French Fridays-Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

Sadly, I have no pictures of this magnificently delicious mousse cake.  I was prepared to create a stunning picture of this lovely cake with creamy mouse piled on top, served on a plate lined with raspberry sauce and toasted sliced almonds on top.

Get the picture?

Well, the finished product and I did not get along during the "transform the springform to a serving plate" stage.  I had a sadly broken mess on my hands!  But that did not deter us from eating it anyway!

As always, Dorie Greenspan gives you plenty of bonne idee's to work with.  I do have to agree with Dorie that the technique to make this cake is ingenious.  And after making the mousse and tasting it, I wondered why would you want to bake the entire thing?  Why not bake the cake part and pile the mousse on top so you can enjoy it's creamy richness?  That is why I chose the "serve the cake cold" method.

My difficulty began because I did not have an 8" springform ring and used a 9" springform ring but did not alter the recipe.  I tried filling it with slightly more than 1/3 batter but that was probably not quite enough.  This resulted in a base that was too thin and too wide to accommodate the lovely mousse topping, so as I attempted to transfer the cake, disaster struck.  Baking the topping probably would have worked here. Or preparing them in individual portions.  Maybe ramekins.  Maybe next time.

But...this was a very delicious dessert.  The taste test crew raved. 

Even in it's less than attractive appearance, there was not a smidge left.

Will I make this again?

Most definitely!