Chocolate heart mousse cake recipe
MAKES 1 CAKE
- butter for the tin
- 2 medium eggs plus 2 egg yolks
- 150g (5oz) golden caster sugar
- 450ml (16 fl oz) whipping cream
- rosewater to taste
- 300g (11oz) dark chocolate about 70 per cent cocoa
- crystallised violets and roses to decorate
Heat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1 and butter a suitable loose bottom cake tin, for example a heart-shaped tin about 23cm (9in) at its widest point and 7cm (2 ¾ in) deep, or use a 20cm (8in) round tin. (Our heart-shaped tin was from Sainsbury’s)
Whiz the eggs, yolks and sugar together in a food processor for 8 minutes until very pale and at least doubled in volume.
Meanwhile flavour the cream with rosewater to taste, adding it a few drops at a time: to give a subtle floral hint. Gently bring the rose cream to the boil in a small non-stick pan. Break up the chocolate, place it in a bowl and pour over the hot cream. Leave for a minute or two and then give it a stir, then continue stirring occasionally until the chocolate has completely melted.
Add the chocolate mixture to the whisked egg and sugar mixture and whiz to blend. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and tap a couple of times on the works urface to bring up any air bubbles. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is glossy and the mixture set (it may sink a little in the centre).
Carefully run a knife around the top of the collar of the tin and leave the cake to cool. The cake is at its best eaten at room temperature on the day it is made. To serve, remove the collar, leave the cake on its base and decorate the top with crystallised violets or roses or both. If keeping the cake for longer, leave it in the tin, cover and chill then remove from the fridge an hour before eating.