Recipes From The Saucy Sisters

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse Cake

As an homage to Julia Child, we made her chocolate mousse cake recipe recently. Boy, was it rich and decadent. In addition to the whipped cream, we also made a strawberry sauce from fresh strawberries, dark rum and a little sugar. While Julia goes to great lengths (like beating ingredients over ice), we took several shortcuts without any apparent repercussions.

Oh, yes…Julia calls this Le Gâteau Victoire au Chocolat, Mousseline

1 Tb instant coffee
4 Tb hot water
4 Tb dark Jamaica rum
14 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
6 large eggs
½ cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 Tb pure vanilla extract
Confectioners sugar

Equipment
A 10-cup cake pan, preferably with nonstick lining, buttered, bottom lined with buttered wax paper, and floured; an electric mixer with round-bottomed bowl or a handheld mixer or a large whisk and a metal bowls of the same type.

Preliminaries
Preheat oven to 350° and place rack in lower-third level. Prepare cake pan. Choose a roasting pan large enough to hold cake pan easily, fill with enough hot water to come halfway up cake pan, and set in oven. Assemble all ingredients and equipment.

The Chocolate
Swirl the coffee and hot water in a medium size saucepan, add the rum, and break up the chocolate into the pan. Bring 2 inches of water to the boil in a larger pan, remove from heat, and set chocolate pan in it; cover and let the chocolate melt while you continue with the recipe.

The egg and sugar mixture
Break the eggs into the beating bowl, add the sugar, and stir over hot water for several minutes until eggs are slightly warm to your finger – this makes beating faster and increases volume. Then beat for 5 minutes or more, until mixture has at least tripled in volume and forms a thick ribbon when a bit is lifted and falls from the beater; the eggs should be the consistency of lightly whipped c ream. (You must have beating equipment that will keep the whole mass of egg moving at once, meaning a narrow rounded bowl and a beater that circulates about it continually.)

The whipped cream
Pour cream into a metal mixing bowl. Empty a tray of ice cubes into a larger bowl, cover them with cold water, then set the cream bowl into the larger ice-filled bowl. Beat with a handheld mixer or large balloon whisk, using an up-and-down circular motion to whip in as much air as possible, until cream has doubled in volume and holds its shape softly. Whip in the vanilla.

Assembling and baking
Beat up the melted chocolate with a whisk; it should be smooth and silky. Scrape it into the egg-sugar mixture, blending rapidly with a rubber spatula, and when partially incorporated, fold in the whipped cream, deflating cream and eggs as little as possible. Turn batter into prepared cake pan, which will be about two-thirds filled. Set it at once in the pan of hot water in the preheated oven. Cake will rise some 1/8 inch above edge of pan, and is done when a skewer or straw comes out clelan – after about 1 hour of baking. Then turn off oven, leave oven door ajar, and let cake sit for 30 minutes so that it will firm up before unmolding and serving. Cake will sink down as it cools to about its original volume.

This cake is at its most tender and delicious when eaten slightly warm; however, you may cook it even a day or two in advance, leave it in its pan (covered when cool, and refrigerated), then set it in a 200° oven for 20 minutes to warm gently.

Serving suggestions
Unmold the cake and decorate with a sprinkling of confectioners sugar or with pipings of whipped cream, or with a soft chocolate icing. You may wish to pass a custard sauce or sweetened and vanilla-flavored whipped cream with the cake.