Why it’s so good!
When you see a showstopper like this chocolate raspberry mousse cake, it’s easy to think it’s difficult or takes a lot of time to make. In truth, there are two main layers here that are both equally simple to create and, while you need to wait for cooling and setting, there isn’t a lot of hands on time.
The chocolate brownie cake layer is the work of mere minutes. With just a mixing bowl, handheld mixer and spatula, the 5 ingredients come together very quickly to a thick and rich brownie batter. This brownie forms a dense and rich base for the contrasting raspberry mousse.
Contrasting in more ways than one, this raspberry mousse has a soft and airy texture with a sweet and tangy flavour. It lifts the base as much as the base grounds it and I just love this gorgeous combination. Pureed raspberries are combined with a little gelatine, then folded through whipped cream.
The mousse was inspired by my raspberry mousse pots.
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Ingredients
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
Eggs: For the brownie base, I just use large eggs.
Sugar: Brown sugar gives the brownie a dense and moist texture. Then we use white granulated sugar in the raspberry mousse.
Butter: Adds flavour, richness and moisture to the brownie.
Flour: You just need plain flour (all-purpose flour)
Cocoa powder: I just use unsweetened cocoa powder but you can use dutch processed cococa powder if you prefer. It will give a darker colour here.
Powdered gelatine: I’ve always found gelatin powder easiest to work with – it’s easy to measure and generally comes in one strength.
Raspberries: I use both fresh raspberries and frozen raspberries in this recipe. Fresh raspberries look gorgeous on top but can be pricey in the quantities used here so I stick to frozen raspberries for the mousse. It’s also really convenient to have frozen berries on hand. You can also do a straight swap for blackberries.
Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavour – not vanilla essence.
Whipping cream: You want a cream with 35% milk fat content. It might be called thickened cream, heavy cream or heavy whipping cream depending on where you live.
Chocolate: The topping is made up some shaved chocolate and an easy chocolate ganache. I use a dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate with 50% cocoa solids. If you use 70%, you may need to add another teaspoon or two of cream to the ganache.
How to make chocolate raspberry mousse cake
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Make the brownie batter
Start by beating eggs and sugar together with a handheld beater for 1 minute so they’re quite pale. Beat in melted butter. Now sift over cocoa powder and flour and stir that in with a spatula.
2. Bake the brownie
Pour the chocolate brownie batter into an 8 inch springform pan that’s been greased and lined with baking paper then bake it for 27-28 minutes.
When it comes out of the oven, rap the pan on the benchtop 4-5 times, then transfer to a plate and let it cool for 10 minutes before transferring to the fridge to cool completely.
3. Make the raspberry mousse base
Puree thawed or fresh raspberries in a blender or food processor to a smooth puree.
Pass the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a saucepan, add sugar and heat stirring to dissolve it. It should be done before the puree is even warm.
4. Add the gelatine
Before you start the raspberry puree, you’ll actually mix some gelatine and cold water and just let it sit to soften and absorb. Now, heat that mixture just for 10-15 seconds in the microwave and stir with a spoon until you can see no more gelatine lumps. You can zap it for another 5 seconds or so if it needs it but you don’t want it to ever be hot enough to boil.
Whisk the vanilla and the gelatine mixture into the raspberry puree. Chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes until thick. Stir it every so often so that it doesn’t completely set like jelly.
5. Turn it into mousse
Whip up some cream to stiff peaks, being very careful not to overbeat it or it will turn grainy. Spoon in a quarter of the thickened raspberry puree and fold it carefully together with a rubber spatula or metal spoon. Now repeat in 3 more instalments, just folding it gently each time until just combined, so that you don’t knock out the air.
6. Add it to the brownie
To turn your two components into chocolate raspberry mousse cake, pour the mousse over the top of the brownie still in the pan. Give it a very gentle shake to level it out then chill for 4 hours or preferably overnight with a plate inverted over the top or covered with plastic wrap.
7. Make the chocolate ganache
Heat some cream in a saucepan until it just starts bubbling, then pour it over finely chopped chocolate in a bowl. Stir it until smooth and glossy. If you want to be extra fancy, you could coat the cake in the chocolate mirror glaze from my chocolate mousse cake.
8. Top the raspberry chocolate mousse cake
To turn this chocolate raspberry mousse cake into a showstopping dessert, drizzle the chocolate ganache around the edge allowing it to drip down, then fill the centre with loads of chocolate shavings and fresh raspberries.
You’ll need to release the cake from the pan for this, peel away the paper and smooth out the mousse if it needs it with a warm, not hot, offset spatula. Put the ganache into a squeeze bottle and gently squeeze it around the edge, allowing some to drip down.
Storage
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. This cake doesn’t freeze so well or at least it doesn’t thaw so well. You can freeze it if you plan to eat it as a frozen mousse cake.
It’s best to slice just as much as you’re serving at one time, rather than the entire cake.
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Ingredients
FOR THE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE BASE
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 250 g light brown sugar (8.8oz)
- 115 g unsalted butter, melted (½ cup / 4oz / 1 stick)
- 130 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (4.6oz)
- 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder (½ cup / 1.9oz)
FOR THE RASPBERRY MOUSSE
- 3 teaspoons powdered gelatine
- 600 g raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed) (1 ¼ lb)
- ½ cup white granulated sugar (100g / 3 ½oz)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 300 ml whipping cream (heavy cream) (1 ¼ cups)
FOR THE TOPPING
- 180 g dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate (6.3oz)
- ¼ cup whipping cream (heavy cream) heavy cream (60ml)
- Fresh raspberries
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- 8 inch round spring form pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Grease an 8 inch spring form tin then line the base and sides with baking paper.
- MAKE THE BROWNIE BATTER:In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar for 2 full minutes until very pale.
- Add the melted butter and beat until just combined.
- Sift over the flour and cocoa and stir with a spatula until just combined.
- Tip the thick batter into the prepared pan and spread out as evenly as possible. Bake for 27-30 minutes.
- Remove the brownie from the oven and give it 5 sharp raps on the bench top (this will help it to drop a little to a flat base for the mousse) then let it cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to the fridge to cool completely.
- FOR THE RASPBERRY MOUSSE:Place the gelatine and two tablespoons (40ml/8tsp, see notes) into a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside. It will soften and absorb into one gelatinous chunk.
- Purée the raspberries (thawed if using frozen berries) in a blender then strain through a sieve into a saucepan. Discard the seeds.
- Over low heat, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. It shouldn’t even need to get hot. Remove from heat.
- Heat the gelatine in the microwave for 10 seconds and stir until fluid and the gelatine is dissolved. If needed, microwave for just 5 seconds at a time thereafter to get to that point. If you don’t have a microwave, this can be done in a small saucepan on the stove over the lowest heat and do not let it boil or the gelatine will lose its efficacy.
- Pour the vanilla and the gelatine mixture into the raspberry puree and whisk well to combine. Make sure you get all of the gelatine mixture in there – a silicone spatula is really helpful for scraping the sides of the bowl so none of it is left behind.
- Place the raspberry puree in the fridge, stirring every so often, for 30 minutes or just until it’s no longer warm and starting to thicken. Careful not to leave it so long that it sets. If it does, just heat it gently in the microwave or over the stove until just fluid enough again.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Take care not to overbeat or it will have a grainy texture – as it gets thicker, slow the hand mixer and check often.
- Fold quarter of the cooled raspberry puree into the whipped cream using a spatula or metal spoon until just a few streaks remain. Repeat 3 more times folding the raspberry puree into the cream until it’s just folded together. Try not to knock the air out of cream.
- Pour the mixture over the cooled cake base. Give it a gentle shake to level it out. Place in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight until set.
- FOR THE GANACHE (once the cake is set):Finely chop 60g/2oz of the chocolate and place it into a bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just starts bubbling, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute to soften before stirring to a smooth ganache. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
- Remove the ring from the pan and carefully slide the chocolate raspberry mousse cake onto a cake platter. Very carefully squeeze the ganache around the edge allowing it to create drips every so often. If it’s running straight to the bottom of the cake, it’s too hot. Let it cool a little before continuing.
- Fill the centre-top of the cake with fresh raspberries and chocolate shavings (made by running a vegetable peeler down the edge of the remaining block of chocolate) just prior to serving.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- You can make the ganache ahead of time and keep it in the fridge, then just heat in 10 second increments in the microwave to make it fluid again.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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2 Comments on “Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake”
So glad I made this as a thank you to my husband and decorated with Easter eggs. Most impressed with myself and it tastes magnificent.
I’m so happy you love it, Bev.