Chocolate Mousse Cakes with Berries

Sirop de fructe de padure:

Mousse de ciocolata:

Sometimes I’m totally uninspired when it comes to desserts, but other times I feel like baking the entire day. I am confident in my pastry chef skills and talent though and I always try to push myself above the limits of a simple baked cake. I mean, why do something simple when you can create something amazing, right?! Today’s recipe is delicious and it’s made with a few basic recipes that I always go back to when I don’t want to risk ingredients or waste time. A basic sponge cake, a perfect chocolate mousse, a berry sauce and the most amazing chocolate glaze ever are the only components of this dessert – and oh boy, how great they work together, creating some amazing mini chocolate mousse cakes!!

The components of these mini cakes are as follows (bottom to top):

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For the sponge cake, I used the same recipe as here – butter sponge cake. The only difference is that I spread the batter in a large square baking pan and baked it at 180C for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down then cut small circles of sponge, making sure they fit your mini cake molds (I used round and heart shaped molds). Place the sponge in your molds and set aside. Feel free to use your favorite recipe of sponge cake.

• 1 cup wild berries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook for 10 minutes on low heat.
2. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. If you want, you can pass the sauce through a fine sieve. I prefer some texture so I didn’t.
3. Pour the sauce into ice cube molds and freeze a few hours. Freezing it makes it easier to handle later on.

• 1/4 cup berries
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes then puree with a blender.
2. Pass the syrup through a fine sieve to remove all the seeds.
3. Brush each sponge with this syrup and set the molds aside.

• 600ml heavy cream, whipped
• 300g dark chocolate, chopped
• 6g gelatin + 30ml cold water
• 2 eggs
• 60g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons dark rum

1. Melt the chocolate and set it aside. Use a microwave or a water bath for this task.
2. Mix the gelatin with the cold water and let it bloom 10 minutes.
3. Combine the eggs with the sugar and mix until creamy. Place the bowl on a water bath and keep mixing until stiff and pale in color. This technique cooks the eggs enough to make them safe to eat.
4. Remove from the water bath and stir in the gelatin, mixing until melted. Add the chocolate and mix well. Let this mixture cool down then fold in the whipped cream, vanilla and dark rum.
5. Pour the mousse in the cake molds, filling them only half way. Place 1 cube of berry coulis in the centre of each mold and top with the remaining mousse.
6. Refrigerate a few hours, preferably overnight.
7. Remove from the molds and glaze with chocolate mirror glaze.
8. Decorate as you wish and serve chilled.

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