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00:00 I'm teaching you everything you need to know about chocolate cake.
00:05 Starting with the fundamentals, we made that devil's food cake with its fudgy frosting.
00:09 Then we upped the ante with that elegant but trendy red velvet cake in its square shape.
00:16 But now it's time for that epitome of chocolate cake, a rich chocolate mousse cake with a
00:22 chocolate glaze.
00:23 This is something every pastry chef takes pride in.
00:26 This cake recipe has a lot in common with the devil's food and red velvet cakes, but
00:31 it does vary in its technique.
00:34 Start with measuring half a cup of boiling water.
00:38 And I have here two ounces of unsweetened chocolate as well as a quarter cup of unsalted
00:43 butter.
00:44 I'm going to pour the water over top to melt the chocolate and butter.
00:48 It makes a bit of a grainy paste.
00:50 You don't expect it to be smooth, sumptuous chocolate.
00:54 So I'll let this sit.
00:56 Grab an egg, crack that into my mixing bowl, and add to that half a cup of sugar and just
01:04 a teaspoon of vanilla.
01:05 I'm creating a chocolate sponge cake.
01:08 It's still rich and moist and a little bit dense.
01:11 I whip this up until it's nice and fluffy.
01:16 It's pale and thick and doubled in volume.
01:21 So now I can add my chocolate butter mixture.
01:24 You have to expect that this cake batter is very wet when you mix it up.
01:29 And now I'll just sift the dry ingredients directly over top.
01:33 A cup and a quarter of all-purpose flour and a teaspoon of baking powder and three quarters
01:41 of a teaspoon of the baking soda.
01:45 And just a touch of salt.
01:46 I'll just sift that right in.
01:47 You can tell it's going to be a light and fluffy batter.
01:54 And the last addition, going back to that Devil's Food Cake recipe, a half a cup of
02:00 hot strong coffee.
02:02 That Devil's Food Cake is the base from which all chocolate cakes come from.
02:07 Now this recipe makes two 8-inch cakes.
02:10 I'm only going to use one of these layers in my chocolate mousse cake.
02:14 The other, I'll save for something special.
02:18 I've preheated the oven to 325 and these cakes will take about 25 minutes to bake.
02:24 While those bake, I can start on the rich chocolate mousse.
02:28 I bring a cup and a half of whipping cream up to a full simmer, pour the cream directly
02:34 on top of 12 ounces, this time a bittersweet chocolate.
02:38 Because I'm folding in whipped cream, I want that intensity of a bittersweet chocolate.
02:43 I can just gently stir and make that beautiful ganache.
02:48 The next task I want to start is actually cooking sugar and pouring it into egg yolks.
02:53 And that's the base for the mousse.
02:55 I'll measure half a cup of sugar into a pot and a third of a cup of water.
03:02 And I want to cook that using a candy thermometer to measure until it reaches 250 degrees.
03:08 While that's cooking up, I'll separate three eggs, keeping the yolks and just whipping
03:15 them a little bit just to soften them up.
03:17 You need to get them loosened up before you add that boiled sugar.
03:23 Alright, now that it's reached 250, I'll turn the mixer on high and slowly add the boiled
03:30 sugar by pouring it down the side of the bowl.
03:33 This egg yolk and sugar combination until it cools down a little bit.
03:38 Pour all the ganache in and just give it a stir to blend it together.
03:46 Nice.
03:47 Now it's still just above body temperature.
03:49 It has to cool completely to room temperature before I fold in the whipped cream.
03:56 Alright.
03:58 Now, to check the doneness of this cake, a sponge cake you can tell is done when it
04:05 springs back when you touch it.
04:09 I have a cooled cake layer here so you can see how short it is, but we want those thin,
04:17 delicate sponge layers hiding between the rich chocolate mousse.
04:22 So now I can fold in one and a half cups of whipped cream.
04:27 The original sponge cake I made fit into an 8-inch pan.
04:31 When it comes to assembling the cake itself, I'm going to layer the mousse in the cake
04:36 in a 9-inch pan.
04:37 I like to use a springform pan.
04:39 That way I can unlatch it and reveal the cake easily.
04:43 And I slice the cake in half horizontally.
04:46 It's a good idea to make use of that cake wheel.
04:49 Pour half of the mousse in the bottom of the pan.
04:54 I place one of these cake layers gently on top.
04:58 Then the remaining half of the mousse hides that cake layer.
05:05 The remaining layer of cake gets placed right on top.
05:10 I give it a good 4-6 hours in the freezer to set up that mousse.
05:16 And here is a cake I already made and fully froze.
05:19 How do you get it out of the springform pan?
05:22 A hair dryer, of course.
05:24 When you see the frost disappear on the side of the pan, that's your sign that it's just warmed enough.
05:29 There we go.
05:41 Let's flip it upside down.
05:44 Lift off the top.
05:46 And the finishing touch for this ultimate of chocolate cakes, a chocolate glaze, which I'll show you how to make later.
05:54 And at this point, you chill it until you're ready to serve it.
05:58 A work of perfection.
06:05 Cut into it to reveal the beautiful light sponge cake and the mousse layers underneath.
06:14 Light and fluffy, yet rich and fulfilling.
06:18 Now remember, I have that extra layer of cake.
06:20 I'm ready to have a little fun and make some dainty chocolate glazed pettiforce.