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On Friday we picked up a chocolate mousse cake on sale as a loss leader at the store to try. It had a devils food cake on the bottom, and that was topped with a layer of a fluffy chocolate mousse, and then topped with a hard chocolate shell layer on top.

While the cake was good, we did not like the hard shell on top, since it made the cake hard to cut into beautiful slices. We thought it would be better with a softer chocolate ganache instead. We have made something similar in the past using a chocolate brownie as the base, but we all agreed we like the devils food cake better than the brownie base. It also would make an elegant dessert for a holiday gathering, since it seems like most families I know have at least one person who doesn’t like the traditional pumpkin, mince, pecan, or sweet potato pies.

Here is what we came up with:

Chocolate Mousse Cake

1/2 a devils food cake mix or your favorite home made devils food cake. (enough for one layer of cake)

1 cup heavy whipping cream, beaten into whipped cream

1 batch of Easy Chocolate Mousse

1 batch of Easy Chocolate Ganache

Using a round spring form cake pan, with the base wrapped in foil just in case it leaks. Bake your favorite devils food cake or use a mix. It will only take half the cake mix, however, as you only need one layer of cake. Do not remove the cake from the pan, but let it cool.

While the cake is cooling whip the heavy cream and then make the Easy Chocolate Mousse. (recipe follows) Gently fold the whipped cream into the Easy Chocolate Mousse to make it light and fluffy. (Note, sometimes we don’t need to fold in all the whipped cream to make it a light and fluffy mousse. I assume that perhaps humidity or the temperature effects the texture of the mousse and the whipped cream. We just save any extra whipped cream to use as a garnish when we serve the cake.)

Spread the mousse over cooled cake and refrigerate one hour until the mousse is well set. I top the spring form pan with a plate to cover it before refrigerating it, but you could use plastic wrap too. If you don’t want a skin to form on the mousse, then use the plastic wrap directly on top of the mousse layer. My family prefers to have a skin form on top, since it reminds us of the pudding we had as children.

While the cake is cooling in the refrigerator make the chocolate ganache (recipe follows), and let it cool to room temperature.

Spread on the chilled cake and then refrigerate until ready to serve. The finished cake can be topped with whipped cream and/or dark, milk chocolate, and/or white chocolate curls for a beautiful presentation. The recipes for the Easy Chocolate Mousse and the Easy Chocolate ganache follow.

Easy Chocolate Mousse

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 large fresh egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, heated

Place chocolate chips, egg and vanilla into the container of electric blender and blend for 30 seconds.

Remove center of blender lid and while machine is running, slowly pour heated cream into the chocolate mixture. Blend until well-mixed and chocolate chips are melted.

(The Easy chocolate Mousse can also be made separately for a dessert all by itself. Simply pour it into 4 individual parfait dishes and refrigerate until ready to serve. Top each with a dollop of whipped cream on top for an easy dessert all by itself).

Easy Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I usually use semi sweet)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbs. brewed coffee or 1/2 tsp. instant coffee granuals disolved in warm water to make about 1 tbs.

1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream (depending on how dark the chocolate chips are that you are using, the darker the chocolate the more cream I use the lighter the chocolate the less cream I use)

Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler with the vanilla, coffee and cream stirring until it forms a smooth and silky looking ganache. I like to let it cool to almost room temperature before spreading over the mousse.

We like to use this recipe to top other cakes or cupcakes as well. It is a great topping for many desserts, so be creative and have fun with it.