Intense Chocolate Mousse Cake

Name: Intense Chocolate Mousse Cake
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: One 9-inch cake
Ingredients: 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate; 9 tablespoons unsalted butter; 6 large eggs, room temperature and separated; Pinch of salt; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons brandy; 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

By Nigella Lawson

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Rating: 5(2,567)
Comments: Read comments

There is very little that needs to be said about a chocolate mousse cake. This one lives up to its name. It is gloriously intense. But the whisked egg whites ensure that it has a balancing lightness. A slice of it, with a smattering of fresh raspberries and a dollop of cream, or better still, sour cream, is the perfect finale. It may also invite a certain inelegant gluttony at the end. I have noticed that even those who claim not to go in for desserts come back for more.

Featured in: AT MY TABLE; Elegance, Thy Name Is Simplicity

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Ingredients

Yield:One 9-inch cake

10ounces bittersweet chocolate
9tablespoons unsalted butter
6large eggs, room temperature and separated
Pinch of salt
¾cup sugar
2tablespoons brandy
1teaspoon confectioners' sugar

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Position the oven rack in lower center of the oven. Cover the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with a double layer of foil. Using a microwave oven or double boiler, melt together chocolate and butter; set aside to cool slightly.
Step 2
In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and ½ cup sugar until pale, frothy and increased in volume. Whisk in brandy, then fold in chocolate mixture. Place a kettle of water over heat, and bring it to a boil. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites and salt until thick. Add remaining ¼ cup sugar, and continue to whisk until stiff and shiny but not dry.
Step 3
Fold about ½ cup whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in remaining whites, being careful not to let the mixture deflate. Pour mixture into lightly-buttered springform pan, and place pan in a roasting pan. Add boiling water to roasting pan to come halfway up side of springform pan. Bake for 45 minutes; top of cake will be hard and inside will be gooey.
Step 4
Remove cake pan from water, and place on a rack to cool completely. Unwrap foil and remove side of springform pan. Place cake on a serving platter. Just before serving, dust top with confectioners' sugar passed through a sieve.

Ratings

5 out of 5

2,567 user ratings

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Comments

Ros7 years ago

Delicious! Very rich but more-ish!
My only comment is regarding the order of procedure in the recipe. I only have 1 set of blades for my mixer and if you use on the egg yolk mix you cannot then use to whisk the whites (they will not whisk because of fat in the yolks so means washing the blades in between) . Therefore I whisked the whites first and then used same beaters for the yolk mix.

lucyprice337 years ago

I made it with maybe half the sugar and a shot of cold espresso. I forgot it in the oven and went over cooking time by 15 minutes with no discernible negative result. Great easy cake that is extremely forgiving. You can't go wrong with this one.

schaffa@aol.com7 years ago

This has been one of my signature desserts since I learned it from cookbook author Jeanette Seaver in 1975. Only hers was easier in that it didn't use a water bath. Just bake it in a springform at 375 for 15 minutes , turn off oven and crack open the oven door, and let cake remain in oven another 15 minutes.

Another variation that comes from the NYTimes is to set aside about 1/2 cup of the bittersweet chocolate morsels and fold them into batter. Wow!

BerryBakes2 weeks ago

Picked this one up from Emily Weinstein cheesecake recipe comments section. Prepare springform pan with foil wrapped, as stated in Nigella’s recipe. Then put foil wrapped pan into turkey sized roasting bag. Place pan into roasting pan and fold bag down to level of springform pan upper edge. Add batter to pan. Proceed as written by Nigella. Have used this technique multiple times. No leaks. Used for both this mousse cake and Emily’s cheesecake.

Alex1 month ago

Such an amazing cake! I baked as directed in water bath for recommended time but used a ceramic dish instead of a springform due to complaints of leakage- I was worried I’d overcooked as ceramic holds heat better than metal (oops) but it was perfect anyways. Served with a dollop of creme fraiche, raspberries, and a simple raspberry sauce and WOW. Will make again.

Winnie2 months ago

Not the most impressive looking cake, but that hardly matters - it was a huge hit at the dinner party I brought it to! It will definitely be added to the regular rotation. Like a lot of the commenters recommended, I tested out my 9” springform pan first and it leaked, so I put it inside a 10” cake pan before putting it in the water bath. My springform has tall sides and the party was 10 people, so I 1.5x the recipe, but didn’t increase the bake time and it came out perfectly. Other tips: it ended up being a lot of butter and chocolate to melt, so a double boiler worked better than the microwave. I hand whipped the yolks and saved the clean electric mixer for the room temp egg whites. I did use a greased parchment paper on the bottom of the pan but it didn’t make serving any easier - in fact, the cake was difficult to cut into clean attractive pieces no matter what I tried, but again no one cared. Just tried some out of the fridge this morning - it’s possibly even better cold!

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