I make a lot of desserts but I’ve never made mousse before. I wanted to change that. So I decided to make a triple chocolate mousse cake!
This cake was easy to make, there was no baking involved and the taste was SO GOOD.
It was so light and the chocolate flavour was so…..chocolaty, I loved it.
Video Tutorial
Breakdown of the triple chocolate mousse cake
So this cake is very easy to make, but there are a few different parts to it.
This first part is the biscuit base, I made this with Oreos, but any biscuit could be used.
My initial plan was to add a layer of chocolate cake instead of a biscuit base. This would’ve tasted great but I wanted to keep this a no-bake dessert, so I went with an Oreo base instead.
Then you’ve got the 3 different mousse layers, a dark chocolate mousse, a milk chocolate one and then a white chocolate one.
Each layer has the same ingredients and quantities, just some chocolate, whole milk and double cream. The only difference is that we’re using a different kinds of chocolate for each layer.
Then finally, I dusted the top of the cake with some cocoa powder. This was just for aesthetic purposes to be honest, it’s not needed!
Ingredients for the mousse
There are so many different ways to make mousse, this is why it has taken me so long to make it.
The ingredients in every recipe are so different, the method is always different….this has always had me in confusion, how am I supposed to know where to start ???
So for this cake, all I knew was that I wanted to keep it simple and that I also didn’t want to use gelatin.
Here are the ingredients you are going to need:
Chocolate
Most chocolate mousse recipes that I see always say that you need to use high quality chocolate.
Using a high quality, more expensive chocolate will make this mousse cake taste more expensive too.
With that being said though, I didn’t use the highest quality chocolate, I just used Sainsbury’s brand chocolate and the cake still tasted amazing.
So use whatever chocolate you want, it will still taste good. You don’t need to break your bank for this mousse cake.
Whole milk
This first step in making the mousse is to melt together the chocolate and the milk.
We’re essentially making a ganache, but with milk instead instead of cream.
You could use cream here, but I found that it made the mousse a little too thick. I didn’t love the texture of it this way.
So I used milk for the ganache. Make sure to use whole milk. It doesn’t work well with other kinds.
The double cream
This is the main ingredient, it is what’s going to give the mousse it’s light airy texture.
If you’re thinking WHAT THE HECK IS DOUBLE CREAM, you might refer to it as heavy cream. They’re the same thing.
If you live in a place where double or heavy cream isn’t available. Whipping cream should work too.
But I’ve not actually tried using whipping cream so please if it doesn’t work, you didn’t hear me say this.
The dark chocolate layer
I just wanted to give a warning, the dark chocolate layer is bitter.
The mousse for each layer has no sugar in it, the sugar from the chocolate is what is sweetening this mousse cake.
So the dark chocolate mousse is bitter, it taste’s just like dark chocolate.
I like the taste of dark chocolate, so I liked this strong taste but I know that not everyone does.
If you wanted to make it less bitter, mix some icing/powdered sugar into the mousse. Just add the sugar to taste.
Or instead, just don’t make the dark chocolate layer, leave it out. You can have a double chocolate mousse cake instead, one that is made with just milk and white chocolate!
A few tips
Chill your ganache before adding it into the whipped cream
To make the mousse, all you need to do is make the chocolate ganache, then separately whip some cream. Once this is whipped, mix the ganache and whipped cream together.
Make sure to let the ganache cool down in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes before adding it into the whipped cream. If you add it in straight away, the whipped cream will melt.
Don’t over-whip the mixture once you add the ganache
Once you add the ganache to the whipped cream, you want to mix just until it has all been incorporated, and you have a smooth slightly thick mixture.
I’ve found that if you continue mixing it for too long, the mixture can end up splitting a little.
If it does slightly split, don’t worry. Just carry on and add it into your tin, once it has set it will be fine!
Freeze each layer before adding another
In order to get perfect even layers, you need to freeze each layer for about 10 minutes before adding the other one on top.
If not, the layers will just end up mixing together. It’s not a huge deal if they do mix though, it will still taste the same.
If you see that they start mixing, just get a knife and swirl everything together, then tell everyone the swirl was intentional.
Use a loose bottom/springform tin
Using a loose bottom or springform cake tin will make it much easier to get this cake out of the tin. So I recommend using one.
To prepare the tin, I added a circle of baking paper to the bottom of the tin and then I cut 2 strips of baking paper and stuck these to the sides, just with some butter!
Leaving the mousse to chill
The last step in making this cake is to leave it in the fridge to set up, for at least 2 hours. I just left mine in the fridge overnight.
Please don’t try skipping this, the mousse cake will be too soft at first. It will just squish if you try cutting it.
Also the texture is much better after it has been chilled. So make sure to chill it!
Here are some other no-bake recipes you might also like:
Triple Chocolate
Mousse Cake
Ingredients
- For the biscuit base:
250g Oreos
80g unsalted butter, melted
- For the dark chocolate mousse:
180g dark chocolate
140ml whole milk
280ml double cream
- For the milk chocolate mousse:
180g milk chocolate
140ml whole milk
280ml double cream
- For the white chocolate mousse:
180g white chocolate
140ml whole milk
280ml double cream
Plus some cocoa powder to dust on top
Directions
- Start by greasing and lining the bottom and sides of an 8 inch loose bottom/springform cake tin with baking paper.
- Making the biscuit base:
- Crush your Oreos until you get fine crumbs. You can either do this in a food processor or just put them in a food bag and hit them with a rolling pin.
- Mix the crushed Oreos with the melted butter, then add this into your cake tin and press it down until you get an even compact layer.
- Making the dark chocolate mousse:
- In a bowl, add the chocolate and milk. Heat this in your microwave for 30 seconds, then take it out and give it a stir. Place it back in the microwave for 15 seconds, then take it out and stir again. Keep repeating this until all the chocolate has melted. Leave this in your fridge to cool down.
- In a separate bowl, whip your double cream until you get soft peaks.
- Pour the cooled chocolate/milk mixture into this and whisk just until it has all combined. This mousse is bitter. If you don't like the bitterness of dark chocolate, you can either add some icing sugar to the mousse, or just not make the dark chocolate layer and have a double chocolate mousse cake instead.
- Add this into your tin and spread it out. Leave this in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Making the milk chocolate mousse:
- Just like the dark chocolate mousse, melt together the chocolate and milk. Leave this to cool in the fridge.
- In a separate bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks, then add the chocolate/milk mixture to this.
- Once the surface of the dark chocolate mousse feels firm, add the milk chocolate mousse over it and spread it out. Leave in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Making the white chocolate mousse:
- Once again, melt the chocolate and milk, leave this to cool. Then whip the cream and add the chocolate into this.
- Once your milk chocolate layer has set up a bit, add the white chocolate mousse over it and spread it out.
- Now cover the tin with some cling film and leave the cake to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours, I just left it in the fridge overnight.
- Once it has set, take it out of the tin, dust some cocoa powder over it and enjoy!
Hi Ash, this looks absolutely incredible and I would love to make it. I’ve just got a question about sizing, as there are only two of us in the house – do you think it could be scaled down at all? If not I may have to just go the whole hog and eat it all.. thank you!
Author
yesss you could half or even quarter the recipe. I’d recommend using a smaller cake tin though, maybe a 6 inch one!
Thank you! Fingers crossed, I’ll report back 🙂