Ingredients
Scale
For Sponge:
- 190 g Flour
- 190 g Sugar
- 40 g Natural cocoa powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 110 g Oil
- 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 200 ml Milk
- ½ tsp Vanilla Essence
- ½ tsp Salt
- 5 g Instant Coffee Powder
For Mousse
- 160 g Milk couverture chocolate
- 7 g Instant Coffee Powder
- 80 g Fresh Cream
- 400 g Non-Dairy Whipping cream
For Soaking Syrup
- 40 ml Rum
- 100 ml Water
- 1+1/2 tsp Instant Coffee Powder
For Garnishing
- Roasted Almond Flakes
- Coffee Beans
Equipment required
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Digital weighing scale
- Bowls and spoons
- Spatula
- Sieve
- 6-inch aluminum tins
- Turntable
- Cake Board
- Palette knife
- Pastry brush
- Serrated knife
- Piping bag
- Butter paper
- Otg/oven
- Microwave
Instructions
Method for sponge:
- Preheat the oven at 180 (otg mode: upper rod + lower rod + fan). Grease and line two 6-inch aluminium tins with oil and butter paper.
- Now sieve all the dry ingredients in a bowl, ie. Flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt.
- In another bowl, collect all the liquid ingredients, i.e., milk, vinegar, oil and vanilla essence.
- Now mix dry ingredients into liquid ingredients gradually and form a batter.
- Pour the batter equally into two 6-inch greased tins and bake it at 180c (otg mode: lower rod only) for 35 -40 mins until the toothpick comes out clean.
Method for Soaking Syrup:
- Mix all the ingredients to make syrup.
Method for Mousse:
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave.
- Warm cream and coffee together in the microwave.
- Mix the cream and melted chocolate together to get a smooth ganache.
- Beat whipping cream till you get soft peaks. Now, fold the ganache into the whipping cream to make the mousse.
Method for Roasted Almond Flakes:
- Take a baking tray lined with a silicon mat.
- Spread some almond flakes on the mat and bake them in the oven at 200C (preheating mode) for 5-8 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
Assembly
- Demould the cake and divide them into two layers.
- Take the cake board on the turntable and put some mousse on the centre of the board.
- Place a layer of the sponge and soak it with the soaking syrup.
- Now, pipe the mousse and smooth it out with the help of a palette knife.
- Place a 2nd layer of sponge and repeat the same process as above with the remaining sponge layers.
- Now, pipe a thin layer of mousse on top and the sides of the cake to crumb coat it. Let it set in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
- Now, frost the cake properly from the top and sides.
- To decorate it, stick the roasted almond flakes on the sides.
- Lastly, give a wavy pattern with a serrated knife on the top and place coffee beans randomly.
Notes
- Do not overbake the sponge, as that will make the cake chewy and may have a burnt taste.
- You may use milk compound chocolate in place of couverture.
- If you like a more dense chocolatey flavour, you can use dark couverture /compound in the mousse. It will change the flavour and colour (overall look of the cake) as per dark chocolate.
- You can skip adding rum to soaking syrup if you do not wish to use alcohol. Or, you can use a few drops of rum essence too.
- Use the whipping cream cold, but ensure it has been thawed well from the freezer. It should be beaten in cold bowls, and after a few minutes of beating, the cream starts to form peaks.
- Once peaks appear, tilt the bowl to check if there is no loose cream left and if it’s all beaten. Do not over-beat the cream as then the cream may appear grainy.
- When adding ganache to whipped cream, it should be very lightly warm. Since whipped cream is cold, it may seize the chocolate into small grains if the ganache is not warm.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Assembly Time: 30-40 minutes
- Cook Time: 35-40 minutes