The first time I ever had a cake presented to me in such a fashion was at Hinoki and the Bird. I wanted to recreate that same Devil’s Food Cake for years, and now I’ve finally done…. after they had already removed it from their menu. Oh well, at least it’s mine, and only mine. The two huge differences are that my mold is slightly different, and that I used salted caramel as a base for my mirror glaze.

For the cake, I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I only did 1/3rd of it, because I did not actually need that much cake to fit the mold. You will need seven cakes for the mold. Three rows of two, and then you will need to cut the seventh so that it will be as long as two cakes stacked on top of each other. I used the silicone candy bar molds to bake the cakes, so that they will be uniform and because I have used those before as well. What I love about this cake is that it is every chocolate lover’s wet dream. The chocolate mousse itself, it takes influences from namelaka cream, which is why I used the egg yolks to richen the chocolate’s texture. The cake itself is light and fluffy, while the glaze has notes of chocolate and caramel. Overall, this is the perfect cake to eat in place of a box of chocolates, which is why I wanted to share this recipe right before Valentine’s.

For the cake:
1 egg yolk
1 egg white
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
3 tablespoons cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lukewarm to warm water

Melt the chocolate chips with egg yolks, cocoa powder, and oil. Whip the egg whites with sugar, vinegar, and baking soda until it forms stiff peaks. Sift the flour. Fold ingredients together. Pipe into silicone bar molds and bake at 350 degrees F for 18 minutes. Cool entirely before removing the cake from the molds.

For the mousse:
1 cup dark chocolate
2 egg yolks
1 1/4 teaspoons gelatin powder + 1 tablespoon water
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
a pinch of salt

Bloom gelatin. Melt into the milk. Melt down the chocolate and egg yolks and combine with the gelatin and milk. Season with salt. Mix until smooth. Whip heavy cream until it reaches stiff peaks. Cool down the chocolate to room temperature, and fold the cream into it. Pour into the silicon mold. Press the cooled cakes into the mold and freeze for four hours.

For the mirror glaze:
1 cup dark chocolate
1 1/2 teaspoons gelatin powder + 1 tablespoon cold water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
a pinch of salt

Bloom gelatin in the water. Heat up sugar with salt until it begins to brown. Take off heat and add in the milk. Stir rigorously to incorporate together into a smooth, homogenous liquid. Melt the gelatin into caramel. Melt down the dark chocolate. Combine ingredients together. Strain. Keep lukewarm.

Assembly:
Remove the frozen mousse cake and place on a drying rack. Pour the glaze on top of the cake. Allow the cake to freeze again so that the glaze can set over the cake.