Chocolate Gingerbread Mousse Cake - indulgent gently spiced chocolate dessert
As part of making gingerbread I melt butter with black strap molasses, golden syrup, ground ginger and cinnamon. I tried adding chocolate to the mix when I first came up with the Spiced Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Ganache. I added other things to that cake. So wanted to use the simple combination of chocolate with gingerbread flavours in other things. I love it.
This cake has a biscuit base like a cheese cake. If you were looking for one with sponge cake layers, try this and just use gluten-free flour for the cake. You could add the gingerbread flavour to the chocolate mousse too. It really is yummy.
The chocolate gingerbread mousse is a paler shade of brown than my usual chocolate mousse. So it looks better if you decorate it with some grated chocolate and/or coloured sugar pearls or even sprinkles. It does look that bit more appealing with a bit of colour added. But the taste is great however you choose to present it.
I’ve given the yield here as an 8 inch pie. This is a good inch taller than the bitter toffee pecan cheesecake. The cakes you see in the photos are 4.5 inch in diameter and they are not tall. The recipe makes 4 of these individual-portion cakes. One did not survive long enough for the photos. Couldn’t resist.
Chocolate Gingerbread Mousse Cake
Yield: Serves 4 - 6
Suitable for: Gluten-free diet
Ingredients:
- 12 gluten-free ginger cookies
- 75g salted butter
- 150g pecan nuts
- maple syrup
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- 125g marscarpone
- 125ml double cream
- 50g 70% chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tap crude blackstrap molasses (treacle)
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 4 heaped tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional
- sugar pearls &/or grated chocolate for decoration, optional
Instructions:
Make & bake the biscuit base
Turn the oven on to 180° C. Place the pecans in a food mixer and mix until they are all chopped. Add in the ginger cookies and mix until everything is reduced to crumbs. Melt the butter the butter in the microwave - should only take about 20 seconds. Pour the melted butter into the mixer with a ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and mix again. If you are using unsalted butter mix in a good pinch of salt too. Taste and add in maple syrup as needed. I usually add in 1 - 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I sometimes add in a small pinch of salt even though I use salted butter. I like the sweet-salty mix. When you’ve got it tasting just how you like it, scrape the mix into a greased cake tin and pat flat to cover the base. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out and allow to cool completely in the tin.Make the Chocolate Gingerbread Mousse
Melt the unsalted butter over a gentle to moderate heat. When it has melted mix in 1 teapoon of ground ginger and 1 of ground cinnamon together with the molasses and golden syrup. Stir around until syrups have become less thick and everything is nicely blended together. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. While it still warm, but no longer hot, stir in the chopped dark chocolate until it is all melted and everything is well-combined. It is important that the mix is warm rather than hot because otherwise you risk siezing the chocolate - which means it develops a grainy texture that there is no fixing. Now, with the chocolate mixed in with the gingerbread flavours, taste. Doesn’t it taste great?- Next, you will need three bowls. One for eggs whites, one for the double cream and one for everything else. Separate your eggs. Egg whites in one bowl. Egg yolks in another. Add 3 heaped teaspoons of caster sugar together to the egg yolks and whisk until they are a creamy buttery colour and thickened. Whip the marscarpone into this mixture. When everything is blended, with a spatula fold in the melted chocolate gingerbread mix. Next, add a teaspoon of caster sugar to the bowl with the egg whites and whisk until they form soft peaks. In the third deep bowl, whisk the double cream until it begins to thicken, then, if using, add in the vanilla extract and whip until it forms very soft peaks.
- Now everything is ready to be combined. With a spatula take some of the whipped double cream and fold it into the chocolate-gingerbread mix. Repeat until you have folded all of the cream in. Then fold the egg whites in until everything is well mixed together. Spoon the mousse over the biscuit base and leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or preferably overnight, to set and for the flavours to develop.
Pretty it up
When ready to serve decorate the top of the cake with grated chocolate and/or some sugar pearls.
Enjoy!
