Recipe: 00060 Title : Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake Author: Ken Paris Date : April 1995 _________________________________________________________________________ chocolate raspberry mousse cake with crispy almond meringue layers Meringue Layers: 6 TBS sugar 1 cp powdered sugar 6 egg whites 1/2 cp chopped almonds (chop finely in food processor) preheat oven to 225 trace three 8" circles (use the bottom of an 8" springform pan) on very lightly buttered parchment lined cookie sheets. sift 3 TBS sugar with the powdered sugar beat the whites in a mixer until frothy add 3 TBS sugar, beat to soft peaks add 1/2 cp sugar mixture, beat to stiff peaks fold in remaining sugar and almonds scoop the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. pipe the meringue on the parchment in a spiral starting from the center of the cirlce making a disk about 3/4" thick. bake the disks for 1.25 hours swapping the positions of the three cookie sheets in the oven every 20 min. cool the cookie sheets on racks for 10 min. carefully peel the disks from the parchment and cool on the racks 30 min Chocolate Rasperry Mousse and Bittersweet Ganache: 10 oz package frozen raspberries in syrup 2.5 tsp unflavored gelatin 2 2/3 cp cream 1/2 cp sugar 12 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 TBS chambord or vanilla Make the Ganache: bring one cp cream and 1/4 cp sugar to a boil pour over the cocolate in a large bowl, wait one minute, then stir to melt the chocolate. stir in the chambord or vanilla cover with plastic wrap. Make the Mousse: soften gelatin in 2 TBS cold water press the thawed raspberries through a sieve to remove seeds. microwave the pulp and syrup uncovered on high for 3 min. microwave at 50% for 4-6 min. untill reduced to 1/2 cp (or reduce the raspberry in a sauce pan on low heat to 1/2 cp) dissolve the softened gelatin in the hot raspberry stir in 1/2 cp of the ganache cover and refridgerate 20 to 30 min until cold. beat 1 2/3 cp cream with 1/4 cp sugar to soft peaks fold in the choc/raspberry mixture. Assemble the cake: cut out a cardboard round the same size as the bottom of an 8" springform pan. assemble the pan with the cardboard in place of the bottom. trim the cooled meringue disks with a sharp knife so that they fit in the pan. place one disk in the bottom of the pan and scoop in a little less than 1/2 of the mousse on the disk. cover with the second disk and scoop in the same amount of the mousse, reserving a little for immediate consumption. place the last disk on top and refridgerate for 1 hour. undo the springform, remove the cake on the cardboard circle. frost the sides of the cake with the ganache. serve as soon as possible. _________________________________________________________________________