Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wedding Cake



After arriving here several days and exploring my new home area. I decided that we must have a cake of some sort for our wedding celebration. But not having all my equipment and tools it proved to be a challenge but armed with only the basic tools and my trusty bare hands and a whisk I decided to make a Chocolate Mousse Cake. I do not recommend this as my arms ached from whipping the cream and the egg whites. Recipe for the base I obtained from here and the mousse from Nick Malgieri's also found here which is perfectly light and airy for the flourless base and to E's excitement it's happens to be a Swiss recipe. This can be made over 2 days and also the mousse will need to set for at least 2-3 hours or better yet over night.

Chocolate Flourless Cake for the base - adapted from epicurious.com

12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter cut into pieces
6 large eggs, separated
12 Tbsp sugar
2 Tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bottom of a 9" springform pan (preferable as this will provide a mould to pour the mousse in) or cake pan with parchment paper. Wrap outside of springform pan with foil to prevent batter leakage. Stir chocolate and butter in a water bath until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 Tbsp sugar until mixture is thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then fold in vanilla extract. With clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form and to this gradually add the remaining 6 Tbsp sugar, beating until medium-firm peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture lightly then pour into prepared pan.

Bake cake about 45-50 mins and skewer or cake tester comes out with some crumbs. Top will be cracked and the cake will be double in size. Cool cake in pan on rack. Don't panic as the cake will start falling immediately after coming out of the oven.

After cake is cooled, pat the top down and remove cake from pan. I trimmed and leveled the top of the cake and E got to eat the crackly top and trimmings. If using a springform pan place the cake back into the springform pan with sides lined with acetate ( you can find these in cake or baking stores) or since I didn't have any with me I successfully formed a ring with wax paper. Line the top of the cake with raspberries (1 pint just about covers the surface nicely). Place in refrigerator and prepare mousse.


Swiss Chocolate Mousse - adapted from Nick Malgieri

The original recipe from Nick Malgieri's makes too much mousse so the quantity below is half which is perfect for assembling the cake.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 envelope unflavored gelatin or 2 sheets
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup egg white (about 3-4 large egg whites)
1/2 cup sugar
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Whip cream until it holds a soft peak and refrigerate while preparing other ingredients.

Sprinkle gelatin over the water to soften about 5 minutes. Strain the water out before adding into the egg whites below.

Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk vigorously with a hand mixer until egg whites are hot and the sugar is dissolved—about 3 minutes. Test a little with your fingers, if it feels gritty continue to heat and whisk until all the sugar is dissolved then remove from heat.

Strain the softened gelatin and whisk into the hot egg whites using the hand mixer then whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form and feels somewhat cooled and creamy in appearance. Do not overbeat or the meringue will become dry. Bring meringue to cool to room temperature, stirring every so often. When it is cool, whisk by hand about a third of the meringue into the chocolate, then quickly fold the chocolate mixture back into the remaining meringue.

Pour the mousse over the prepared base with raspberries and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours. Then unmold and enjoy!



We were certainly blessed with perfect blue skies and gorgeous weather on our wedding day!


Expansive views from the summit of Mt. Audubon



View of Indian Peaks from Brainard Lake after our hike.

2 comments:

Unknown November 6, 2009 at 11:30 AM  

The wedding cake, raspberry tart with chocolate mousse, looks scrumptious!

Sze Lin November 11, 2009 at 1:14 PM  

it is! although kitchen power tools is the way to go!

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