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Flourless
Chocolate Cake: Separate the eggs
while they are cold. Place the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another
bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room
temperature (about 30 minutes).
Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter a 9 inch (23 cm) springform
pan and line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.
In a heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of
simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and set aside
to cool to room temperature. Then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
In another clean bowl whip the
egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add the granulated white
sugar and whip just until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula or wire
whisk, gently fold the egg whites (in three additions) into the batter just
until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter). Pour into your
prepared pan and, with the back of a spoon or with an offset spatula, smooth the top. Bake for about 18 to
20 minutes or
until
the cake is set. The cake will rise during baking and there may be cracks on the top surface of
the cake.
Remove from oven
and place on a wire rack to cool. As the cake cools it will deflate. Once it
has cooled to room temperature gently press the top of the cake so the surface
is even and flat. Then place
in the freezer for about an hour or until firm. Remove from freezer and
using a 2 1/4 inch (5.5 cm) round cookie cutter, cut the cake into
rounds (you will have about 10 rounds). Place the rounds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
You can keep the leftover scraps of cake to make a trifle.
Chocolate Mousse:
In a
heatproof bowl set
over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Remove from heat and let
cool to room temperature. In the bowl of your
electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment (or with a hand mixer), whip the heavy cream with the sugar until soft peaks form. Then whisk or fold about one quarter of
the whipped cream into the melted chocolate. (Do this quickly so the chocolate
does not seize (become grainy).) Then gently, but quickly, fold or whisk the rest of the
whipped cream (in three stages) into the chocolate.
Place the
chocolate mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe swirls of the
mousse on top of each round of chocolate cake. If desired, garnish each cake
with a fresh raspberry. Serve immediately or they can be covered and stored in
the refrigerator for about 3-5 days.
Makes 10 - 2 1/4
inch (5.25 cm) Chocolate Mousse Cakes.
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