Chocolate-Walnut Mousse Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, plus butter for greasing the pan
- 1 cup shelled walnuts, preferably black walnuts, about 4 ounces, broken into pieces
- 1/2 pound (eight squares) unsweetened chocolate
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 5 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon powdered cocoa
- 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar
- Candied violets for decoration
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Butter the bottom and sides of an eight-inch springform pan.
- Scatter the walnuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven.
- Bake until lightly browned and crisp, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- Let cool.
- Set aside eight of the largest pieces for garnish.
- Chop the rest into small pieces.
- Put the chocolate squares and butter in a saucepan and set the saucepan in a skillet of simmering water.
- Keep the water at a simmer.
- Stir the chocolate and butter until the chocolate squares are melted.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until the mixture is light and lemon-colored.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, stirring to blend well.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff but not brittle.
- If the whites are too stiffly beaten, they will not fold in properly.
- Add half the egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and beat.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whites and the chopped walnut pieces.
- Pour three-quarters of the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Reserve the remaining chocolate mixture for the frosting.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 50 minutes to one hour.
- The cake is done when a knife, straw, toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- When the cake is done, transfer it to a rack.
- Let it stand about 10 minutes.
- Remove the rim from the springform pan.
- Cool the cake thoroughly.
- Spoon a portion of the reserved chocolate mixture around the sides of the cake, smoothing it over.
- Build it up slightly around the top of the cake.
- Add the remaining mixture to the top of the cake and smooth it over.
- Hold a small sieve over the cake and spoon the cocoa into it.
- Sprinkle it evenly over the top of the cake.
- Chill briefly.
- Add the confectioners' sugar to the sieve and sprinkle it over the cocoa.
- Decorate with the reserved walnuts and the violets.
unsalted butter, walnuts, chocolate, egg yolks, sugar, egg whites, powdered cocoa, sugar, candied violets
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11090 (may not work)