Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Mousse

I’m sure you heard that before about many other cakes. Everybody has one favorite best chocolate cake ever. This one is my best and my husband agrees. You may say: “yeah, right, of course your hubs agree, he has no choice!” Well, he can be very picky sometimes, so I take his ratings and level of criticism seriously. To allow you to evaluate here’s some details: He arrived from work very quickly the day I baked this cake and he couldn’t wait to have a piece. He comment how the white chocolate mousse was moist and very delicious. He even talked about the cake with his mom and that it’s not very common! So I believe he really liked it and so did I.

This cake has three layers of chocolate bliss. The pure cocoa powder used in the cake, the white chocolate chips turned into a creamy mousse, the semisweet chocolate chips for the ganache and again more white chocolate for decoration on top. Plus, the cake has freshly brewed coffee which help to increase the flavors altogether. It is sufficient moist and indulgent. A must do!

Since it is February, I bet many New Year’s resolutions may have started to decrease in strength by now, especially the ones related to food. It’s about time to admit that nothing happens in one month or two, the resolution to have a healthy living, including healthy eating, is something to have present every day and not just for a little period of time. That’s how I can eat everything I want without changing the scale number. I can have dessert because I never go too crazy and all the time I know how to make better choices; in the ingredients I pick and in the overall food habits I have. To prove that check to see the ingredients of this cake; I made it with whole wheat all-purpose flour and it turned out as soft as if I had used just white all-purpose. There you have it!

Anyway, this is the perfect month to go ahead and eat chocolate. Not only for its well-known benefits but I think this Valentine’s Day thing may have been created in dedication to chocolate. It’s the perfect excuse to have a break on a diet, everybody has to celebrate!

Once I visited the Valentine of Rome relics at the Basilica of Saint Praxed in Rome with its gorgeous byzantine mosaics in the interior. I believe that martyr Valentine had nothing to do with chocolate. How that evolved into nowadays traditions it’s another story.

What about you? How do you celebrate your Valentine?

Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Mousse

Preparation time: 2 hours (includes assembling and decorating the cake)

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Serves 10

Chocolate Cake (adapted from Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake)

1 3/4 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp almond extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

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 on medium speed of mixer 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 oz white chocolate chips

1 7/8 cups heavy cream

1 tbsp sugar

Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer. Place the white chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave on a low power setting for around two minutes, running the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until it is smooth and completely melted. Set aside.

Place heavy cream and sugar in the well-chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the chilled whisk attachment. Whisk on high-speed until stiff peaks form. Remove the bowl from the mixer. By hand, whisk to combine 1/4 of the whipped cream into the melted white chocolate until smooth and completely incorporated. Add the combined whipped cream and chocolate to the remaining whipped cream and use a rubber spatula to fold together.

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, pressing down lightly. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache:
1 1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter

18 oz of semisweet chocolate chips

Heat the heavy cream and the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Place the semisweet chocolate in a large bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth and bring the ganache to room temperature (about 1 hour). With a spatula, spread the ganache over the cake top and sides, covering evenly.

White Chocolate Cutouts:

6 oz white chocolate chips

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on a low power setting for around two minutes, running the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until it is smooth and completely melted.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour melted white chocolate onto parchment paper and quickly spread into a thin layer using a rubber spatula.

Refrigerate until chocolate is firm (about 15 minutes). Cut chocolate into shapes with a sharp knife or cookie cutters. Lift the cutouts carefully from the parchment paper with a spatula or knife. Refrigerate until ready to use. Decorate the cake with the white chocolate on top.