Today someone on Serious Eats was trying to locate the recipe for a chocolate mousse cake made by Julia Child. I was pretty sure I knew the cake in question and was trying to remember where I saw it. After a cup of tea, which makes me temporarily smarter, I realized it was in the book Julia Child and Company, a book I happen to own.
This was one of my favorite of Julia’s series. She had her snazzy blue Kitchen Aid mixer, she cooked a wider variety of foods than on the French Chef series, and some of menus included cocktails which seemed very sophisticated to a pre-teen who spent too much time watching 1930s films.
(To the person who asked for the recipe—yes, all my recipes start with long digressions, and sometimes even tangents. Welcome to Cat’s kitchen.)
I honestly don’t know if I have ever made the cake that follows, but another from the series, The Los Gatos Gâteau, I made several times. It featured layers of crisp almond meringue filled with apricot purée and frosted in buttercream. The name came from Los Gatos, California where (at that time anyway) the best apricots were grown.
Maine may have blueberries, and Washington apples, but no one can compete with my state in the apricot department. If you ever see Blenheim apricots, grab those babies up. Our Ollalieberries kick ass, too. I think that’s enough of me bragging about my fruit; you came for chocolate and chocolate you shall get.
Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse Cake
Serves 8 to 10
In the book, Julia does not specify the cake pan size by diameter, rather by capacity (10 cups). A 9-inch round pan that is 3-inches deep, or a 10-inch round pan that is at least 2 inches deep should be about right. And since this is baked in a water bath, you will need a roasting pan large enough to hold the cake pan.
Butter or vegetable shortening, and flour, for the pan
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
4 tablespoons hot water
4 tablespoons dark rum
14 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces
6 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you can buy really good vanilla at T J Maxx and other discount stores at a great price)
Confectioners sugar, whipped cream, ganache, or anything else you care to use to embellish the cake
Heat oven to 350 degrees, position rack in lower third of oven. Place a roasting pan in the oven and fill halfway with hot water. Put on a kettle, as you’ll be needing some boiling water.
Grease the cake pan, line the bottom with waxed paper or parchment, grease and flour it and set aside. Chill a bowl to use for whipping the cream (or fill it with some ice cubes).
Bring 2 inches of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Place over the pan a bowl; add the coffee and water, swirling to dissolve it. Add the rum and chocolate, remove from the heat, cover, and allow the chocolate to melt.
Break the eggs into a mixing bowl; place this over a large bowl that has very hot water in it. Whisk the sugar into the eggs and mix until the eggs are slightly warm to your finger. Start beating with an electric mixer until the mixture has tripled in volume (at least), and forms a fat ribbon when you let some drip from the beater. Set aside.
Place the cream in the chilled bowl and whip until it is quite thick, doubled in volume, and holds its shape softly. It should retain a smooth look, rather than form peaks. Whisk in the vanilla.
Give the chocolate mixture a whisk to be sure it is smooth and silky; scrape it into the eggs and mix it rapidly with a rubber spatula. It needn’t be uniformly mixed, just part way there. Gently, fold in the cream, mixing so that all is well combined, but being careful not to deflate the mixture.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, it should be about two-thirds full. Place in the roasting pan, adding more hot water as needed to bring it halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for about 1 hour—the cake will have risen just a bit above the edge of the pan and a tester inserted in the middle should come out clean.
Turn off the oven, leave the door partially open, and allow the cake to cool in the water bath for 30 minutes. Remove from water bath and cool another 30 minutes. Un-mold the cake, cool to tepid, and serve with whipped cream, ganache, or just a dusting of powdered sugar.
Julia liked serving the cake the day it was made, if possible. Otherwise, she would cool it completely (still in the pan), cover and refrigerate for up to two days. When you want to serve it, place the cake in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes to barely warm it, and proceed as directed above.
By the way, this cake being somewhat delicate, it should be unmolded onto the plate you wish to serve it from, as once there it is not going to be moved again without cracking it.
4 Comments
May 14, 2009 at 2:42 am
Thanks, Cat! Much obliged. I thought you’d appreciate a picture of the cake as I made it (the second time, for a baking competition).
http://ladyrandess.deviantart.com/art/Cake-28014284
May 14, 2009 at 3:21 am
That looks fantastic! And those flowers, so vivid.
August 7, 2009 at 12:32 am
Thank you for posting this recipe. I saw a video of Julia making it but there were some parts cut out. Is it 6 eggs or 6 egg whites?
August 7, 2009 at 1:33 am
It’s whole eggs. I hope you enjoy it.