Chocolate Sponge Cake with Mixed Berry Mousse

Posted: May 6th, 2010 | Jessie | | Tags: berries, birthday cake, chocolate cake, mousse, sponge cake | 1 Comment »

I realize this cake is a hot mess.  The mousse filling wasn’t as stiff as I’d hoped so it ran out of the sides of the cake.  After going up and down four flights of stairs, riding on two trains, and spending an hour out of the refrigerator the cake was an even hotter mess.

But guess what?  It didn’t matter because it tasted really good.  This is a dessert that is actually light.  Certainly not light in a low calorie sense (it has three cups of heavy cream), but you can eat a big slice and not feel sickly full.  That’s the wonderful thing about sponge cake.  It has very little fat (in the form of butter or oil) and has an incredible lightness from all of the air that’s worked into the eggs.

This chocolate sponge cake is really, really good.  If you aren’t interested in making such a complicated dessert I would recommend just making the sponge cake and topping it with some whipped cream and fresh berries.  The cake is light in color, but has a strong chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Sponge Cake

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated via The Craving Chronicles

1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs , room temperature
6 tablespoons + 6 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baker’s spray and set aside.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl (or sift onto waxed paper). Heat milk and butter in a small bowl for 30 seconds in the microwave.  Add vanilla, cover with plastic wrap and keep warm.

Separate three eggs, putting the whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and reserving the three yolks in a small bowl. Add remaining 2 whole eggs to the bowl of yolks.

Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Slowly add 6 tablespoons of sugar, continuing to beat until whites form soft, moist peaks. (Do not over beat!) Transfer egg whites to a large bowl.

Add yolk/whole egg mixture and remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar to the mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed (setting 8 on a KitchenAid) until eggs are very thick and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Pour beaten eggs into the bowl of egg whites.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over beaten eggs and whites. Gently fold flour mixture into eggs with a spatula until about half combined – about 12 to 15 strokes. Make a little well on one side of the bowl and pour in milk mixture. Continue gently folding until batter flour is incorporated and eggs are evenly mixed (another 35 stokes).  I recommend mixing this in a glass bowl.  It will look like it’s incorporating after about 15 stokes, but when you look at the bottom of the bowl you’ll see that there is still a lot of melted butter down there.

Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes, or until tops are light brown and spring back when touched. Remove from oven and run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert cake on a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Mixed Berry Mousse

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

1 pint of blackberries
3/4  lb. 1 lb. of strawberries (I think I had a bit too much puree so I’ll reduce the strawberries next time.)
(I had about 24 ounces of berries total.  Aim for 20 ounces.  Feel free to use whatever mix of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries you prefer.  I choose based on price.  You can also use two 10 ounce bags of frozen berries.)
1/4 cup of simple syrup
1/4 cup orange juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cups mixed berries for folding into completed mousse

Place berries in a food processor with 1/4 cup of simple syrup. Cover; blend until smooth. Strain to remove seeds.  Set aside.  In a 1-cup heat-safe measure combine orange juice or liqueur and gelatin; let stand 5 minutes. Place measure in a saucepan filled with 1 inch of water.  Heat until gelatin dissolves, stirring constantly.  When you first place the orange juice/gelatin mixture in the pan it will be very thick.  Once it has dissolved the mixture will be almost as thin as normal orange juice. Beat whipping cream and 3 tablespoons sugar to soft peaks. Gradually add gelatin mixture, beating to stiff peaks. Reserve 3-1/2 cups of the whipped cream. To remaining whipped cream, slowly add berry puree while the mixer is running.  Beat until it is returned to soft peak stage.  This is what I did and I think why the mousse was so thin.  Next time I’ll put the puree in a large bowl.  Mix a quarter of the whipped cream into the puree to lighten it and then fold in the remaining whipped cream in thirds.  I think this will keep it lighter.

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