Chocolate Mousse Cake with Hazelnut Crust

My Christmas baking went horribly. Apart from the Cappuccino Hazelnuts Chocolate Biscottis I made from this Art and Soul of Baking baking book (oh these were delicious!), everything I tried to make turned into a disaster. At one point, I did not trust myself in baking anymore, so I ended up buying a chocolate cake for Christmas Eve.

To forget my bad baking adventures, I decided to start the New Year with this Chocolate Mousse Cake from Les Gourmandises d'Isa with an Hazelnut Crust from Judy In Her Natural Habitat: The Kitchen. This cake helped me to completely forget how bad I was at baking for Christmas. It was delicious, creamy and the chocolate paired amazingly with the hazelnuts.


Ingredients

***For the Hazelnut Crust***310 mL all-purpose flour
80 mL sugar
3/4 cup hazelnuts; skinned*, toasted and finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
125 mL cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

***For the Chocolate Mousse Cake***
250g dark chocolate, melted
310 mL sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)
60 mL coffee liquor (I used Kahlua)
60 mL water
60 mL gelatin
250 mL mascarpone
500 mL whipped cream

Instructions
***For the Crust***
1. Preheat the oven at 325 F degrees.
2. Pulse flour, salt and hazelnuts in a food processor 2 to 3 times to mix.
3. Add butter and pulse about 8 to 10 times until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs.
4. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan.
5. Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust is firm and looks dry.
6. Let cool completely.

***For the Chocolate Mousse Cake***
7. Mix sweetened condensed milk with melted chocolate in a medium bowl.
8. Mix coffee liquor with water in a small bowl.
9. Add gelatin and mix well. Let stand for about 5 minutes.
10. Whip the cream in a food processor until small soft peaks form.
11. Cover the bowl with the gelatin with a waxed paper and melt the gelatin in the microwave.
12. Add mascarpone with the chocolate mixture and mix.
13. Add gelatin mixture and mix.
14. Add whipped cream and mix.
15. Pour the mousse over the crust and chill overnight.

Makes 10 to 12 portions.

*How to skin and toast hazelnuts: Preheat the oven at 350 F degrees. Place the hazelnuts over a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. Wrap the hot hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel. Let stand for about 4 minutes. Rub the hazelnuts vigorously in the kitchen towel until the skin of the hazelnuts come off. It is not a problem if some hazelnuts keep some of their skin on.
Source: Art and Soul of Baking, page 52