Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

Instructions

Place rack in middle and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8” pans. Spray oil on bottom of pans and place round parchment paper on top of oil.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder into a bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and add kosher salt. In another bowl, add sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and whisk until wet ingredients are throughly combine. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients into thirds to the dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a runner spatula. Batter will be very runny. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and place pans about 2 inches apart to ensure even baking.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. Remove pans from oven, place on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Carefully run off set spatula around the cake to loosen and then invert cake and place cake rounds on wire racks to cool completely. Wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and place cake in fridge for about 2 hours before crumb coat. Or 30 minutes in freezer for quicker chill time.

While cake is chilling in fridge make buttercream icing.

Remove cake from fridge and take one cake layer and place on cake platter upside down and remove parchment paper. Brush with raspberry liqueur giving it a good soak but not too wet. Add a thin layer of chocolate buttercream to cake. Pipe a circle of buttercream around cake edge. Fill center with chocolate mousse, about 3/4 cups. Place next layer on top and soak too layer with raspberry liqueur. Crumb coat cake and place in fridge to chill for about an hour. Remove cake from fridge and icing cake.

Place cake back in fridge for about 2 hours to set and before serving. This cake is best served the next day because the flavors increase in richness and taste. Cake freezes well in individual slices wrapped in good foil up to one month.

Note: you can also use orange, cherry or baileys liqueur

Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:

10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I use Ghilrardelli Bittersweet

Chocolate Chips)

1 lb unsalted butter, room temperature (4 sticks)

4 cups icing sugar

1/8 Tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

Melt and cool chocolate until just slightly warm. Beat butter until light and fluffy making sure it’s very smooth. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add icing sugar starting with 1/2 cup, mix until blended and then 1 cup, mix until blended, repeat until all sugar is well blended. Add salt, vanilla and sour cream and mix until smooth. While beater is stirring add the chocolate to the end and blend until incorporated but don’t over mix. Consistency should be rich and dense like ice cream. This makes a very large batch of icing. Could reduce to 3/4 to make for chocolate cake. Or use extra icing for decorating cake.

**This recipe frosts 2 dozen cupcakes.

Ingredients:

3/4 Tsp gelatin powder

1 Tbsp water

6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips, course my chopped

2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

Directions:

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chocolate and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Bring 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Remove from heat, add the softener gelatin and stir until fully dissolved. Pour the cream over the chocolate and sugar and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Cool to room temperature stirring occasionally until mixture thickens.

In a bowl of standup mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip remaining 1 cup of heavy cream on medium speed until cream begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 60 seconds. Take 1/3 whipped cream and fold into chocolate mixture with spatula. This is tempering to incorporate so the rest of whipped cream doesn’t separate. Once blended and fold in remaining whipped cream to chocolate mixture until no streaks appear.

**this makes a very large batch. I use the rest to add to a slices of cake prior to serving.