ffwd - michel rostang's double chocolate mousse cake

I might as well just say it - this was delicious! I'll leave it for a bit to talk about which version/presentation I liked better, but honestly, this was a cake of seriously yummy, chocolately, goodness. At first I thought - oh, another flourless chocolate cake... that can't be bad. As I looked at the recipe...the versions...the fussiness steps...I was uncertain. One of the things I find about "Dorie" recipes is that sometimes there's an awful lot of waiting (think speculoos and all that time in the freezer, or the crust for the mustard tart). So there's really not that instant gratification that I'm occasionally looking for. But then... but then... often, things are well worth the wait. And that this was.



such simple ingredients: bittersweet chocolate, eggs, butter, sugar and a little coffee

 

stirring a bit of coffee into the melty chocolate

 

next the butter,

 

then some sugar,



egg whites ready to fold in (I have to admit, I was close to over-doing them, but they worked)



first dollop of whites, almost incorporated

 

then it's fast-forward to the twice-baked cake
I decided to do the twice baked, although I tasted the un-cooked mousse, and it was quite nice
this is where I used both the parchment to line the sheet, as well as a round parchment the size of the pan
I wanted to use the round one because I couldn't quite work out how I was going to get it to a serving plate!



and the finished cake!!

Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry to try it (I had grand plans of first tasting it after it was chilled per Dorie's favorite version, but no.... the aroma coming from the oven was too much for me!) I pretended that it was all in the pursuit of food science that I should first taste the cake warm, then chill it for the perfect cake. In my haste, I didn't really think about contrast on the plate - so anyone who's seen any other posts, might recall that I have a set of beautiful dark brown dishes... food science may have been served, but I'm not really much of a designer, I find.



oops on the plate design!

 All of that said, my impatience actually paid off. I loved, loved, loved the cake warm. In my instance, I could better realize the difference between the layers (which disappeared when it was chilled) - the bottom layer was slightly chewier, whereas the top stayed light and fluffy - just barely cooked through - obviously mousse.

I also had to resort to sharing. I couldn't trust myself to put the leftovers in the freezer to be judiciously meeted out one decadent biteful at a time... no, I really needed to share! Of course, the upside is that it tends to increase my popularity.
In the end... I will certainly make this again. I would likely serve it warm (knowing that any remainders would be terrific the next day!) - and I completely understand why they make this as tarts at Chez Rostang. Yet another good reason to search for those really cool rings that restaurants use! Besides, individual desserts are charming.

Now I just need to figure out when to make it next!!