How to make
For the chocolate meringue, preheat the oven to 270°F (130 degrees). Prepare the following things:
- Two wide trays covered with baking paper, lightly greased;
- Piping bag with a round, smooth tip with an approximate diameter of 5 mm.
In a large bowl, sift the cocoa along with 0.7 oz (20 g) of powdered sugar. Mix the remaining powder with the granulated sugar in a separate bowl.
Beat the egg whites in a perfectly dry bowl along with the drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. When they become foamy, start adding spoon by spoon of sugar to them, while beating constantly, until you get a smooth and thick meringue.
Pour the meringue into the bowl with the cocoa and mix with smooth movements from the bottom to the top until a smooth mixture is obtained. Use a silicone spatula for this purpose.
Put the chocolate meringue in the piping bag. Work quickly, while it's still airy, because it is very delicate and the cocoa loses its density very quickly.
Pipe it out on the baking paper in one tray - shape round thick disks with a diameter of 7″ (18 cm), which will be the cake layers. In the other tray, make small circles or canes (at a distance from each other) that will serve for decorating the cake.
Put the trays one below one another in the preheated oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 230°F (110 degrees). Bake them for 1 hour, then in a switched off oven for another 2 hours. You can also slightly open the door after the first 30 minutes.
For the mousse or ganache grate the dark chocolate or grind it in a blender, since scraping is quite time consuming.
Beat the yolks and add the milk and vanilla sugar. Put the mixture in a water bath at low to moderate heat and beat with a wire stirrer for 5 minutes or until it thickens.
During this time, hydrate the gelatin in cold water and when the yolk cream is ready, add the gelatin to it. Add the grated chocolate and mix well to melt and homogenize the cream. Remove it from the water bath and allow it to cool.
Whip the cream until it's creamy, without overdoing it and waiting for it to become fluffy, because there is a risk of it lumping up later.
Pour the creamy cream over the cooled chocolate ganache and mix with delicate movements until you get a fluffy homogeneous mousse.
Place one of the chocolate meringue disks on a cake platter or a flat plate. Add plenty of cream on top. Add the second disk, add cream once again and finally finish off by placing the third one on top. Spread the remaining cream on it and on the sides of the cake and smooth it out.
Glue the circles or sticks of chocolate meringue on the sides and crush as much as you have left on the cake.
Put it in the refrigerator to set before slicing and serving it.
Note: Meringue layer will soften and even melt slightly when left in the refrigerator, but this is the goal.
Try this incredibly successful chocolate cake, with a rich aroma and delicate texture.
Enjoy!
