For today’s cake I decided to play with my two top favorites flavors: a lemon mousse with lemon curd and a chocolate mousse. I love the way the sweet acidity of lemon goes with the velvet, bittersweet aftertaste of chocolate.
Ingredients
For the chocolate mousse-
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- 300g plain chocolate (no more than 40-50 per cent cocoa solids), broken into squares ,
- 450ml whipping cream
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- 2 1/3 cups sugar ,
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch ,
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice ,
- 4 large eggs ,
- 4 large egg yolks ,
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
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- 5 tablespoons water ,
- 4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin ,
- 6 large egg whites ,
- 3/4 cup sugar ,
- 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For the chocolate mousse-
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- Place the chocolate in a bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). ,
- Stir continuously, taking care not to let the chocolate get too hot. Set aside to cool a little. ,
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed. ,
- Carefully fold in the melted chocolate until smooth and not streaky.
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- Mix sugar and cornstarch in heavy large saucepan. ,
- Gradually add lemon juice, whisking until all cornstarch dissolves. ,
- Whisk in eggs and yolks. ,
- Add butter. ,
- Stir over medium heat until curd thickens and boils, about 12 minutes. ,
- Transfer to medium bowl. ,
- Chill until cold, at least 6 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead.
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- Pour 5 tablespoons water into small saucepan. ,
- Sprinkle gelatin evenly over. ,
- Let stand until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes. ,
- Meanwhile, place 1 3/4 cups lemon curd in large bowl. ,
- Stir 3/4 cup curd in another small saucepan over medium-low heat until very warm ,
- Stir gelatin mixture over medium-low heat until dissolved and liquid is clear (do not boil). ,
- Whisk warm gelatin mixture into 3/4 cup warm curd. ,
- Gradually whisk gelatin-curd mixture into curd in large bowl. ,
- Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until soft peaks form. ,
- Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are thick and glossy. ,
- Fold whites into curd mixture in 3 additions. ,
- Using same beaters, beat cream in another medium bowl until peaks form. ,
- Fold into egg white-curd mixture in 3 additions.
