This is an adapted "Autumn Meringue" cake, which is a classic french cake, distinctive in that it involves no actual cake. For the gluten free set...lots of love, no gluten. :-)
There are 3 parts. Each part by itself is simple and wonderful. The results of combining them are glorious. Definitely worth a try.
Part 1: 3 Meringue Discs (I made chocolate discs, these form the "cake" part of the cake)
Part 2: Chocolate Mousse (I purposely made a "no egg" mousse as I was feeding small children. Worked beautifully. This is the "filling" part of the cake)
Part 3: Chocolate Ganache (this is the icing on the cake)
Sweet Mary's Meringue Recipe:
4 egg whites
1 pinch Cream of Tartar (helps stabilize the meringue, not needed if you are good at whipping. I was concerned about piping it into a disc, so I added the tartar)
1 cup sugar
1/4 Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder (I used dutch processed)
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl, whip at high speed until soft peaks form, slowly add in the sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the cocoa powder using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, careful not to break the meringue.
I made 3 nine inch discs as I wanted to assemble the cake in a 9 inch spring form pan. I used the removable bottom round from the spring form and traced around it 3 times on parchment paper. Filled a piping bag with the meringue and piped the discs starting with the outer rim working towards the center. I piped using a size 10 tip but I think next time I will just cut a larger hole at the tip of the bag. I think a thicker meringue layer adds better texture to the cake.
Bake the meringues at 250 for 2 hours. Then turn oven off, leave light on and let cool in oven for 6-8 hours (I let mine rest overnight)
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| Finished Meringues |
This recipe is great for those that are immune compromised, pregnant or feeding young children or if you simply just shy away from raw eggs
I modified an Alton Brown recipe. It is basically an awesome stabilized whipped cream recipe. It was so fun, so easy and the results were so excellent, I think I will stabilize all my whipped cream fillings this way. Yay (thanks Alton)
12 oz bag/chopped Bittersweet Chocolate (I used 60% cacao)
3 oz strong coffee
1 TBSP Irish Cream
4 TBSP Butter
1 TS unflavored gelatin
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Melt together chocolate, butter, Irish cream, and coffee in a double boiler or in a glass bowl fitted snugly on top of a pot of simmering water. Remove from heat and cool.
Bloom gelatin in a metal pot, with 1/4 cup of whipping cream for 10 minutes (sprinkle gelatine into cold cream and let sit, do not stir), on low low low heat, warm gelatin until dissolved, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add to cooled melted chocolate mixture.
Whip 1 1/2 cups of cream at high speed until stiff peaks from. Add 1/4 of the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two batches, using 1/2 of the remaining whipped cream at a time. Let chill for 1 hour.
Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy whipping cream
12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
Heat whipping cream in a sauce pan to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add chocolate chips and stir until melted and fully incorporated. Let cool
ASSEMBLY
In a spring form pan, place 1 of the chocolate meringue discs on the bottom. Pipe a layer mousse on top of the disc. Add the second disc and repeat with a mousse layer. Add the last disc and cover with the remaining mousse. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. After set, remove the cake from the spring form pan and pour the ganache over the top.
Layer 1:
I did have some left over mousse and chocolate, so I also made some chocolate fudge cupcakes. These were beautiful. Garnished with raspberries and fresh mint leaves
The next time I make this recipe I think I will add a thin layer of raspberry sauce (possible a raspberry reduction) on top first mousse layer.
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