Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake with Hazelnut Crunch Crust

Are you ready for some chocolate fever? This 3 layer awesomeness is a MUST TRY or... umm.. a MUST EAT?! Surely for the serious chocolate lovers, it is THE thing to satisfy your chocolate cravings. This cake is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the sweet tooth. The three layers of this cake are silky, moist and crunchy.

Everything I make is first served to the judge (my mom) for tasting. Speaking of my mom – She usually doesn't compliment me for my cooking or baking but after tasting this cake, her face expression was enough to make my day. I'd rate this delicious cake's difficulty level a 10/10. I used dark chocolate for the mousse. However, I'd recommend you to use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate.

INGREDIENTS


Mousse:

• 200 grams Dark chocolate bar (70%)
• 100 ml Milk
• 2 cups Whipped Cream (Chilled)
• 2 tablespoons Icing sugar

Cake:

• 1 cup Sugar
• 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Boiling water

Hazelnut Crunch:

• 2 Eggs
• 4 tablespoons Cream
• 3 tablespoons Cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 cup Icing sugar
• 1/4 cup Hazelnuts (roughly chopped)
• 1/4 cup Almonds (roughly chopped)
• 1 cup Crisp rice cereal

PREPARATION

Cake:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.
• Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
• Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
• Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
• Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
• Run knife between pan sides and cake to loosen. Invert cake onto rack;
• Using long serrated knife, trim top of cake horizontally, forming 3/4-inch-high cake layer. Using bottom of 8-inch-diameter springform pan as guide, trim around sides of cake to form 8-inch round cake. Set cake aside. 

Hazelnut Crunch:

• Beat eggs at high speed with an electric beater
• Add in cream, cocoa powder, butter and icing sugar and beat well until the batter becomes smooth.
• Pour enough water into large skillet to reach depth of 1 inch; bring to simmer.
• Place the bowl with the batter into the skillet and cook for 5 minutes stirring continuously.
• Remove from heat and allow it to cool.
• Stir in cereal and nuts.
• Spread crunch evenly over parchment in an 8 inch pan. Place cake atop crunch layer, pressing to adhere. Chill until crunch is firm, about 1 hour.

Mousse:

• Melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering hot water.
• Heat the milk until boiling, then whisk in melted chocolate. Leave to cool.
• Fold whipped cream into cooled chocolate just until incorporated.
• Spread over the cake and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.
• Run knife between cake and pan sides to loosen. Soak kitchen towel in hot water; wring out water. Wrap hot wet towel around pan sides and hold 30 seconds. Carefully remove pan sides from cake; smooth mousse with knife if necessary. Place cake on pan bottom on rack set over baking sheet.
• Using stencils such as snowflakes or stars, sift powdered sugar over top of cake. Transfer to platter and serve.