Death By Chocolate

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• Almonds
• Chocolate
• Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Meringue: Combine egg whites and sugar in the top of a double boiler. Heat to lukewarm. Remove from heat. Pour into mixing bowl and beat about 15 minutes at medium speed, until stiff. Quickly fold in the cocoa to prevent the meringue from falling. Grease a 10 inch springform pan, line with parchment paper, and grease again. Pipe meringue through a pastry bag using the round tube, forming a spiral on the bottom of the springform pan, starting from the center and working out toward the sides until the bottom is completely covered. Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Allow to cool in the pan.

Genoise: Grease a 10x3 inch round baking pan, line with baking parchment, and grease again. Combine beaten eggs and sugar in the top of the double boiler. Heat to lukewarm. Remove from the heat. Pour into a mixing bowl and beat on high speed about 10 minutes, or until the batter forms a ribbon. Sift the flour and cocoa into the batter and fold to combine. Fold in the butter. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool thoroughly. Remove from pan.

Mousse: Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Remove pan from the heat and cool. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Lightly fold a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate. Fold in the remaining egg whites, lightly but thoroughly. Chill.

Ganache: Heat chocolate and cream together in the top of the double boiler over simmering water until the chocolate melts. Blend well.

Assembly: Spoon half the ganache over the meringue layer in the pan and smooth evenly over the surface. Cut the chocolate Genoise into two 1/4 inch slices, reserving the rest of the cake for another use. Place one slice over the ganache and meringue layer. Cover with about half the mousse. Top with the second layer of cake. Spoon the remaining mousse over the cake and chill until set, at least four to six hours.

Just before serving, spoon remaining ganache on the cake. Carefully line the sides of the cake with chopped toasted almonds. Decorate the top with hazelnut roses by placing the whole hazelnuts evenly around the top of the cake, then place almond slices around each hazelnut to resemble petals.

A spectacular cake, but be prepared for snags in the preparation. I used Swiss chocolate for the mousse and had it seize up 2 separate times when I tried to add the egg yolks. I finally used domestic chocolate chips with a bit of cream, and the mousse went smoothly. Worth the trouble? Yes, probably. over 7 years ago