Chocolate Mousse & Whisky Layer Cake

It was Ps birthday and the conversation went a bit like this ,”what kind of cake would you like for your birthday hon”, quickly followed by “but not one I’ve already made before”, which I’m sure all Bloggers can understand, you can’t repeat the same blog twice can you. “But I really would like that big layer cake you made the other week”, he was refering to the Dobos Torte from the Daring Bakes Challenge which he ate most of. “Ah but I have already posted that one on my Blog, I need something new”. Ps response was a big sigh, “but that’s the one I fancied”. “You can have anything, absolutely anything else you have ever seen in a cake shop, a restaurant or on the net…how exciting is that”? “Hmmm”, was his reply, “Ok how about one of those cakes we saw at the Hospitality Show then” …oh..oh now I know something big was coming because all the cakes on display were from the trades show competitions. “Which was that dear?”  ”The dome shaped one with all the different chocolate layers, you said you’d make one one day”. Hmm, I must have conveniently forgotten but I suppose it karma for not letting P have his first choice. So that is how Ps birthday cake was born, that and his love for malt whiskey from Islay. Just don’t tell him how much of his single malt I used in the cake, we dragged it half was across the world from Islay but I don’t think his intention was for it to go into a cake! It did taste divine though and he really enjoyed it and said it was better than the Dobos Torte.

Ingredients – Sponge (can be made a day ahead)

6 eggs, separated
120g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
140g castor sugar

Method – sponge

Preheat over to 180 degrees centigrade.
Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper (30×40)
Whisk egg whites until fluffy.
Add one spoon of sugar at a time to egg whites and whisk each time to form a stiff meringue consistency. It is important to add sugar gradually to prevent mixture from liquifying.
Mix in egg yolks.
Sift cocoa and flour and fold gently with a metal spoon into egg mixture, keeping as much air as possible in mixture.
spoon into prepared baking tray.
Bake for 10- 12 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Do not over bake as sponge will become hard and you will not be able to mould it.
Remove from greaseproof while warm and then lay back onto the same greaseproof paper. Cover with a cloth to help keep it moist.
Allow to cool before assembling.

Before you make your mousse you need to cut your sponge to fit the bowl, the mousse will set quickly so you need to be ready to layer and assemble quickly. The cake is made up of layers of sponge and mousse which is all sealed with a sponge ‘jacket’.

Line the bowl with cling film (which will help remove it from the bowl once set). Cut a strip of sponge to fit the bottom of the bowl. Cut more strips and shape them to fit the sides of the bowl, trying to avoid any gaps. Cut 5 circles of various sizes to fit inside the bowl starting from the smallest that will sit close to the base to the largest which will be the last layer. If you don’t have enough full circles you can make a layer up by piecing a few left over strips together (it won’t be seen anyway).

Ingredients – dark chocolate mousse

200ml whipping cream
1 tsp gelatine granuals
100g dark chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons water

Method

Place gelatin, water and 2 tablespoons of your cream together in a bowl and warm gradually in microwave until gelatin has dissolved.
Whisk cream to soft peak consistency. I recommend you whisk both lots of cream at this point (for the milk chocolate mousse also).
Add dissolved gelatin to whipped cream and mix but be careful not to over mix the cream (you want to keep the cream fluffy).
Add the cool melted chocolate to the cream and fold together quickly but gently keeping the cream light.
Put aside and quickly make the milk chocolate mousse

Ingredients – milk chocolate whisky mousse

200ml whipping cream
1 tsp gelatine granuals
100g milk chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons of whisky

Method

Same method as the dark chocolate mousse just add the whisky to the hot melted gelatin before adding to the cream.

Assembly of cake

Your bowl should be already lined at this point with sponge. If you wish to make it more alcoholic you can brush each layer of sponge with extra whisky. Pour half the dark chocolate mousse onto the sponge in the the base of bowl.
Place smallest layer of sponge on top of mousse.
Pour half of the milk chocolate mousse on top of that and then repeat the last two mousse and sponge layers finishing with a sponge layer.
Cover with cling film and allow to at least two hours to set before removing from bowl and covering with ganache.

Ingredients

150g 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped
100 ml whipping cream
2 tablespoons of whisky

Method

Bring cream to almost boiling point.
Add chopped chocolate and stir gently till melted.
Add Whisky and stir till smooth.
Remove cake from bowl and place on a wire rack with a plate underneath to catch the ganache.
Pour ganache over cake and spread with a pallet knife to cover all of the cake