When I was married in 1983 traditional wedding cakes were still in style – too much icing, overly decorated and fairly dry.  I wanted something different so I decided to make my own. I chose chocolate mousse cake and made 14 of them to be served at our reception.

Recently, a friend of mine who reconnected with me on Facebook and who was also at my wedding asked if I would share the recipe so she could bring it to a holiday party.  Another friend replied that she’d like to have it too so I thought I would just post it here. It’s the holidays.  Maybe someone will get some use out of it.  It’s a good make-ahead recipe as the mousse cake can be frozen and then garnished with the whipped cream and chocolate leaves later.

It then became a tradition to make it for special birthdays and other celebrations.  My son requested that I make chocolate mousse cake for his Groom’s cake because it has always been his favorite.  As you can see, he and Jen had a gorgeous wedding cake created by Rockwell’s Bakery in Villa Park, California but they chose the mousse cake for their first taste because of the whipped cream.  Normally it would have had much more whipped cream but I couldn’t bring my mixer to the winery (where they held their wedding and reception) with me.

So……. below is the recipe.  It’s adapted from one I found in Bon Appetite Magazine somewhere around 1980.  Be forewarned that this is NOT low-calorie and IS high in fat and sugar but it is SO good… and just a little bit couldn’t hurt.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

2 cups heavy cream

2 whole eggs

4 eggs separated

1 pound semi-sweet or mixed dark and semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup unsalted butter

6 T powdered sugar

8 oz. chocolate (to coat the leaves)

1 (MORE) cups heavy cream – whipped,  for garnish

3 cups Nabisco chocolate wafers (if you can’t find them, then Oreo cookies work, but someone has to eat the filling – oh NO!)

8 – 10 camelia leaves (orange leaves will work in a pinch)

Crust:  (You’ll need a springform pan.)

Melt the butter; Crumble the cookies in a blender, food processor or smash them in a bag.

Add the melted butter to the cookies and press them in the springform pan making sure that the crust goes up the sides too.

Please in freezer for 1/2 hour.

Filling:

Melt the 1 pound of chocolate morsels.  When slightly cool, add the 2 whole eggs and fold in to mix well.  Then add the 4 egg yolks and mix until combined well.

Bet the 4 egg whites until stiff but not dry.

Beat the 2 cups whipping cream with the 6T of powdered sugar.

Now…. alternately fold small amounts of the the egg whites and the whipping cream into the chocolate mixture until all are incorporated.

Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate overnight.  (At this point, you can also cover and put the cake in the freezer (don’t remove the springform pan) and store for several weeks.

Remove the springform pan.  Place on a large cake platter.  Garnish the top of the cake with the 1 cup whipped cream (sometimes I add some amaretto before whipping.)  Place 6-7 of the chocolate leaves on top – stem side facing center of cake (think bicycle wheel spokes).

Leaves:

Gather some camellia or other waxy leaves and wash them.

Melt the 8 ounces of chocolate and spread some on the BACKS of the leaves.  Put on waxed paper and place in freezer until ready to garnish.

For a simpler dessert, you could also use just the mousse placed in a pretty dish and topped with raspberries and a mint sprig or chocolate curls.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I once had a catering company called Satin Sheets and Red Ants Catering.  We served breakfast in bed, picnic food for the Hollywood bowl and fancy desserts. We served this chocolate mousse cake at a Bouvier’s first birthday party, complete with over-sized dog bone party favors and doggy hats. Pets were spoiled, even back then.  Although the pups received no chocolate, their owners did.