Sweet Bites: Chocolate Layer Cake with White Chocolate Mousse Filling and Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Chocolate Layer Cake with White Chocolate Mousse Filling and Chocolate Fudge Frosting (white chocolate trees optional)

The Occasion: This cake is ideal for special occasions like birthdays or celebrations. IMO this is not an everyday dessert. (However if it’s everyday for you, I’ll be right over. With my fork. Every day.)

We made it for the dessert course at our recent Foodies Group dinner; the theme was Rocky Mountain High. Read about it here. We wanted something large and impressive, like the Rockies themselves, and a towering chocolate cake seemed like a good starting point. Adding a mountain of snowy white chocolate mousse in between layers evokes, you know, snow on the mountains – plus it tastes damn delicious. We went a little crazy with add-ons for our Foodies presentation – as one does. More about that below.

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3: We tested the recipe ahead of time with an informal focus group – namely our extended family. While they were complimentary (and ravenous – that cake went fast!) we learned a few things and made some changes for the final version which is presented here. 

Lesson #1: This cake needs plenty of time to chillax in between the different phases. Specifically, it’s important to chill the mousse for a good long time before slathering it on between the cake layers, and it’s even more important to chill the cake + mousse before frosting the cake. Otherwise the mousse will ooze out the sides. Still delicious but messy and hard to work with.
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Lesson #2: With a bonanza of tasty frostings to choose from it’s hard to go wrong. But we wanted to achieve soul-satisfying perfection, so swapped out the test cake’s cream cheese based chocolate frosting for a rich chocolate fudge. Mmmm. Definitely the right call. 

Gilding the Lily: Honestly, the cake + mousse + frosting combo is impressive enough by itself. There really is no need to make chocolate bears and moose pops and candy evergreens. And the skiers? Way over the top.

​But excess is the name of the game for our Foodie group, and so we did.

We used candy-making molds bought online and cookie cutters to make the shapes. Super easy. Take a look. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

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The Verdict: This is a truly excellent chocolate cake, rich, moist and decadent. It ain’t easy or quick, but those are not the only success metrics for a worthwhile kitchen experience. Plan ahead. Ilise took 3 days to complete this cake and boy oh boy was it worth the wait! Be generous with the white chocolate mousse filling. When you think you’ve piled on plenty of mousse, go ahead and add another big scoop. An abundance of delectable, creamy filling is a big factor in this cake’s off the charts approval rating. Is there an upcoming special occasion in your life? Mm-hm. You know what to do. 

Printable Recipe- Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Fudge Frosting
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Chocolate Layer Cake with White Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Recipe source: Delicious Wordflux, slightly adapted by Ilise Goldberg 
 
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

 
DIRECTIONS:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
• Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
• Add eggs, milk, olive oil and almond extract; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Stir in hot coffee (batter will be thin).
• Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

 
White Chocolate Mousse Filling

• 6 ounces white chocolate
• 1 7/8 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

​Directions for Mousse:

• Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer.
• Heat the cream over medium heat until it is hot. 
• Place white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate.  Let it sit for about two minutes.  Whisk the mixture until well combined.  Put the mixture in the refrigerator for a few hours until the cream is cold. 
• After about two hours check the mixture to see if a white chocolate layer has started to form on the top, if there is one just whisk it to incorporate it.  
• Place the heavy cream white chocolate mixture in the well-chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the chilled whisk attachment. Whisk on high-speed and as the cream starts to thicken add the powdered sugar, whip until stiff peaks form. Remove the bowl from the mixer.  Chill the white chocolate mousse in the bowl or another container for at least 4 hours.
• Spread the mousse over the top of the cake base evenly. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Place the other cake round over the mousse. Chill for at least 1 hour – longer is better.

 
Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Recipe source: An Ilise Goldberg adaptation from two sources – Chocolate Chocolate and More and Add A Pinch

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ¼ sticks butter (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder

DIRECTIONS:

• In a saucepan, over low heat, melt butter. Stir in cocoa powder. Mixture will resemble a paste.
• Mix he espresso powder into the milk to allow it to dissolve
• Transfer chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl. With mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar and milk, alternating the two. Reserve a few tablespoons of milk. If frosting is thick, add in remaining milk. Add vanilla extract.
• Turn mixer to medium high speed and beat about 5 minutes, until frosting is smooth and creamy.
• Frost cake or cupcakes as desired.

Even without decorations this cake looks AWESOME -- who's hungry? (Me, me, me!)