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Chocolate Dream Cake Tin (No-Bake Mousse and Ganache Cake)

Recipe by The Cozy Bowl Kitchen

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  • Total Time4 hours 50 minutes
  • Yield10 slices 1x

A no-bake chocolate cake with a biscuit base, a dark chocolate ganache layer, a light chocolate mousse and a thin brittle chocolate shell to crack through. Served with warm custard.

Ingredients

Scale

For the biscuit base

  • 250 g digestive or bourbon biscuits
  • 110 g unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt

For the ganache layer

  • 150 g dark chocolate (60 to 70 per cent), finely chopped
  • 150 ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp golden syrup

For the chocolate mousse

  • 200 g dark chocolate (60 to 70 per cent), chopped
  • 50 g milk chocolate, chopped
  • 450 ml double cream, well chilled
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the shell and finish

  • 100 g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tsp flavourless oil, such as sunflower
  • 2 tsp cocoa powder, for dusting

To serve

  • 500 ml fresh custard, warmed

Instructions

  1. Line the base and sides of a 20 cm loose-bottomed or springform tin with baking paper.
  2. Blitz the biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor, or crush them in a bag with a rolling pin. Mix with the melted butter and salt until evenly damp.
  3. Tip into the tin and press down very firmly with the back of a spoon to make an even, compact base. Chill for 20 minutes.
  4. For the ganache, put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the 150 ml cream in a small pan until steaming but not boiling, then pour it over the chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes without stirring.
  5. Stir from the centre outwards in small circles until smooth and glossy, then stir in the golden syrup. Pour over the chilled biscuit base, spread level, and chill for 30 minutes.
  6. For the mousse, melt the 200 g dark and 50 g milk chocolate together in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, or in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring between each. Remove while a few small lumps remain and stir until smooth.
  7. Leave the melted chocolate to cool until it is only just warm to the touch, around body temperature. This is essential.
  8. Whip the 450 ml chilled double cream with the icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks only. It should just hold a shape and flop over when you lift the whisk.
  9. Stir a third of the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate fairly briskly, to loosen it.
  10. Add the remaining cream and fold gently with a large metal spoon or spatula, cutting down through the middle, sweeping along the bottom and turning the bowl a quarter turn each time. Stop the moment it is uniform.
  11. Spoon the mousse over the set ganache and level the top. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
  12. Shortly before serving, melt the 100 g dark chocolate with the oil and leave to cool for 2 minutes. Pour it in a thin stream over the cold set mousse and tilt the tin to spread it no thicker than 2 mm. It will set in 2 to 3 minutes.
  13. Dust with sieved cocoa powder. Release the tin, crack the shell with a firm tap of a spoon, and slice with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between each cut.
  14. Serve with warm custard poured over.

Notes

The step that decides everything: Cool the melted chocolate until it is only just warm to the touch before folding in the whipped cream. Warm chocolate melts the air straight out of the cream and you get a dense chocolate pot instead of a mousse.

Soft peaks, not stiff: Whip the cream only until it just holds a shape and flops over. Over-whipped cream has to be beaten in rather than folded, which destroys the volume.

The sacrificial third: Stir a third of the cream into the chocolate briskly first. It loosens the chocolate so the remaining two thirds fold in smoothly without seizing.

No raw egg: This mousse is stabilised with whipped cream rather than raw egg, which makes it more stable, longer keeping and suitable for anyone avoiding raw egg.

Make ahead and freezing: Make it a day ahead and add the shell and cocoa shortly before serving. It also freezes well without the shell or dusting, wrapped well; thaw overnight in the fridge and finish before serving.

Keep the shell thin: No more than 2 mm. Thicker and it is genuinely hard work to break through with a spoon.

Variations: Use all milk chocolate in the mousse, increased by 30 g, for a sweeter version. Add 2 tbsp coffee or orange liqueur to the ganache, not the mousse. Spread a thin layer of salted caramel over the base before the ganache. Build in 6 glasses instead of a tin, which sets in about 2 hours.

Equipment: A 20 cm loose-bottomed or springform tin, baking paper, a food processor or rolling pin and bag, a heatproof bowl, an electric hand whisk, a large metal spoon or spatula and a small saucepan.

Please note: This is a fresh cream dessert. Keep it refrigerated and take it out only shortly before serving, as it will soften and slump within about half an hour in a warm room.

Allergen note: Always check the label of every ingredient you use, as recipes and allergen information can change. People with food allergies or intolerances must also consider cross-contamination.

Take particular care with the biscuits (wheat, often milk and soya), butter and double cream (milk), chocolate (milk, soya, and frequently a may-contain warning for nuts), and custard (milk, egg, wheat depending on type). Allergen information must be confirmed by The Cozy Bowl before it is relied upon.

This is a home recipe inspired by a dish or flavour available at The Cozy Bowl. It is not the restaurant’s exact commercial recipe.

Find it online: https://thecozybowl.co.uk/chocolate-dream-cake-tin/