Alot of bakes I create are recreations of delicious things I’ve eaten on holiday that I can’t get out of my head. They never taste exactly the same, but they’re close enough to still be delicious and satisfy my craving for the original bake. This chocolate apricot mousse cake is one such bake. I ate the original cake in Budapest in the beautiful Cafe Gerbeaud. If you ever go to Budapest I really recommend treating yourself to some cake here, everything was SO delicious.
Next on my list to recreate is a caramel and museli bun, that I got from Braud & Co in Reykjavik. Though everything in that bakery was so delicious, I’d go back to Iceland just for that…! But back to the mousse cake for now.
From the offset you should know this isn’t a quick bake! Its definitely something I would save for a special occasion or for when you want to spend an afternoon just focusing on a bake. None of the steps are particularly tricky, but you do need to create a few elements before you can start creating the cake.
So lets dissect the cake!
First up you need to create a chocolate genoise sponge. A genoise sponge doesn’t have any raising agent added to the mixture, instead you whip the eggs to ensure air is suspended in the batter which then gives the cake volume. It makes a very light sponge and a delicious cake. My chocolate and honeycomb cake uses a genoise sponge and is soooo good.
Next up is an apricot sugar syrup. Genoise sponges aren’t very sweet and generally need a cake soak to keep them moist and flavourful. I added a tablespoon of apricot jam into a simple sugar syrup, which worked perfectly. Just enough sweetness without overpowering the chocolate.
The next layer is sliced apricots – which you don’t want to cut until you’re about to assemble the cake. Purely so they don’t start to have a brown tinge as they react with the air. To make it easier to peel the apricots, I blanched them in boiling water for 30 seconds and then ran them through cold water. Otherwise it’ll take you forever, believe me!
Whats next?
The mousse is the longest step as you’ll need to create a few elements before they’re combined. First is a sugar syrup which will then be whipped into egg yolks. I recommend using an electric hand whisk rather than a stand mixer, even though you’ll be whipping for a long time! The sugar syrup is a pretty small quantity which makes it harder to pour into the egg whites before it starts to harden up. The first time I made this I ended up with the majority of it hardened on the side of the mixing bowl, rather than in the egg mixture – not ideal!
You’ll also need to bloom some gelatin sheets – which just means putting them in cold water until they’re softened. Heat some honey, whip some cream, beat peanut butter and add some salt. All of these elements mixed together makes for a delicious salted honey peanut mousse. Yes, you might have noticed this is the same flavour as my fancy party rings from last weeks post. What can I say, its a delicious flavour combination!!
And finally?
The mousse needs to set for an hour at least, and then the final step can be completed. Adding a chocolate glaze, which is best added by holding and turning the baking tin to spread – rather than using a spatula. And ta dahhhh! You’ve created a beautiful and delicious chocolate apricot mousse cake (with salted honey peanut mousse….but I thought that name might be a bit long ;)!).
Its a lengthy recipe I know, but the combination is really delicious. Moist chocolate cake. Slightly tart apricots. Smooth and creamy salted honey peanut mousse. Topped with a chocolate glaze.
I really loved this mousse cake straight from the fridge and it keeps really well for up to 3 days. Perfect for a summer dessert thats abit different and fancy. I hope you give it a try!
On with the recipe;
Chocolate Apricot Mousse Cake
Ingredients
Genoise sponge
- 15 g cocoa powder
- 35 g plain flour
- 2 large eggs
- 65 g caster sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 20 ml vegetable oil
Mousse
- 35 g caster sugar
- 45 ml water
- 60 g egg yolks 3 large/4 medium eggs
- 3 gelatine sheets
- 250 g smooth peanut butter
- 30 ml clear runny honey
- 275 ml double cream chilled
- 1/2 tsp salt
Syrup
- 50 ml water
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp apricot jam
Punnet of apricots
Glaze
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- For the genoise sponge: Line the base of an 8inch square baking tin (making sure not to grease the sides). Then preheat the oven to 175C/155C Fan. Sift the cocoa and plain flour into a small bowl and set aside. Add the eggs, sugar and salt to a large bowl and using an electric whisk, whisk for 6-7 minutes until tripled in volume, light coloured and a thick rope of mixture falls and dissolves slowly on the surface. Add a third of the flour mixture to the eggs and fold with a spatula until almost combined. Then repeat with the other third of flour, and then the final third. Place the oil into a small bowl, and fold in a quarter of the flour/egg mixture ensuring its fully combined. Pour this mixture back into the flour/egg mixture and fold again until all just combined.
- Evenly pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 20-22 minutes until the cake has risen and feels firm to touch. Cool for a few minutes in the tin, then take a knife carefully round the edges of the cake to release from the tin and turn out on a cooling rack. Set aside to cool completely.
- For the mousse: Place the sugar and 25ml of the water into a small saucepan. Place over a medium-low heat and simmer without stirring, keeping a food thermometer handy. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks into a large bowl and begin whisking with an electric hand whisk on a low speed. Once the sugar syrup has reached 115C take off the heat, and pour down the side of the bowl into the egg yolks. Turn the mixer up to a high speed, and whisk until the mixture is well combined and cooled to room temperature. Then set aside.
- Fill a small bowl with water and place in the gelatine leaves to bloom for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the peanut butter into a large bowl and mix in the remaining 20ml of water. Then place the honey in a small saucepan and heat over a low heat until lukewarm and runny. Squeeze the water out of the bloomed gelatine and then whisk into the honey. Pour the honey mixture into the peanut butter and mix in well. In a separate bowl, whisk the chilled double cream until very stiff. Then, add the egg yolk mixture into the peanut butter in two increments. Then mix a 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture well, to lighten it. Then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream and salt, until the mousse is smooth. Set aside.
- For the syrup: Place the water, sugar and jam in a small saucepan and set over a medium-high heat. Bring the syrup to a boil, and simmer until the sugar and jam has dissolved. Then set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, peel and slice the apricots. (To make peeling easier, blanch the apricots in boiling water for 30seconds, then run under cold water)
- To assemble: Line the 8inch baking tin with clingfilm, then place the sponge on top. Using a pastry brush, liberally brush the apricot syrup over the sponge. Then lay the slices of apricot on top. Finally, spread over the mousse and smooth with a palette knife till flat. Then place in the freezer for 1hour to set.
- For the glaze: Break up the chocolate into small pieces and add to a small heat-proof bowl with the oil. Melt in 20 second increments in the microwave until smooth. Pour over the chilled mousse and tilt the baking tin to spread evenly. Then place into the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
