Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Mousse

Posted on March 4, 2013
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Mousse

In what other way to celebrate the first fragile signs of Spring than with another delicious treat with chocolate?

 
I have been very enthusiastic of the idea to participate to this month Chocolate Party hosted by Roxana from Roxana's Home Baking.  The theme for this month is chocolate and caramel, which for me was pretty challenging. 
 
Finally I have decided what to do for this event, a flourless chocolate cake for the base topped with a salted caramel mousse on top decorated with chocolate curls and caramel swirls. Sounds great, looks great and tastes divine. Didn't last too long after the photo shoot :) that's for sure. 
 
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Ingredients
  • Makes about 10 servings
  • Flourless Cake
  • 1 stick (110g) butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 5 ounces (150 g) bittersweet chocolate`
  • Pinch of salt
  • Caramel Mousse
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 cup heavy cream, divided
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla been paste or vanilla extract
  • Optional -Chocolate Curls
  • 3/4 cup (90 g) bittersweet chocolate
  • Optional-Caramel Swirls
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
Directions
  1. Line a 9-inch(23 cm) springform pan(with a removable base) with parchment paper. Separate egg yolks from whites. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
  2. Melt chocolate and butter over a bain-marie until smooth. Add  yolks one at a time and stir well. Add cocoa powder and salt.  
  3. Whip egg whites until foamy with a mixer, gradually add sugar.  Gently fold the whipped whites to chocolate mixture . Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30  minutes.
  4. While the cake is baking you can prepare the chocolate curls. (I have tried to use some indications from "The Pioneer Woman")  Melt chocolate over a bain-marie until smooth. Pour the chocolate on the back of a baking sheet. Using a spatula or knife spread the chocolate in a thin layer. Put the tray in the freezer for about 2-3 minutes. Whit a spatula begin to scrape the chocolate and helping with the other hand form curls of chocolate. (Mine are not perfect but were pretty ok for my first attempt. )
  5. Prepare the Caramel Mousse. Heat 1/4 cup of the cream until it is hot and set aside. Combine cornstarch with water and set aside.  
  6. Place the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook without stirring until sugar dissolves and gets a caramel color. Remove the pan from the heat and add the hot cream and butter. It will bubble a little bit. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture and bring to boil. Cook until thick and bubbly for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
  7. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract and salt. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate to chill.
  8. Whip the remaining 3/4 cup cream. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream into caramel mixture and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.
  9. Prepare caramel swirls. Place the sugar, water and lemon juice in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook without stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover pan and cook 3 minutes. Remove lid and cook syrup, swirling the pan, for 3 to 4 minutes,until the syrup gets the color of dark caramel. Remove pan from heat, set aside to cool for 2-3 minutes, or until syrup begins to thicken. Using a fork, drizzle thin caramel over the back of a soup ladle. Remove from the ladle and repeat. If the caramel gets too hard heat again over very low heat and repeat the steps. 
  10. Spread the mousse over the cake. Decorate with chocolate curls and caramel swirls if desire or simply with some grated chocolate or cocoa powder. Don't forget to check out all the other caramel chocolate recipes shared this month.
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Mousse-1
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Mousse-2
Nutrition facts 1 Serving - Calories:332, Fat:23.5 g, Saturated Fat:14.7 g, Carbohydrates:27.0 g, Sugar:23.8g, Fiber:1.0 g, Protein:4.4 g, Cholesterol:115 mg, Calories from Fat 211, Sodium 195mg, Vitamin A 12%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 6%, Iron 5%, Nutrition Grade D-, Daily Percent Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

On March 04, 2013 at 11:42 am, Kayle (The Cooking Actress) said...
This cake is beautiful and looks absolutely delicious!
On March 04, 2013 at 01:57 pm, Liz said...
Just stunning! And with caramel mousse and caramel swirls, it's a blue ribbon winner!!! YUM!
On March 05, 2013 at 10:56 am, sally @ sallys baking addiction said...
I just tried to leave a comment, so I'm not sure if you will get two from me or not! Just letting you know how beautiful this cake it! I love salted caramel so much, especially paired with chocolate. and the caramel swirls make it look extra fancy!
On March 05, 2013 at 02:16 pm, Rosa said...
Exquisite"This heavenly cake is just so irresistible. Cheers, Rosa
On March 05, 2013 at 08:21 pm, Maureen | Orgasmic Chef said...
Good grief! This looks SO good I can't stand it. Absolutely picture perfect or in my case, fork perfect. :)
On March 06, 2013 at 01:51 pm, Karen % Karen's Kitchen Stories said...
Incredible. Beautiful. Amazing.
On March 06, 2013 at 03:52 pm, jami said...
Looks delicious - and might be a perfect Passover dessert if I swap the cornstarch for potato starch. What a treat!
Re:

I have to try it without starch of any kind, It might work without too, I added just to make sure it will be ok :) Is potato starch better?

On March 06, 2013 at 05:40 pm, Nami | Just One Cookbook said...
Ohhhhh! Absolutely gorgeous. I want to taste tha Salted Caramel Mousse and caramel swirls looks pretty. The cake looks so delicious!
On March 07, 2013 at 02:12 pm, Courtney @ Neighborfood said...
I am so excited about this. It looks beautiful and appears to be gluten free too! Win!
On March 10, 2013 at 10:50 am, Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen said...
Oh yum this looks so good! I absolutely love the combination of chocolate and salted caramel!
On April 04, 2013 at 11:07 pm, Allison said...
Very very good. Made this tonight and it was a huge hit. I baked it in a 9" pan and I think it would have been too thin in a 10" pan. The thickness in a 9" was perfect.
Re:

I am so glad you liked it:) Yes, it is very good:) my family loved it too, my sister even made it for her husband's anniversary:) 

Re:

You were right about the 9" pan,  didn't noticed then but the pan I used is about 10 on the top but around 9 on the bottom,  not straight form bottom to top. 

On May 16, 2013 at 08:48 am, Jane said...
HI, I tried making this and the cake came out amazing! But the caramel came out with a strange texture the first try. The best way I can think to describe it is like boogers. it all stuck together in one clump and pull away from the pan when I tried to stir. I thought it was probably because of the cornstarch so the second try I left it out. That time it came out really good in terms of taste, but when it was cooled, it was a bit too stiff to fold into the whipped cream easily. Any idea what could have gone wrong the first time and does it need to be totally cold when you mix with the cream? Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Re:

Not sure exactly what the problem was, but is it possible that you let the sugar too much to caramelize? After it cools down it is a little harder, but after you add a part of whipped cream it easily combine with the rest. I wish I could be there to show you and make it with you.  It doesn't have to be too cold before folding it with the whipped cream, at room temperature is just fine. Let me know if you have any other questions, I would really love to help you with this as it is a delicious recipe. 

On March 17, 2014 at 08:49 pm, Cedric said...
Hello, This recipe looks really delicious , I'll try it this week. Thank You ;)
Re:

Yes.. it looks good and it really taste amazing. It is one of my favorite desserts. Let me know how it turns for you. 

On August 24, 2015 at 03:45 pm, Barb said...
Can this be made a day ahead of serving? I assume it should be stored in the refrigerator?
Re:

Sure you can, actually this is what I did.. we served it after it was chilled overnight in the refrigerator.

On November 20, 2015 at 02:14 pm, Luka said...
Cake base looked perfect. Rose well with a nice colour, skewer pulled out clean and cake just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. I took it straight out of the oven into room temperature, say 22 degree Celsius and took the spring form sides of after about 5 minutes. The cake eventually sank not only in the centre but all over to half the height that it originally came out of the oven. I opened the door of the oven to check for doneness at about 25 minutes and cooked it for a further 5 minutes. The cake taste was good and would love some baking tips on what could I have done wrong.
Re:

I don't think you did anything wrong.. this is how it is suppose to happen.. it deflates. 

On February 09, 2016 at 03:45 am, Malin said...
Hope to try this one as soon as I find a converter to the metric system! ????
On May 24, 2016 at 05:55 am, Natalie said...
Hi, With the salted caramel mousse, would it be possible to pipe it into swirls? Will it hold its shape? Lovely recipe!
Re:

Don't think so.. but you can try.. maybe refrigerate the frosting a bit before trying to create the swirls and might work well

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