Layered CHOCOLATE Mousse Cake with Chocolate Ganache.

Good Lord! What can I say about this chocolate-layered mousse cake? It's simply a chocolate lover's dream. It's layers of rich and moist, chocolatey goodness topped off with a chocolate ganache.

This one requires a bit of time and patience but if I can make it - anyone can because I neither have the time nor patience for these kinds of recipes but somehow I always manage to pull them off! In fact, I've pulled it off about 11 times already, no word of a lie folks! ELEVEN TIMES! Once for work, once for a birthday party, once for a neighbour... and the rest of the times for me, for the family.

I even made some chocolate molds using some more chocolate chips that were tempered earlier.

I've made 2 at a time...

... and even once drizzled one with a bit of white chocolate on top which didn't look like much but it sure tasted great! Every last bit!

What a mess of chocolaty goodness! 

For this chocolate mousse cake, I used recipes from 3 different sites (with some slight alterations of course) because I not only looked for the 'best' of each recipe but they also had to contain ingredients I had on hand (or could substitute easily):

Recipe:
(In 3 parts)

1. CAKE:

• 2 cups All-purpose FLOUR
• 2 cups SUGAR
• 3/4 cup unsweetened COCOA POWDER
• 2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 1-1/2 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1 tsp SALT
• 1 tsp ESPRESSO POWDER*
• 1 cup MILK
• 1/2 cup VEGETABLE OIL (or CANOLA oil)
• 2 EGGS
• 2 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1 cup boiling WATER

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and get two 9" cake pans ready by spraying with baking spray or butter and lightly flour.
2. Add all the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl and whisk through until everything is well combined.
3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
4. Divide cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 mins or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Remove from oven and cool 10 mins. Remove from pan and cool completely.

2. MOUSSE Filling:

• ½ cup (120ml) hot WATER
• 4 tablespoons (30gr) unsweetened COCOA POWDER
• ½ teaspoon instant ESPRESSO COFFEE*
• 1 ½ cup (260gr) bittersweet chocolate chips** 
• 2 cups (480ml) HEAVY CREAM, cold
• 2 tablespoons SUGAR
• 1/3 cup NUTELLA

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve cocoa powder and instant espresso powder in hot water.
2. In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips until nice and smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3. Whip the heavy cream along with the sugar in a bowl until hard peak forms.
4. Stir in cocoa mixture and Nutella into the melted chocolate.
5. Fold in half of the whipped cream to mix everything together. Add remaining whipped cream and continue folding (it's important to fold and not mix if you want it light and airy) until no white streaks are visible. Refrigerate until cake is cooled completely.
6. Add first cake layer in springform pan and spread about a little less than 1/3rd of the mouse filling. Repeat, making sure to leave some mousse to thinly cover the top of the cake.
7. Refrigerate cake for at least 2 hours. Remove from springform pan then garnish with ganache!

3. GANACHE Topping

• 1/3 cup semi-sweet CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 1 cup heavy WHIPPING CREAM

Instructions:

1. Bring cream to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove cream from heat as soon as it starts to simmer. Pour over chocolate chips, covering them all by giving the bowl a swirl.
2. Cover the bowl with a lid and let it sit for about 5 mins, trapping the heat inside. DO NOT MIX.
3. Remove lid and now it's time for the magic to appear. Using a whisk, start mixing from the centre out until you get a velvety smooth ganache right before your very eyes!

* I had no espresso powder so I substituted it with instant coffee powder. Coffee powder brings out the chocolate flavour:
You can substitute regular instant coffee, preferably a dark roast. When cooking or baking, instant coffee will yield the same results, but it may lack the rich, roasted flavor of espresso (so double the amount of instant coffee I say!) 

** I used semi-sweet chocolate chips.

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Original Recipes:

• The cake itself, The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe (Ever)
• The mousse filling, Supreme Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling
• The ganache, Perfect Chocolate Ganache.

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