Chocolate Mint Decadence

Ingredients

• Cake:
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 13 Oz. Bittersweet or semi-sweet (not unsweetented) chocolate ,chopped fine to aid in melting. Note; Hershey's is good but Lindt or Dutch imported is better due to butterfat content/flavor.
• 1 Cup+ 3 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
• 6 large Eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 Cup Sugar (white granulated)
• Granache:
• 18 Oz. Bittersweet or semi-sweet (not unsweetented) chocolate ,chopped fine to aid in melting.
• 1-1/2 Cup Whipping Cream
• 3/4 Cup Raspberries or quartered and hulled strawberries.
• Mousse:
• Lb. Imported white chocolate (like Lindt), chooped fine to aid in melting.
• 1 tsp. Unflavored gelatin
• 7 Tbsp. Whipping Cream
• 1/4 tspn. Peppermint extract (I prefer 3 drops spearmint oil-if you can find it-more intense flavor)
• 1-1/3 Cup Chilled whipping cream
• Garnish:
• Fresh mint sprigs
• Whole fresh raspberries or strawberries

Directions

For Cake: Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with 2 3/4 inch high sides. Line with baking parchment. On outside of pan; wrap aluminum foil around bottom and sides. Melt chocolate with butter in heavy saucepan over very low heat. Stir until smooth and remove from heat. Cook 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar with 1/3 cup water over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Raise heat and bring to boil(creates sugar syrup). Whisk syrup with chocolate mixture. Cool until just warm ~15 minutes. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl until pale yellow and creates slowly dissolving ribbon with beaters when removed from "batter" (stiffened but not dry with some incorporated air ~5 minutes). Add warm chocolate mixture and beat until throughly incorporated. Pour into prepared pan without disturbing too much (This will add some airyness to cake-but finished cake is still very dense). Place cake in large baking pan [like + sheet cake pan] and add enough hot water to measure halfway up sides of aluminum wrapped springform pan. Bake until cake has dry appearance and feels firm near center {~45 minutes}. Don't allow cake to crack on top. Remove from water. Cool completely in pan on rack (cake should fall some). Remove foil after cooling.

For Ganache: Melt chocolate with cream in heavy medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Stirring until smooth. Allow to stand until just cool {~20 minutes}. Save 1 cup in bowl for piping around edge of cake. Pour 1 cup of ganache from saucepan over cake in pan. Distribute berries over top of ganache.

Refrigerate cake 1 hour. Save remaining ganache for web design and cake sides.

For Mousse: Melt white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water. Stirring until smooth. Remove from over water. Sprinkle gelatin over 7 tablespoons cream in heavy small saucepan. Allow 10 minutes for gelatin to soften in cream. Cook over very low heat stirring constantly until gelatin dissolves. Whisk cream mixture into the melted chocolate. Incorporate extract or oil. Move to large bowl and let stand ~5 minutes until cool but not set. With mixer beat 1 1/3 cup chilled cream in clean medium bowl until soft peaks form. Fold + cream into white chocolate mixture to lighten. GENTLY fold in remaining cream. Spoon mousse atop ganache and berries in cake pan. Gently shake pan to settle mousse.

For Garnish: If necessary, whisk remaining ganache in saucepan over very low heat until soft enough to pipe. Spoon about 1/4 cup into parchment paper cone (&). Cut tip of cone. Start in middle of cake, pipe ganache in spiral on top of mousse. Spacing should be + inch apart and continue to the edge of pan. With knife blade; start at center and draw knife blade from center to edge. Move about 1 + inch around pan sides and draw knife tip from pan edge to center. Alternate center-to-edge and edge-to-center spacing evenly. Chill about 2 hours until mousse sets. Insert sharp knife between cake and pan sides and rotate around completely to loosen cake. Release cake pan sides from cake. Stir remaining ganache until soft enough to spread-may need very light reheating. Spread lightly over sides to cover {comb with fork if you like} completely. Place remaining 1 cup of ganache into pastry bag with star tip and pipe decorative boarder around edge of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Arrange mint sprigs around top edge of cake. Garnish with raspberries or strawberries. (&) Parchment cone: fold 9-inch square of parchment in half to form triangle. Place triangle on flat surface with one tip towards you. Label left corner "A"; right corner "B"; and tip towards you "C". Curl corner "B" around so that its back side meets corner "C". Curl corner "A" around so that it meets other two corners. Fold down point where the three corners meet and tape down.

Submitted 6/13/05.
Source: Internet
Submitted By: Marlen
matchlessm@aol.com
Chocolate Mint Decadence