For serious chocolate lovers! This decadent chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling is THE thing to satisfy your chocolate craving!
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I have to warn you, this cake is SO delicious it might just become a reason for a fight in your family. 🙂
I made this chocolate cake for my husband for Valentine’s Day. The cake turned out amazing. Rich and moist, irresistibly chocolaty. Although just two of us could have finished the whole cake without problem, we shared it with our family. (Yep, we’re that awesome! 😉
Couple weeks later when I was visiting, my mother-in-law told me about the drama over the last piece of cake. My father-in-law loves chocolate and, apparently, he was savoring the cake one small piece at a time. When he came back to enjoy his last piece of this heavenly dessert, it was nowhere to be found. No one knew where it is, and no one would admit eating it. Yep, just like that, the last slice of the cake had disappeared without a trace. Sadly, my poor father-in-law had been grumpy for a week, wondering about the mystery of the missing cake.
That was a great excuse for me to bake this cake again.
The first one had a small issue that I needed to fix. The problem was that I was lazy and baked the whole cake in one deep 9-inch cake pan, instead of two. This caused an ugly sinkhole in my final cake. See below.
I know it doesn’t really matter, as it still tastes wonderful.
However, I think it’s important to understand the reason behind the problems, so we can avoid them later. So, here is the explanation.
Since the batter is very runny due to high amount of liquid, there isn’t enough structure to hold a high rise even after the cake is baked completely. That’s why it’s important to bake them in two separate pans.
Now, here is the step-by-step instruction for this amazingly delicious cake.
If you don’t have instant espresso powder, use strong coffee instead, or skip it. You really won’t taste the coffee, it just enhances the chocolate flavor.
While the cake is cooling, prepare the chocolate mousse filling.
To assemble the cake:
To slice the cake into even layers, I used this Zenker Layer Cake Slicer Kit. It makes perfectly even layers and I love it. Make sure that the cake is completely cooled before slicing though, otherwise it’ll break easily.
You can find the detailed recipe for chocolate ganache here on my blog.
Voila!
It paired really well with my homemade vanilla bean ice cream!
Hope you’ll try this cake soon. And please don’t fight over that last piece of cake. Enjoy!
Supreme Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling
Ingredients
For cake:
- 2 cups 250gr all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups 300gr sugar
- ¾ cup 90gr unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 120ml hot water
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup 240ml milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup 120ml Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For mousse filling:
- ½ cup 120ml hot water
- 4 tablespoons 30gr unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso coffee
- 1 ½ cup 260gr bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups 480ml heavy cream, cold
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/3 cup Nutella
For chocolate ganache:
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon softened butter optional
Instructions
- To make the cakePreheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together water and instant espresso coffee. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, mix together eggs, milk, yogurt and pure vanilla extract until well combined. Add half of the flour mixture for a minute, then add the remaining mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the espresso water.
- Pour the batter into two cake pans. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Then remove the cakes from the pan and cool completely.
- Meanwhile, let’s prepare the chocolate mousse filling. In a small bowl, dissolve cocoa powder and instant espresso powder in a hot water.
- In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips until nice and smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the sugar until hard peaks form.
- Stir in the cocoa mixture and Nutella into the melted chocolate. Add half of the whipped cream and mix everything together with folding motion. Fold in the remaining whipped cream and mix well until no white streaks remain. Refrigerate until the cake is cooled completely.
- To assemble the cake, slice the cakes horizontally into two equal layers, using a long serrated knife. If your cakes got a small hump as pictured, just slice it off.
- Put the first cake layer into a springform pan and spread about a little less than 1/3 of the mousse filling. Then put the next layer of the cake and spread the mousse and so on until the cake is built. Make sure to leave a bit of mousse to cover the top of the cake. A very thin layer of mousse on top is all you need. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Once the cake is cooled, make the chocolate ganache. In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a simmer. Do not boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips, and let it sit for good 2 minutes. Then mix well until smooth for couple minutes. Stir in butter to add some shine.
- Remove the springform sides. Pour the ganache over the cake while the ganache is still runny, if you want smooth glaze. Or, you can let it cool and thicken a little bit to spread as a frosting.
Nutrition
Hello Shinee
Thanks for sharing this recipe I have been feeling for a chocolate cake with mousse filling for the longest while but cannot seem to find a sturdy mousse filling until now. I made the cake and the filling this afternoon and will top with the ganache tomorrow. This is a dry run for my sister’s birthday cake. The mousse was runny the first time but i redid it whippping he the cream stiffer, better now. Will e-mail you again when I cut it tomorrow. I hope the cream will be sturdy
thank you so much.
Hi, Alliya! So glad you tried my recipe and I hope you enjoyed the cake! I’ll look for your e-mail with the pic! I love seeing the photos from my readers! 🙂
Hi,
The cake looks very tempting. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I have just one query that’s about the heavy cream mentioned. Can we use the thick cream that gets collected over the milk in this recipe?
Hi, Angelyn! I’m not sure what is the fat % of the cream you’re referring to. But if it has at least 30% fat, you should be fine. Hope this helps. Thanks.
I know this comment is old, but since I have experience with raw milk, I’ll chime in for others who may wonder about the same thing:
The cream that collects on top of non-homogenized milk will not whip as well as the heavy whipping cream sold at the store. I don’t know what they do to it, but seems I read that they do something to make it whip up fluffier. And like Shinee is also bringing up, the fat percentage of the cream makes a difference as well, which on raw milk will vary greatly, depending on how long the cream has been sitting and concentrating on top of the milk.
Whenever I tried to whip the cream collected from our raw milk, it never whipped really fluffy. It was either runny, or with soft peaks, no matter how long I whipped. And it seems it didn’t hold up very well either. (But it was yummy!!) So I bet you’ll end up with very runny “mousse” if you used your own cream. For making a beautiful cake like this, I’d go to the store and get some that I know will work, even organic if you’d feel better about it.
Hi, Terese! Thank you so much for your insight!! I have never worked with raw milk (other than drinking it back in Mongolia as a child), and had no idea about the difference. This’s so helpful. Thanks again!
Hi! What are your thoughts on making this inside with vanilla buttercream outside? My mom wanted chocolate mousse cake for her birthday but I want to do a purple ombré on the outside so I can’t really do chocolate ganache ? Thoughts?? Thanks!!!
I think it’ll work fine. Though not sure how flavors would match? Sorry not much help here, Leanne. Maybe you could try making white chocolate ganache and add purple coloring?
Hi Shinee,
Your recipe looks totally yum, I’m definitely going to try this out. Just got a question, you don’t use butter for the cake? What is the substitute for butter here?
Hi, Minu! You’re right, this cake recipe doesn’t call for butter or oil, but I swear it works just fine. Hope you give it a try.
Do I have to use nutella in the mousse. My family doesn’t like nutella.
Hi, Vanessa! No, you don’t have to include nutella. Just increase the chocolate amount a bit. Hope you enjoy the cake. 🙂
I was looking for a recipe that did not use cream cheese and didn’t seem too complicated to make and yours was really well written. I followed your recipe but didn’t use Nutella and just increased the chocolate a little instead and I didn’t use espresso powder, I just used a little strong coffee instead as indicated in your comments. I didn’t get enough ganache out of it to throughly cover the cake though so will increase the ingredients a little next time I make it which I hope to be Christmas Eve. The cake was really good and the mousse is to die for! it sliced really nicely and my husband loved it.
I left the cake on the springform pan bottom and only removed the sides since there is a little lip, I was afraid to lift it and put it on the cake holder since it is a heavy cake.
I liked using yogurt, it really blends nicely and gives it a bit of a creamy texture.
Kathy, so glad you and your husband loved the cake> Thank you for coming back and leaving your feedback. 🙂
I just found your site…it’s amazing. Quick question though…I’m planning to make this for a friend’s birthday at work. I’ll be making it on Sunday but not serving it until Monday. I’m assuming it should be stored in the refrigerator overnight, so How long should I let it sit out before serving? Thanks!
Hi, Cindy! Yes, the cake needs to be refrigerated overnight. I think about 2 hours will be enough to bring it to room temperature. Hope you all enjoy the cake!
I am going to try to make this cake but I have a question. My son’s skin breaks out all over for a day if he eats anything with egg. I have learned how to make a cake using buttermilk instead of egg. The problem I foresee is one, the cake only rises about half as high as a cake made with eggs, and two the cake is very crumbly. I have made a normal two tier cake before with 9 inch pans but I am afraid if I try to make it into thin slice it will just fall apart. Any ideas other than just trying to make a normal two tier cake. My 9 yr old son is a true chocolate lover and he would absolutely love this cake. As he misses out in school with a lot of birthday treats (though he has a box of ice cream sandwiches the teacher keeps in the freezer) I would love to be able to make him something extra special once in a while.
Oh man, so sorry to hear about your son’s allergy! It’s a tough one. I’ve never baked without eggs before, so I have no clue what to advise. If the cake without egg rises only half as high, maybe you wanna double the chocolate cake batter and bake 4 individual layers? It’ll be so nice to surprise him with his favorite chocolate treat! So sorry I’m not much of a help here, Tracy! Hope you have a wonderful birthday for your son.
i know this is too late for you as your post was from october, but i make a vegan chocolate cake for a friend that is also allergic to eggs. just google vegan chocolate cake recipe and i’m sure something will come up.
Candace, thanks for chiming in! 🙂
I forgot to put in my comment you should sweeten the heavy cream/cocoa mixture to taste.
Sounds good, Aly! I’ll let you know when I try this. 🙂
My Mom made a chocolate mousse filling years ago that was simple and had a really unique flavor. Take heavy cream and add in cocoa powder and nd allow to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours so the cocoa dissolves. add 1/2-1 tea. anise extract or oil and whip. Use as a filling for a chocolate sponge cake or a roulade. You want a true sponge and not a rich chocolate cake. You can brush the cake with a bit of chocolate liquor or Kaluha. Really unique flavor.
Aly, thanks so much for sharing your mom’s recipe. I love the addition of anise in the mousse. I bet it adds a great flavor note. I’ll definitely try your version. We’re a huge chocolate-loving family here. 😉