Chocolate Mousse Cake #2

GANACHE ICING
1 c Heavy cream
8 oz Semisweet chocolate; chopped
-coarse
2 tb Orange flavored liqueur

GARNISH
Oranges; halved, sliced thin
-into half rounds; about 14
-slices

From: kdeck@epaus.island.net (Karen Deck)

Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 22:51:46 GMT
FOR THE CAKES: Butter two 9″ round cake pans and line the bottoms with wax
paper, then butter the paper. Dust the pans with flour and knock out the
excess. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the top of a double boiler, heat the chocolate over hot water, stirring,
until just melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter, one
tablespoon at a time. Continue to stir the mixture until smooth. In the
bowl of the mixer, beat the egg yolks until combined. Add 3/4 cup of the
sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat the mixture until it falls
in a ribbon when the beater is lifted.

Beat in the melted chocolate mixture, the liqueur and the orange pinch of
salt until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat the whites until they
hold soft peaks. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, and
beat the whites until they are stiff. Sift the flour with the remaining 1/4
teaspoon salt onto a sheet of wax paper. Stir one fourth of the whites into
the batter. Fold in the remaining whites and sift and fold the flour
mixture in batches into the egg mixture until just combined.

Pour the batter into the cake pans, smoothing the tops, and bake the layers
in the middle of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester
inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans
on racks for 5 minutes, invert the cakes onto the racks, and remove the wax
paper carefully. Let the cakes cool completely. The cakes form a thin crust
that will flake off.

FOR THE GANACHE: In a small saucepan bring the cream just to a simmer.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate and let the mixture stand,
covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the liqueur and continue to stir the
ganache until smooth and tepid. Strain through a fine sieve into a small
pitcher or a bowl with a lip.

ASSEMBLY: Cut an 8″ cardboard round and put one teaspoon of the mousse in
the center of it, then set one of the cake layers, bottom side up on the
cardboard. Cover the cake with some of the mousse, smoothing it into an
even layer, and top it with the remaining layer, bottom side up. Cover the
top and the sides of the cake with the remaining mousse, smoothing it with
a spatula, and chill the cake until it is cold. Set the cake on a rack over
a jelly roll pan and pour the creme ganache over it, smoothing it with a
spatula to completely cover the top and sides of the cake. Let the cake
stand at room temperature for 10 minutes and scrape any excess chocolate
glaze from the jelly roll pan back into the saucepan. Heat the excess
ganache, stirring, until smooth, cool it to tepid, and pour it over the
cake, smoothing it with a spatula over the top and sides of the cake. Chill
the cake until the glaze is set. Transfer the reserved chocolate mixture to
a pastry bag. Arrange orange slices, rounded sides up on the top of the
cake, so that one end of the slice is toward the center and the other is
toward the edge of the cake. Pipe the chocolate mixture along the base on
each side of the orange slices. Arrange the remaining cream decoratively
around the bottom edge of the cake. Let the cake stand at room temperature
for at least 15 minutes before serving.

REC.FOOD.RECIPES ARCHIVES

/CAKES