Gluten Free Chocolate Mousse Cake

Chocolate mousse. That lighter-than-air, seemingly miraculous dessert that’s the stuff of high-end restaurants and single-serve custard cups of sublime chocolatey goodness. I’d always balked at the idea of making it at home – intimidated by the technique or what I thought I needed to do to make it. But there are many ways to make a mousse! (feels like that should be a saying…) and this one is gosh darn easy as pie (or cake).

In times of isolation and social distancing, tracking those “safe” friends/folks in your bubble and making plans to get gussied up and cook a fancy meal add a bit more excitement to the COVID life. And boy did it add excitement. I made a trip to the Ferry Building farmers market to pick up the best tomatoes I could find, along with other needed ingredients, and splurged on filet mignon in a port cream sauce. I went all out with the farm-fresh potatoes, boiling them and then frying them off in Irish butter, duck fat, garlic, and parsley until they absolutely melted in your mouth. And tossed in fresh asparagus with lemon and butter as the “something green.” But the real prep happened the day before when I drafted, edited, and finalized the recipe for this end-of-dinner treat: a gluten free dark chocolate mousse cake with fresh raspberries and ganache. Because why the hell not.

The cake is triple the chocolate and triple the raspberries: four layers of deep dark chocolate cake, layered with raspberry jam and mashed fresh raspberries, and, of course, chocolate mousse, enrobed in more chocolate mousse and topped with chocolate ganache, more fresh raspberries, and powdered freeze dried raspberries. Plus, pouring loads of ganache over a mousse-covered cake is sooooo therapeutic – worth making for that bit alone. So why not kick start the week with this relatively-small cake that packs a big punch? Into chocolate as much as we are? Check out our other chocolate raspberry cake with chocolate cream cheese buttercream, or these chocolate truffle cupcakes, German chocolate cupcakes, peanut butter chocolate mud cookies, chocolate shortbread cookies, or these end-of-summer s’mores cupcakes!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Cake

This is hands down the most decadent cake: dark chocolate cake layered with fresh raspberries and chocolate mousse, topped with chocolate ganache

Prep Time3 hours hrs

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Chilling time3 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: birthday cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, ganache, gluten free, layer cake, mousse, mousse cake, raspberry

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 450kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Small saucepan
• Four 6-inch round cake pans
• Electric mixer

Ingredients

For the cake layers:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 Cup sour cream
• 3/4 Cup canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 3/4 tsp of it now)
• 1/2 Cup blanched almond flour
• 1 3/4 Cup white sugar
• 3/4 Cup dutched cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Cup piping hot coffee

For the chocolate mousse:

• 1/2 Cup hot coffee
• 1/4 Cup dutched cocoa powder
• 8 oz good quality dark chocolate (or mix of milk + dark)
• 2 Cups heavy cream
• 3/4 Cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the cake construction:

• 1 1/4 Cup fresh raspberries
• 3 Tbsp raspberry jam
• 2 Tbsp powdered, sifted, freeze-dried raspberries optional – for dusting

For the chocolate ganache:

• 1 Cup heavy cream
• 8 oz good quality dark + milk chocolate
• pinch salt

Instructions

To make the cake layers:

• First, make your cake layers! Preheat the oven to 300° F and grease three 9-inch round cake pans with either butter or cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry cake ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt).
• In a large bowl, whisk together the the eggs, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract until fully blended and creamy. Once combined, add in the dry ingredients and use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix. Fun step! Poor in that cup and a half of piping hot coffee and stir until fully combined (it’ll take some working). Pour cake batter evenly into the two greased cake pans and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cake layers cool completely before constructing cake.

To make the chocolate mousse (must chill for 2 hours):

• First, combine the hot coffee and the cocoa powder in a mug and stir to combine. Then set aside. In a double boiler (large metal bowl placed on top of a small saucepan with simmering water (medium heat)), melt the 8 oz of chocolate, stirring until smooth, then remove from heat and whisk in the coffee + cocoa powder mixture until combined. Set aside until nearly completely cool (you can put it in the fridge to expedite this).
• In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add in the vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar and continue to beat until medium-to-stiff peaks form (should be thick but not stiff). Once the chocolate mixture is nearly cool, fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream at a time until cream has been completely combined with the chocolate. Taste and determine if more salt or sugar should be added, then place bowl in the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours (you can make the mousse ahead of time and chill overnight).

To construct the cake:

• Before making the ganache, construct the cake. Remove mousse from fridge and, usinga. spoon or fork, scrape/fluff the mousse so that it is spreadable (do not stir/mix it). Carefully cut off the top of each of your cake layers so that they're completely flat (no bump). Place a cake layer on a plate or cake board and spread 1 Tbsp of raspberry jam on top. Then, in a small bowl, mash 3/4 cup of the fresh raspberries until they resemble jam, and spread about a tablespoon of that on top of the jam. Then pipe or spread a layer of mousse on top. Place the remaining layers of cake on top, repeating the jam + raspberry mush + mousse layering. Then use remaining mousse to spread around/frost the outside and top of the cake (this is a bit trickier than normal frosting, so it will take some working). Once cake is fully frosted, place in freezer for 1-2 hours to set.
• While cake is setting, make the ganache.

To make the ganache:

• Heat the cream in a glass bowl in the microwave for 45-90 seconds (watching to be sure it doesn't bubble over). Then pour chocolate into the hot cream and let sit fro 2-3 minutes. Then stir the cream and melted chocolate together until completely smooth (if the chocolate isn't fully melted, microwave for an additional 15 seconds and stir. Pour ganache into a large piping bag (do not cut the tip yet) and then place in the fridge to cool while the cake is in the freezer.

To finish the cake:

• Once the cake and the ganache have chilled, remove both from freezer and fridge and cut tip of piping bag (about 1/4 inch) and pipe/pour ganache over the top of the cake, either coating the entire cake or making layers of drips. Finally, top with the sifted, powdered freeze dried raspberries (blitz up freeze dried raspberries in a blender then sift), and use the extra fresh raspberries to decorate. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber