This is a blend of two different recipes: this outstanding pound cake and the mousse and icing from a cake on a TV show called The Bear, which I have subsequently learned is about a Chicago sandwich shop. I’m not sure where a decadent chocolate cake fits in with a sandwich shop, but I’ll take Food and Wine’s word for it. They’re the ones who posted The Bear cake recipe.
This is actually pretty easy to make, consisting of three main steps: 1) making and cutting the pound cake (you could just buy one, too), 2) making and applying the chocolate mousse, and 3) making and applying the icing.
I actually sought and made a recipe like this based on memories from my young childhood, when for special occasions, my mom would give a pound cake the same mousse-and-icing treatment. This recipe is the closest I’ve gotten to my mom’s long-lost recipe.
Note that you’ll be left with a significant amount of leftover icing because the pound cake is much smaller than the large cake meant to use in the original recipe. If you have a couple of popsicle-style molds, I recommend filling them with the leftover icing and freezing. The icing tastes great frozen. Otherwise, refrigerate it and eat it with a spoon within a few days of making it.
Also note the set-up/cooling time for the mousse is a recommended minimum of 8 hours.
What you’ll need
For the cake
- This recipe or a pound cake from the store
For the chocolate mousse
- 226g (8 oz) 64% cacao dark chocolate—whatever dark chocolate you use will probably be just fine
- 5T unsalted butter
- 10 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 0.25 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 0.5 cups heavy cream
For the icing
- 680g (24 oz) powdered sugar (about 6 cups)
- 138g (4.87 oz) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (about 1.5 cups)
- 510g (18 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 0.5 cups heavy cream
- 2t vanilla extract
What to do
Here’s the basic breakdown:
- Make the cake and let it cool. Cut it into layers.
- Make the mousse—know that it will take 8 hours to set up—time the cake accordingly.
- Top the cake layers with the mouse, including the top of the cake.
- Make the icing and cover the cake with it.
When the pound cake has cooled, cut it into layers. I managed two cuts, making three layers. Once it’s cut, the cake is ready for the chocolate mousse. I found it hard to cut these layers—had to look online for tutorials.
Set up a double-boiler with a small saucepan and a medium bowl. Simmer the water in the saucepan, ensuring the bowl is not touching the water. Add the chopped chocolate and butter to the bowl. Let it melt, stirring occasionally. When everything is melted, remove the bowl from the heat and let it cool, uncovered, on the counter till it reaches room temperature. Keep the saucepan of water simmering.
While the chocolate and butter mixture is cooling, whisk together the egg yolks and 2T granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the stand-mixer bowl over the saucepan of simmering water, whisking constantly, until mixture registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. This is easier said than done, in that I had a VERY hard time getting the temp up to 160. It took a long time, but it’s imperative because you need to kill off any bacteria in the raw egg yolks. Alternative to this method, you could pre-pasteurize the eggs in a sous vide. See how to do that in this recipe.
After the mixture hits 160 degrees, move the mixer bowl to the mixer fitted with its whisk attachment. Beat the mixture on medium-high speed until it is pale yellow in color and at least tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. It really didn’t come close to tripling in volume, but the recipe still worked. Fold the egg yolk mixture into cooled chocolate mixture. Set aside.
Clean the stand-mixer bowl and whisk and return them to the mixer. Add the egg whites to the mixer bowl and beat at medium-high speed until foamy—about 15 seconds. Gradually add the remaining 2T granulated sugar in a slow, steady pour, beating the mixture at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form—1 to 2 minutes. Using an electric mixer or whisk, beat the cream in a separate medium bowl until medium peaks form.
Fold the egg-white mixture into the chocolate mixture in three additions. Then fold in the whipped cream until the mixture is just combined. Let it cool on the counter before covering and refrigerating for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
When the mousse is ready, your first assembly step is to spread an even layer of mousse over the top of the bottom layer of the cake. Put the next layer of cake onto the mousse and top that layer with some mousse. If the top of your cake is really rounded, you can gently cut the very rounded portion off, making for more of a flat-topped presentation. Put the cake top on the exposed layer of mousse and spread mouse across the top of the cake.
Now the cake’s ready for the icing. Sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat the butter with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until combined, scraping down the sides of bowl, as needed. Increase the mixer speed to medium, and beat the mixture until fluffy—2 to 3 minutes. Gradually add the cream and vanilla, beating on medium-low speed until combined—stopping to scrape down sides of bowl, as needed. Now the icing is ready, and you can finish assembling the cake.
For an even better finished appearance, before you ice the entire outside of the cake, pipe a line of icing around the perimeter of the cake where the layers meet. Smooth the piped icing with an offset spatula. Now any gaps are filled in.
To finish, evenly spread the icing across the sides and top of the cake. Be generous with it, as you have a lot of icing to work with. When the cake is covered, chill it for 15 minutes so the icing can set before serving.
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