Death by Chocolate

At long, long last, here we are. After 15 total recipes, 6 crazy cakes, and 2 (ish) years later, I'm proud and relieved to present the Death by Chocolate Cake.

Rather than futz about with ratings and detailed descriptions (because of COURSE this cake is outstanding), I just want to leave you with the recipe and a bit of unsolicited advice. The advice is based on my experience baking the cake and my overall experience with this blog. Forgive me for waxing philosophical and a bit melancholy, but it's an overcast, drizzly day here in Seattle and I am the type who goes through Christmas withdrawals and hates, deep down in tiny crevices of my soul, the changing of one year to the next.

1. Make this cake with friends. I made Death by Chocolate with my sister and a dear friend, and it made the process much more enjoyable, and heightened my desire to create a cake worth sending home with them. We laughed, we freaked out, we made multiple grocery-store runs (for more chocolate, naturally), and we made one incredibly good cake.

2. Don't give up. It took me two years longer to get through this recipe book than I expected. While it's hard to admit that I'm just that lazy, the process taught me a lot about creating both baked goods and blogs. It taught me a lot about how to keep going when I felt like a bad baker, a bad writer, a bad photographer, and a bad blog layout designer. I’m not sure I’m any better at any of those things now, but I'm glad I didn't give up.

3. Warning: This cake takes about 8 hours to make (no joke), so either start on it early, or spread the process out over several days. It also calls for a total of 51 ounces of chocolate, so plan your budget accordingly!

Thanks so much for reading Death by Chocolate and sticking with me through this chocolate adventure. I'm sure it'll be back in one form or another once I figure out what's next.

Now, without further ado:

Death by Chocolate
Cocoa Meringue
4 egg whites
1/8 t. cream of tartar
1/8 t. salt
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 T. unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1 T. cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 225. Using a 9-inch cake circle as a guide, trace a circle with a pencil on a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit a baking sheet. Turn the paper over and, with trace mark down, place on a baking sheet.
To prepare the cocoa meringue, place 4 egg whites, the cream of tartar, and salt in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whip. Whisk on high until soft peaks form, about 45 to 50 seconds. Gradually add 1 cup sugar while continuing to whisk on high. Whisk until stiff, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold in and thoroughly combine the remaining 1/4 c. sugar, 2 T. cocoa, and the cornstarch. Fill a pastry bag (with no tip) with the cocoa meringue. Fill the traced parchment circle with meringue: start in the center and pipe a 3/4-inch-wide spiral towards the outside of the circle.
Place the meringue in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 200 and bake for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 45 minutes before handling. Raise the oven temp to 325

Chocolate Mousse
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
3 egg whites
2 T. sugar

Heat 1 inch water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place 6 oz. semisweet chocolate in the top half of the boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap. Allow the chocolate to melt slowly, about 9 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Keep at room temperature until needed.
Place 1 1/2 c. heavy cream in the well-chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a well-chilled balloon whip. Whisk on high until peaks form, about 1 minute. Set aside.
Whisk 3 egg whites in a large stainless steel bowl, until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add 2 T. sugar and continue to whisk until soft peaks form, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Add a quarter of the whipped cream to the chocolate and whisk quickly, vigorously, and thoroughly, then ad to the egg whites. Now add the remaining whipped cream. Fold all together gently but thoroughly. Refrigerate the chocolate mousse until needed.

Chocolate Brownie Layer
1 t. unsalted butter
1 t. flour
Simply the Best Chocolate Brownie, uncooked

Coat a 9x1 1/2-inch cake pan with 1 t. butter. Flour the pan with 1 t. flour, shaking out the excess. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared cake pan, spreading evenly. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Remove the brownie from the oven and allow to cool in the pan at room temp for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a cake circle and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the brownie from the fridge and cut in half horizontally. Keep the brownie at room temp until needed.

Chocolate Ganache
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
3 T. butter
22 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces

Heat 1 1/2 c. heavy cream and 3 T. butter in a 2 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Place 22 oz. semisweet chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Keep at room temp until needed.

Mocha Mousse
14 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
1/2 c. water
4 T. instant coffee
2 T. cocoa, sifted
5 egg whites
2 T. sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream

Heat 1 inch water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium-high heat. Place 14 oz. semisweet chocolate, 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, the water, instant coffee, and 2 T. cocoa in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap and heat for 6-7 minutes. Remove the wrap and stir until the mixture is smooth. Keep at room temp until needed.
Place 5 egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whip. Whisk on high until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Continue to whisk until gradually adding 2 T. sugar. Whisk until stiff, about 30 seconds.
Whip 3/4 c. heavy cream in a well-chilled stainless steel bowl until stiff. Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the melted chocolate mixture, then fold in the whipped cream. Now fold in the remaining egg whites. Keep the mousse at room temperature.

Assembling the Cake
Place a 9x3-inch springform pan on a baking sheet. Set the top half of the chocolate brownie inside the pan, top side up. Ladle 1 1/2 c. of ganache into the pan over the chocolate brownie. Trim the cocoa meringue with a serrated knife so that it will fit tightly into the pan. Place the trimmed cocoa meringue, top side up, inside the pan on top of the ganache, pressing down gently on the cocoa meringue to eliminate air pockets.
Spoon the cocoa mousse on top of the meringue, spreading evenly. Place the remaining brownie half, bottom side up, on top of the mocha mousse. Chill the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes, or the fridge for 1 hour.
Remove the cake from the freezer and cut around the edges to release from the pan. Pour the remaining ganache over the cake and use a cake spatula to spread it evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to set the ganache.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with the chocolate mousse. Pipe a circle of stars (each touching the other) along the outside edge of the top of the cake. Continue to pipe out circles of stars until the top of the cake is covered. Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours, and preferably 12 hours, before cutting and serving.
(Phew!)

The End