This Walnut Meringue Cake With Chocolate Mousse is a decadent, elegant, and delicious cake that will win your heart forever.
This cake is part of the entremet cakes category, one of the best cakes I have ever had. The layers of meringue and chocolate mousse are easy to make, and the results are fabulous! Enjoy!
Best Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake
You need to try this recipe at least once in your lifetime. Decadent, delicious, and elegant, this cake fits for real in the “best cake with chocolate mousse category.”
I was inspired by my favorite Romanian baker Ana Consulea and her recipe and made this cake for my coworker who was celebrating his 40th birthday. It was a real hit!
The cake is not difficult to make, but it does require some time. All entremets are usually made by freezing parts or all layers during the process.
Basically, this is what takes most of the time as the rest is pretty easy to make if you follow the instructions.
What tools do you need for this cake:
- A 9×3 inch cake ring to build the cake, but if you don’t have one, a 9-inch springform will also be OK. (23 cm diameter)
- A kitchen scale– This is a professional cake that requires precise measurements. I know that the average American would not even look at this recipe because it is not in cups and teaspoons, but if you really want to make this awesome cake, a small investment in a scale would not kill you.
What is inside the cake:
- The base of the cake is a 9-inch(23 cm) walnut meringue cake layer. This layer can also be called dacquoise.
- The next layer is dark chocolate mousse.
- On top of the mousse, there is a 7-inch layer walnut meringue cake that will sit in the middle of the cake, like an insertion.
- The rest of the dark chocolate mousse is poured over. Then the entire cake is frozen.
- When ready to decorate, the cake is removed from the freezer and covered with a cocoa mirror glaze. Little walnut meringue baked previously will serve s decorations on the cake.
How to make the perfect meringue layers:
The secret is to bake the meringue cake layers at a low temperature (212F/100C) in the oven for about 90-100 minutes. If the heat is higher, the meringue will burn.
If the heat is too low, it will not set properly. The result has to be a thick, crunchy meringue layer that will add texture to the cake.
After you bake the layers, let them cool in the oven slowly. It works better if you make the meringue layers the night before, as you can leave them in the oven until the next day.
They will dry out, which is what we need.
The meringue is usually very sweet. Therefore dark chocolate works best for this cake as it balances its sweetness.
How to make the meringue layers:
Preheat oven to 212F/100C. Cover the bottom of a baking tray with parchment paper. Draw a 9-inch diameter circle on the parchment paper and also a 7-inch diameter one.
If you do not have enough space, use two baking sheets.
Separate eggs. In a large bowl, pour the egg whites and beat them with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
Slowly add sugar, about one tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar has been added. Add the vanilla.
Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy. Fold the ground walnuts into the eggs with a spatula.
Fill a 1-quart sealable plastic bag (or pastry bag) with the meringue. Seal the bag almost completely, leaving a small opening for air to escape from the top as you squeeze.
Snip off one corner of the bag with scissors, making a 3/4-inch-wide opening. Fold the top of the bag over a few times, then gently push the meringue down to the snipped corner.
Holding the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe the meringue inside the 9-inch circle and the 7-inch circle, starting from the middle and working your way out to the edges into a spiral.
Use a spatula to smoothen up the surface of the meringue. Pipe the leftover meringue into 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookie, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart.
Bake everything at 212F/100C for 90 minutes. Shut off the oven and let the meringue dry overnight, preferably.
You are basically done with the most complicated part of this cake, which was not very complicated, correct?
The chocolate mousse is easy to make, so please follow the instructions at the bottom of this post.
Also, you will find the instructions for the final layer of the cake, the one that will give the cake the beautiful shine, the mirror glaze.
These types of cakes are usually glazed and finished while still frozen unless the recipe says something different.
A few tips about the mirror glaze:
This is a glaze that used to be made only in professional kitchens, but in the last few years, people started to make it at home as well, and it suddenly became a trend.
Do not be afraid to make it, but make sure you read the instructions and follow them step by step.
Make sure you cool down the glaze to the right temperature(read the recipe card). You will need a thermometer for this step.
You cannot pour warm glaze over a frozen cake. If the glaze is too cold, it will harden right away because of the gelatin.
If it is too warm, it will melt the surface of the cake, and you will end up with a mess.
Come visit the Amazon Store For The Bossy Kitchen and find that perfect gift for a loved one.
It might become one of your favorite things to bake. It is a great way to impress, that’s for sure. You will be the star of the party with your walnut meringue chocolate mousse cake recipe!
Here is the exact cake I made on a different occasion.
Here is a section of the cake:
If you like this cake recipe, maybe you want to try some other recipes from my cake collection:
Classic European Chocolate Ganache Meringue Cake Recipe
Chocolate Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream
Walnut Meringue Cake With Chocolate Mousse
Equipment
Ingredients
Walnut Meringue Cake Layers:
- 7 ounces egg whites from 6-7 eggs
- 10.5 ounces powder sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
- 5.3 ounces ground walnuts
Chocolate Mousse:
- 10.5 ounces dark chocolate from 52% up
- 2 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 fl.oz. water
- 4.4 ounces granulated sugar
- 17 fl.oz. heavy cream
Cacao Glaze:
- 3.5 ounces granulated sugar
- 1.6 ounces unsweetened cacao powder
- 1.7 fl.oz. heavy cream
- 3.7 fl.oz. water
- 0.2 ounces gelatin sheets
Instructions
Walnut Meringue Cake layers:
- Preheat oven to 212F/100C.
- Cover the bottom of a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Draw a 9-inch diameter circle on the parchment paper and also a 7-inch diameter one.
- If you do not have enough space, use 2 baking sheets.
- Separate eggs.
- In a large bowl, pour the egg whites and add the vanilla.
- Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
- Slowly add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar has been added.
- Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy.
- Fold in the ground walnuts into the eggs with a spatula.
- Fill a 1-quart sealable plastic bag (or pastry bag) with the meringue.
- Seal the bag almost completely, leaving a small opening for air to escape from the top as you squeeze.
- Snip off one corner of the bag with scissors, making a 3/4-inch-wide opening.
- Fold the top of the bag over a few times, then gently push the meringue down to the snipped corner. Working with the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe the meringue inside the 9-inch circle and the 7-inch circle, starting from the middle and working your way out to the edges, into a spiral.
- Use a spatula to smoothen up the surface of the meringue.
- Pipe the leftover meringue into 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookies, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart.
- Bake at 212F/100C for 90 minutes. Shut off the oven and let the meringue dry overnight, preferably.
Dark Chocolate Mousse:
- Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Pour the heavy cream into the mixing bowl and whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
- Set aside.
- Mix water and sugar into a small pot and simmer it on the stove for few minutes to make a syrup.
- Meanwhile, beat the eggs and the egg yolk together with an electric mixer until fluffy.
- Reduce speed to low, and pour hot syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow, steady stream. Increase speed to high, and beat until mixture cools down.
- Melt the chocolate using a double boiler.
- Remove from the stove and let cool for 2 minutes. Add it to the whipped cream made earlier.
- Whisk the mixture vigorously to blend the ingredients together.
- Add the beaten eggs and mix.
- Set aside.
Assemble the cake:
- Grab a 9-inch cake ring or a 9-inch springform and place the 9-inch meringue layer on the bottom.
- Pour over half of the chocolate mousse and spread it even with a spatula.
- Add the 7-inch meringue layer in the middle.
- Pour over the rest of the chocolate mousse. Make sure the surface of the cake is smooth. Use a spatula.
- Place the cake ring/springform in the freezer. Freeze for few hours.
- When cake is solid frozen, remove it carefully from the cake ring/springform and glaze it.
Make the mirror glaze:
- In a medium pot place sugar, raw powder cacao, heavy cream, and water. Bring to a boil.
- Remove from the stove and let it cool to 104F/40C. This is important, so do not skip this step!
- Meanwhile, hydrate the gelatin sheets.
- Remove them from water and squeeze the excess.
- Add them to the glaze and mix vigorously with a hand blender.
- Place the frozen cake over a metal rack that sits on a baking tray.
- Pour the glaze over the cake starting from the middle and working your way towards the edges.
- Refrigerate the cake for at least half hour, so the glaze can set.
- Decorate with the little meringues and drizzle leftover glaze over them.
- Slice the cake and serve. Refrigerate the cake for up to 3 days.
Monday 29th of April 2019
Wednesday 17th of April 2019