[title subtitle=”words & Images: Lauren Allen, tastebetterfromscratch.com”][/title]
I probably developed a love for baking before my love for general cooking. “Fun” for me as a little girl was inventing cookie and cake recipes! They never turned out great, but I just loved experimenting with weird ingredients and creating something out of nothing. That’s what I love about baking. You can create something beautiful and amazing out of the simplest ingredients. This chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling is the perfect example. It has the simplest ingredients, but you put them together to create a masterpiece.
Every year when my birthday rolls around I get excited about making my own cake. It may seem weird, considering most people would want someone else to make their birthday cake, but I LOVE making my own. I take great care in choosing the cake I want to make. This year I decided I wanted to make my own version of a “Death by Chocolate” cake. I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, layered it with a simple homemade chocolate mousse, and poured the most amazing warm chocolate frosting on top. I can confidently say it was THE BEST chocolate cake ever — better than anything I would have ordered and super easy to make from home. Plus, I got to indulge in birthday cake all week long.
This cake would be perfect to celebrate, some would say mourn, the beginning of another school year, suck up to that new teacher, or as the delicious finale at an end of summer bash. Let’s face it, anytime is a good time for chocolate cake and this one tops them all.
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Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- Chocolate Mousse Filling* (recipe follows)
- Chocolate Frosting* (recipe follows)
Method
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, oil and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be very thin).
Pour batter into cake pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Once cooled, use a sharp serrated knife to separate each 9’’ cake (cut each cake in half horizontally, evenly, so that you end up with four, thin, 9’’ cake pieces).
Place the first cake layer on a cake serving plate. Spread a big dollop of chocolate mousse filling on top of the cake layer. Repeat with the remaining cake layers, adding a layer of mousse filling between each layer of cake.
Spread remaining mousse filling evenly around the outside edges and top of the cake. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
TIP: I usually make the warm chocolate frosting while the cake is in the fridge.
Remove cake from fridge and pour chocolate frosting over the top. Use a spatula or knife to gently spread the frosting evenly over the outside of the cake as you pour. Refrigerate until ready to serve!
TIP: Make sure to make adjustments if you’re baking at high altitude.
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Chocolate Mousse Filling
Ingredients
- ½ cup hot water
- 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp sugar
Method
Dissolve cocoa powder in hot water. In a double-boiler (or in the microwave) melt the chocolate chips, just until smooth. Add cocoa mixture to the melted chocolate chips. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Add whipped cream mixture to melted chocolate and fold in with a spatula until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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Chocolate Frosting
A warm chocolate frosting, similar to ganache, which hardens slightly as it’s poured over the cake and cools.
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp milk
- 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ cup butter (one stick)
- 3 ¾ cups confectioner’s sugar
Method
In a medium saucepan add milk, cocoa and butter. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and mix with electric beaters to get rid of lumps. Let cool for a minute or two before pouring over cake.
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Lauren Allen is the creator of TastesBetterFromScratch.com, an exciting and beautiful food blog dedicated to sharing her love of cooking and creating new recipes from her family home in St. Louis. Lauren truly believes that everything tastes better homemade!
