Welcome back to me! Blogging maternity leave has been fun but I miss the blog and of course, the cooking.

What better way to jump right on in than with a ridiculously decadent chocolate mousse cake? This is the final recipe for Project Pastry Queen (tear). It’s been a lot of fun to blog along with these ladies and cook some absolutely fantastic recipes. I can’t wait to keep following your blogs and discovering many new recipes. Best wishes to you all and a big thanks to Shawnda for starting the group and keep us organized.

INGREDIENTS

Cake
1 C unsalted butter
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs
1 C sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp dark rum or liqueur (I used Kaluha)

Mousse
¼ C unsalted butter
10 oz milk chocolate (I used semi-sweet)
3 large eggs, separated
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 C heavy whipping cream

Glaze
4 oz semisweet chocolate
¼ C light corn syrup
½ C heavy whipping cream
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line the bottom of a 9” cake pan with a parchment paper round and coat evenly with cooking spray.
3. Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until smooth.
4. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl.
5. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.
6. Stir in the vanilla and liqueur.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place it in a larger pan.
8. Fill the larger pan with enough hot water to reach ⅔ of the way up the cake pan.
9. Bake 35-40 min. The cake is done when firm to the touch.
10. Cool the cake in the pan (remove from the water bath) on a wire rack.

Mousse

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside to cool.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
3. Combine the egg yolk mixture with the chocolate mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites on high until shiny, stiff peaks form.
5. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate, ⅓ at a time.
6. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks just start to form.
7. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until fully combined.
8. Spread the mousse over the cooled cake. Wrap the cake with plastic wrap and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Glaze

1. Place the chocolate in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine corn syrup, cream and vanilla in a saucepan and bring a boil.
3. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Cake Assembly

1. Remove the cake from the freezer.
2. Dip the bottom of the cake pan in warm water to loosen cake and mousse. Invert onto a plate.
3. Invert the cake again onto your serving platter. The mousse portion should be on top.
4. Pour the glaze over the cake, covering the sides.
5. Place the uncovered cake in the freezer for an hour.
6. Once glaze has set, cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap.
7. Serve directly from the freezer.

NOTES

14 – 16 servings

From The Pastry Queen.

The cake and mousse portion of the cake can be made ahead and kept in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

And in case you need another baby pic, here ya go!