake horizontally into three equal layers. Place 1 layer on a circular cake cardboard and place the cake ring back around it. Stir together the simple syrup and framboise and lightly brush some of it on the first layer of the cake.
Whisk the whipped cream into the mousse mixture, then the remaining chocolate. Spoon the chocolate mousse into a pastry bag filled with a #8 tip. Pipe a 1/2 inch thick layer of the mousse - about a third of the mousse - on top of the first layer of cake, starting at the rim and working toward the center, spread it even with a narrow spatula. Scatter a third of the berries in a single layer on top of the mousse. (Be sure to save the best-looking berries for the top layer.)
Repeat the two previous steps with another layer of cake, pressing it down firmly but gently, moistening it, and covering it with more mousse and more berries, Add the third layer of cake, moisten it, and cover with the remaining mouse, smoothing it even with the top of the cake ring. Chill the cake in a refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Melt the semisweet chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Cut a strip of waxed paper 3 inches wide and about 30 inches long and place it on top of a wider sheet of waxed paper on a cool work surface. With a metal spatula, spread the chocolate evenly over the strip of waxed paper. Carefully lift the waxed paper strip, place it on a cool work surface, and let chocolate set for 1 to 2 minutes, until firm but still slightly wet, shiny, and flexible.
Meanwhile, soak a kitchen towel in hot tap water, wring it out, and wrap it around the cake ring to loosen it. Lift off the ring.
Lift the waxed paper up from the work surface and wrap it, chocolate side in, around the cake. Put the cake back in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, until the chocolate is hard.
Arrange the remaining berries neatly on the top of the cake inside the chocolate band. Before serving, carefully peel off the paper from the chocolate band surrounding the cake. Use a sharp knife to cut the cake in wedges, and serve with creme anglaise.
