Triple Chocolate Mousse ("Moose") Cake
The ideal Christmas dessert made out of 3 delicious chocolate layers: brownie, mousse & ganache. Together they are fun, punny & yummy! Not only are they are easy to make, they make for a great decorating activity with the kids too. Why only decorate your table when you can decorate your desserts too?!
Servings 10 people
Calories 608kcal
Ingredients
Brownie layer:
- 110 g Unsalted butter , soften
- 150 g Caster sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 90 g All purpose flour , unsifted
- 80 g Cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 tsp Milk
Mousse layer:
- 1 tsp Gelatine powder
- 20 ml Water , cold
- 150 g Milk chocolate
- 120 g Whipping cream (for melting)
- 160 g Whipping cream , cold
Ganache layer:
- 180 ml Whipping cream
- 1 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 250g g Dark chocolate , cut into chunks
Decorations:
- Pretzel snacks , salted
- 12 Mini marshmallows
- 24 Milk chocolate chips
- 12 Red M&M's
Instructions
Brownie layer:
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celcius fan-assisted. Line and grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring continuously to avoid burning. Add in the sugar and stir until well combined. Remove the saucepan from heat and leave to cool slightly.
- Whisk the eggs, one at a time, into the slightly cooled butter-sugar mixture. Add the vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork, i.e. flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients in without sifting, fold the mixture with a spatula until well incorporated. *
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
Mousse layer:
- Prepare the gelatine. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatine powder over cold water and set aside for at least 3 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate and whipping cream using the double boiler method. ** Once the chocolate is fully melted, dissolve the gelatine into the mixture. Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.
- Using an electric mixer, whip the cold whipping cream until stiff peaks. ***
- Add the cooled melted chocolate mixture and continue whisking just until well combined.
- Pour the chocolate mousse over the brownie layer. Refrigerate the cake for about 2 hours.
Ganache layer:
- Heat the cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat just before it begins to boil.
- Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate chunks. Leave for 1-2 minutes before stirring to melt the chocolate. Leave aside to cool until room temperature.
- Spread the ganache over the top of the chilled mousse layer. Continue to refrigerate the cake for another hour.
- Run a knife around the outer edges of the cake. Cut the cake into 12 equal rectangles, i.e. 3 rows and 4 columns. Transfer the rectangular slices for decorations - have fun!
Notes
* You want to keep the slightly heavy and dense texture of the brownie; sifting the dry ingredients will create a lighter and airier product.
** Place a heat proof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water over medium-low heat.
*** Be careful not to over-whip the whipping cream. You will start to see wave lines when it is soft peaks, but the peaks will still slide off the whisk while lifted. Stiff peaks will hold firm on the whisk while lifted.
As mentioned in the blog post, the mini marshmallows are cut in half as they can be quite thick. The halved parts are slightly stickier, which can be placed facing upwards to ensure the chocolate chips stick to them.
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