106. "Three chocolates" cake (recipe)

Today is Mother's Day, so I decided to treat my mum to a very tasty "Three chocolates" cake: layers of milk, white and dark chocolate, cream liqueur and whipped cream, tasting like delicate, airy chocolate ice cream. This is probably one of the most complicated recipes I've posted on this blog — on a par with the tiramisu recipe and the lasagna with mushrooms.
But if that doesn't scare you — the recipe and photos of the cake are under the cut ;).

Cooking time ≈ 3 hours.

Ingredients:

• 150 g chocolate sponge
• stiff film (I just cut up a stiff clear A4 sleeve)
• 50 g heavy whipping cream (I used 34%)
• walnuts for decoration

For the decoration:

• 100 g white chocolate
• 50 g butter
• 50 g cream

For the dark chocolate mousse:

• 200 g dark chocolate (the higher the cocoa content the better — the layers will be sharper)
• 30 g butter
• 200 g heavy whipping cream (I used 34%)
• 50 g cream liqueur
• 8 g gelatine

For the milk chocolate mousse:

• 200 g milk chocolate
• 30 g butter
• 200 g heavy whipping cream (I used 34%)
• 50 g cream liqueur
• 8 g gelatine

For the white chocolate mousse:

• 200 g white chocolate
• 30 g butter
• 200 g heavy whipping cream (I used 34%)
• 50 g cream liqueur
• 8 g gelatine

Soak the chocolate sponge with liqueur (2–3 teaspoons). Put the sponge in the freezer.

Soak the gelatine in 50 g of the heavy cream. As it swells, thin it with water.

Whip 600 g of chilled cream thoroughly and put it in the fridge.

Now the dark chocolate mousse: break the chocolate into pieces and heat over a low flame with the butter, stirring constantly, until the chocolate has fully melted.

Add a third of the swollen gelatine and heat again (the gelatine must melt but not boil!). Pour in the cream liqueur, stir and let it cool a little.

Fold a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. It will become a little runny — that's normal, it will all set later.

Take the sponge out of the freezer. Line the inside of the tin with the stiff clear film (so the mousse doesn't leak). Spread the dark chocolate mousse over the sponge and level it with a spatula. Put in the freezer for 15 minutes.

While the sponge with the first layer is in the freezer, make the same mousse with milk chocolate.

Spread the milk chocolate mixture over the dark one. Back into the freezer for 15 minutes.

Make the white chocolate mousse.

Cover the cake with it too and put in the freezer, this time for half an hour.

While the "Three chocolates" cake is in the freezer, make the decoration: bring the cream and butter to the boil, add the white chocolate and melt the mixture. With less cream it will resemble butterscotch, with more it will spread over the cake like a glaze. Decorate the cake with the glaze and walnuts. Freeze for another hour. Take it out and remove the film.

Bon appétit!