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Last night, my book club met. I signed on to bring a dessert. Ironically, the book we were discussing was Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. Anyway, I'd planned to make baklava, but found that I didn't have the ingredients on hand to make that work. I did, however, have ingredients on hand to make a triple chocolate mousse cake. (I'm not sure what that says about me, or that I particularly want to know what that says about me!)
Anyway, it's sort of a lengthy process, but if you have a stand mixer, not a difficult one. The steps that take the longest are the ones involving the melting of the dark chocolate.
So join me as this:
Becomes this:
And yeah, it is as good as it looks. I may never make anything else for dessert again. :)
So as the name of the dessert suggests, there are three layers to this cake. The first is a flourless chocolate cake, and it's the only part of the cake that gets baked. The entire cake is made in a springform pan. The recipe calls for a 9" diameter, 3" deep pan, but mine is somewhat different dimensions - closer to 10" and only 2.5" deep. It works.
Here are the ingredients for the first layer - 1/3 cup brown sugar, 4 eggs, separated, 7 oz bittersweet chocolate, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3/4 tsp espresso powder, pinch salt, 6 tbsp butter:
First, the chocolate, butter and espresso powder are combined and the mix is melted over a double boiler. (I actually used to own a double boiler, but I love the utility of taking the bowl that you're going to mix in anyway and just setting it over simmering water. Anything that reduces clean up is something I'm in favor of!)
Let the chocolate cool down for five minutes or so, and then add the egg yolks and vanilla.
While the chocolate is cooling, you can have fun with your egg whites - first, mix the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer until they start getting frothy. Then add 1/2 of the brown sugar and mix on medium until incorporated. Add the rest and mix on high for a minute or so, until you have soft peaks. Unfortunately, none of my pictures of this part of the process took hold (don't worry, I'll have a link for you later). Then you whisk 1/3 of the egg white mix into the chocolate mixture. Once that's incorporated (no more streaks) fold in the remaining egg white mixture:
Pour into springform pan, even out with offset spatula, and bake in 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
Cool completely (about an hour) before you go onto the next layer, chocolate mousse. Here are the ingredients for the second layer - chopped bittersweet chocolate, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 5 tbsp hot water, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar, 1.5 cups heavy cream:
Melt the chocolate and let it cool. Add the cocoa to the hot water to release its flavor. Combine the melted chocolate and the cocoa mixture:
In your stand mixer (which you had plenty of time to clean while the first layer was cooling), add the heavy cream, salt and sugar. Whip to soft peaks. (Sounds kinky, doesn't it???) Whisk 1/3 of whipped cream mixture into chocolate mixture:
Fold in remaining 2/3 whipped cream mixture using a spatula:
and pour onto first layer, smoothing with an offset spatula. Place into refrigerator while you make the final layer.
Okay, so the top layer is white chocolate mousse and it comes together faster than the other two. One thing that you have to do, if you are using a real white chocolate is activate the gelatin (or the vegan alternative I was able to find) in water. The reason for adding this thickener is that once white chocolate is melted, it's a real challenge to make it behave the way you want it to in the mousse. This has to do with the cocoa butter that makes up white chocolate - it is incredibly finicky when you melt it.
So you bring 1/2 cup heavy cream to a simmer, add the gelatin/gelatin substitute to the hot cream and dissolve, and pour that mixture over 6 oz of white chocolate. Stir to mix/melt. Take the remaining cup of cream and whip it up into soft peaks in the stand mixer. Whisk 1/3 mixture into white chocolate mixture
Fold in the rest, and pour over the chilled cake, smoothing with an offset spatula. (Sorry, I thought I took pictures of this last part, but clearly I didn't.) Return it to the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours (longer is better.) Shave some chocolate for a garnish (I use a paring knife over a chocolate bar) and voila!
AND here's a video which shows where I got my inspiration for this dessert. Since it's from this season, anyone anywhere can watch this video. I have a membership, because I really love this show. (And the magazine they put out, Cook's Illustrated).
Without further ado, here are tonight's top comment nominees:
From bronte17:
How many ways can someone make you LOL... Bill in Portland Maine had me ROTFLMAO as he shows off his new thwooters over in jotmandu Week's HID Diary by jotter.
And George Bailey shows up... aka Bailey Savings and Loan... to set the record straight in Rivlin: Cut SS benefits / defer eligibility by Willa Roges.
And from that same SS diary is this Democratic talking point by KYrocky. Use it or lose it.
And talk about using it... when Alexi for Illinois shows How to Destroy GOP Talking Points in 55 Seconds KroneckerD asks if anyone else needs a cigarette after watching that... humor keeps us sane.
From Ed Tracey:
In this RL Miller diary entitled Stupid Goes Viral
... there is an entire thread about Oregon
GOP hopeful Art Robinson
- who self-immolated on the Rachel Maddow Show last week - that describes how this doctor who worked years ago for Linus Pauling somehow jumped-the-tracks
and never looked back.
From jlms qkw:
Who was amused by this comment by Bill in Portland Maine (and which started an amusing thread) from jotter's weekly diary.
From Floja Roja
Who thinks that everyone, everywhere needs to see this. (Comment by dakinishir)
From sardonyx:
In the 10/10/10 Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday by Neon Vincent, the comment When Film Critics Disagree... is posted by Rimjob, who notes that "sometimes a movie about a horse is a movie about a horse." Roger Ebert takes on a Salon reviewer who went Godwin on the horse movie; while the whole thing is interesting, pay close attention to the bolded section near the end of Ebert's commentary, which is a top comment anywhere.
My picks:
I learned a lot from this comment by DaNang65 with regard to yet another way that the poor in our nation are at a tremendous disadvantage based on their level of income. It's from JG in MD's excellent diary.
From the same diary, this comment by mofembot pretty much sums it up PERFECTLY.
This comment by Flint highlights a real missed opportunity in the ad created by the DNC to shed light on the role the Chamber of Commerce is playing in our elections. When will the beltway insiders recognize that MOST of America NEEDS to be led through these connections? Missing this crucial point, and making similar mistakes is what costs Dems politically. Comment is from pronin2's diary.
This comment, by FG starts off a really interesting discussion dissecting Meg Whitman's excuse for not registering to vote until she was 46. From Aji's simply stellar diary about Queen Meg. From the same diary, this comment by leema is also very noteworthy.
I liked this comment by RockyLabor because I don't think this topic gets near enough completely blunt sunshine. It's from Alexi for Illinois's diary - which is excellent based on Alexi's brief but brutal questioning of Mark Kirk's "deficit hawk" position, or lack thereof.
Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, and Mojo Friday:
1) got lawyers? by alizard — 105
2) Over 50 and unemployed is very real by nyceve — 78
3) the argument is clear by crackpot — 77
4) The ad would be a lot more effective if... by Flint — 76
5) WOW! THIS SHOULD BE A DNC NATIONAL AD! nt by Silence is Complicity — 73
6) Axelord said the same thing on ftn. WE are by jovie131 — 71
7) Great diary! by soothsayer99 — 70
8) Can't be covered enough... by FudgeFighter — 67
9) Ancient America by Ojibwa — 63
10) You rarely see cnn find faults by christine20 — 61
11) We need more of this... by ProgressiveMan — 59
12) In attendance! by mconvente — 56
13) Heck Richard I Lost A Very High Paying by webranding — 55
14) The double-whammy by The Raven — 54
15) America is the only by MBNYC — 52
16) No by crackpot — 51
17) I like the idea. by Bush Bites — 47
18) I was born in 1966. This is quite simply by rogerdaddy — 47
19) Aged Out 12 Years Ago, Never Employed Again by Gooserock — 46
20) Anymore, it's not just the by tonyahky — 45
21) I would LOVE to pay more taxes ... by niemann — 44
22) Catherine- beautiful stuff. You go, grrrl. by xylem — 44
23) Actually by JG in MD — 44
24) Yeah, it speaks to most of the races going on now by Bush Bites — 43
25) I guess I am lucky by debbieleft — 42
26) Outsourced to China - US Chamber of Commerce by 88kathy — 41
27) You would probably be the one to know. by DaNang65 — 41
28) feh. by jrooth — 41
29) I just saw Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. by Kimball Cross — 40
30) It Just Makes NO Sense To Me by webranding — 40
31) Agreed. Gotta wonder why there hasn't been by watercarrier4diogenes — 40
32) Medicare at 67... by Willa Rogers — 40
33) Paging Jean Valjean. by mofembot — 40
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by Dan Bacher — 321
2) Tip Jar by Alexi for Illinois — 308
3) Tip Jar by JG in MD — 295
4) Tip Jar by Teenaged Pundit — 289
5) Tip Jar by pronin2 — 284
6) Tips, recs, flames... by Richard Cranium — 261
7) Tip Jar by jovie131 — 196
8) Tip Jar by Chrislove — 135
9) Tip Jar by thebluecrayon — 125
10) Tip Jar by Ojibwa — 123
11) Tips for Jerry Brown . . . by Aji — 117
12) Tip Jar by jpmassar — 113
13) Tip Jar by Richard Lyon — 109
14) got lawyers? by alizard — 105
15) Tips for Russ Feingold's last minute by Colorado is the Shiznit — 104
16) tips by whoknu — 104
17) Tip Jar by Willa Rogers — 83
18) Over 50 and unemployed is very real by nyceve — 78
19) the argument is clear by crackpot — 77
20) The ad would be a lot more effective if... by Flint — 76
21) WOW! THIS SHOULD BE A DNC NATIONAL AD! nt by Silence is Complicity — 75
22) Tip Jar by A Siegel — 74
23) Axelord said the same thing on ftn. WE are by jovie131 — 71
24) Great diary! by soothsayer99 — 70
25) Tip Jar by bkamr — 69
26) Can't be covered enough... by FudgeFighter — 68
27) TIPS by Trix — 67
28) Ancient America by Ojibwa — 63
29) Redtails are all the proof you need that the by lineatus — 62
30) You rarely see cnn find faults by christine20 — 61