Monday 11 January 2016

Memorandum Monday ~ Chocolate Mousse Cake

If you missed it last week, Sian has had a shake up of Me on Monday and asked us to share something we did for the first time, or something we learned that we didn't know before, instead of our previous weekend recap. This little beauty covers both bases, although I hadn't thought of the thing I learned until I started typing.

























It was a wet and windy Saturday afternoon here in Dorset and we'd decided on hot dogs and soup for dinner. While I was caramelising the red onions, I had a quick flick through my new cook book and came across the Chocolate Mousse Cake. I had everything except the flaked almonds and it looked pretty simple to throw together. It was. The hardest part was working out the new quantities.

It contains quite a lot of sugar so I cut down the recipe. It uses 5 eggs, which I changed to 3 and reduced the other ingredients accordingly. Divide by 5 and multiply by 3. Fairly easy when you're working with grams, not so much if the recipe were in ounces or cups. It still made eight good sized portions and was delicious.

What did I learn? How to line the base of a springform tin, something I hadn't used before, without the faff of drawing and cutting a circle.

Simply cut a square of baking parchment/greaseproof paper, a bit larger than the base of the tin. Now comes the slightly tricky part, where you feel like you need two pairs of hands. Place the paper on top of the base and put the base inside the tin, tucking the corners through to the outside as you do so. Clip the tin together and tug the corners of the paper until it lies nice and smoothly in the bottom of the tin.

The recipe is from the Happy Pear cook book, but I've tracked it down online if you fancy it. My tin is 20cm, rather than the 23cm specified and my quantities were:

100g margarine
160g caster sugar
180g dark chocolate
3 eggs
40g ground almonds

Happy Monday to you. Have a great week.

at

17 comments:

  1. alexa11 January 2016 at 11:09

    Thank-you for that recipe - I am always on the lookout for flourless ones. I will have a look at your links too. Hoping you have a good week :).

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  2. helena11 January 2016 at 12:51

    looks yummy and good tip for lining the tin - have a great week

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  3. Jo11 January 2016 at 13:19

    That looks lovely. Could you not hold the paper in place with washi tape before putting it in the tin? x

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  4. debs1411 January 2016 at 13:36

    What a clever tip! And what a lovely looking cake!

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  5. Maggie11 January 2016 at 13:52

    You make the calculations to change the recipe so easy. I would get in a right muddle. Maths teacher by any chance? You ask the girls about the time I tried to increase a sponge topping from 4 to 40 people. I rather over estimated and had mixture everywhere! The chocolate pud looks delicious!

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  6. Cheri11 January 2016 at 15:12

    It looks absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I am off all baked goods - trying to live without sugar can be daunting!

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  7. Sian11 January 2016 at 16:48

    The cake looks delicious and the trick with the lining is very nifty indeed. I hate lining tins and this is definitely going to help!

    Have a great week Fiona. I'm hoping the start of the new term is going okay..

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  8. Patio Postcards11 January 2016 at 19:19

    Yummy looking cake. I'm not sure I have ever lined a cake tin - I just spray with PAM. Thanks for your instructions how to do - if my cake could turn out as lovely as yours, I'm switching to lining ...

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  9. Lou11 January 2016 at 21:37

    oh my....i can just imagine how good your cake smells.....and tastes. Great tin tip too x

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  10. Sandra11 January 2016 at 21:38

    That looks delicious. I must try your tip for lining

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  11. KraftyKaren11 January 2016 at 23:42

    Cake sounds wonderful - have a great week x

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  12. Jane12 January 2016 at 09:35

    sounds yummy, I hate altering the weights of ingredients too, usually I get my husband to do it!

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  13. Alison12 January 2016 at 18:34

    The cake looks delish xx

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  14. Melissa12 January 2016 at 22:04

    That's a great trick with the parchment paper! And that cake looks yummy!

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  15. scrappyjacky14 January 2016 at 07:56

    Looks very yummy.

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  16. Susanne15 January 2016 at 08:51

    That looks yummy. The fact that it required a springform pan would have disqualified me from even trying. Good for you!

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  17. Julia16 January 2016 at 18:37

    Looks delicious! That is an ingenious idea! Will be using that next time I bake. Thanks :)

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