Chocolate Mousse Cake ~ Almond Sponge Cake

When you have the best recipe for Vegan Chocolate Mousse you can basically turn your favorite cake layer recipe into the perfect Chocolate Mousse Cake

Typically you will see traditional chocolate mousse cakes using chocolate cake layers and sometimes vanilla cake layers

But today I am using this almond sponge cake recipe, which is a spinoff variation from my recent Pistachio Rose Cake

In this cake recipe it’s simple to substitute any nut you prefer if you don’t have one or the other

Chocolate and nuts are so good together and this almond sponge cake is proof of that

Both the cake and the mousse are not very sweet, leaving the buttercream icing as the perfect balance to this winning combination.

Two ingredient almond truffles for decor and I even found some vegan wafer cookies too!

I molded this cake into a ring mold with the with the layers as soon as the mousse was freshly made

But you can alternatively just fill the cake with mousse that is firmly set simply by piping the usual buttercream dam around each layer as you build.

Again as I mentioned you can use my best Chocolate Cake or Vanilla Cake recipe for the cake if Almond Sponge is not your thing.

I love the texture of this almond sponge cake though

Nut cakes always remind me of classic European geniose cakes especially because unlike most vegan cakes which can border on gummy

Nut cakes, while packed with moisture from all of that delicious nut fat, they are slightly more dry in texture

As any classic genoise sponge cake should be

And because of this, this style of cake does great with a soaking of Amaretto Simple Syrup!

While Disaronno Amaretto is vegan friendly, Of course if you do not do alcohol you can leave that out.

I used my Aquafaba Swiss Meringue Buttercream this time for a silky smooth icing that pairs with this cake and the chocolate mousse so beautifully!

The ganache topping was the excess I had leftover from the Vegan Ganache Recipe that I used to make those Amaretto Truffles

By substituting 1 tablespoon of the plant milk with Amaretto, I made a liquor infused ganache

But all the recipes are listed out below with the exact steps to follow to pull off this stunning cake with ease!

CHECK OUT THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW I MADE THIS CAKE!

Chocolate Mousse Cake ~ Almond Sponge Cake

 

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Prep time

4 hours

Bake time

30 mins

Total time

4 hours 30 mins

 

I use 7" cake pans for most of my layer cakes, but this recipe listed below will convert easily to 2-8" cake layers with no changes to the recipes.
The time listed for this cake project is a rough estimate. Since I do these Building on Recipes Projects I make some of the recipes in advance, like the almond sponge cake I made 3 days ahead and kept it in the refrigerator wrapped until I built the cake.
The buttercream can be made up to 1 week ahead and then re-whipped upon using.
The ganache can also be made up to 1 week ahead.

Serves: Serves 10 people

Ingredients

• For the Almond Sponge Cake
• Vegan Butter 1 cup (226g)
• Granulated Sugar 2 cups (400g)
• Golden Flax Meal 3 Tablespoons (24g)
• Hot Water 6 Tablespoons (90ml)
• Vanilla Vegan Yogurt *any brand ½ cup (150g)
• Plant Milk *I am using soy milk 1 cup (237ml)
• Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
• All Purpose Flour 3 cups (375g)
• Baking Powder 1 teaspoon (6g)
• Baking Soda (6g)
• Salt ½ teaspoon (3g)
• Raw Unsalted Almonds 1½ cups (225g)
• For the Chocolate Mousse
• Semi Sweet Vegan Chocolate 8ounces (226g)
• Hot brewed coffee 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
• Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
• Aquafaba *Chickpea Water from Canned Chickpeas ¼ cup (60ml)
• Agar powder ⅛ teaspoon *see note above
• Granulated Sugar 4 Tablespoons (50g)
• Cream Of Tartar ¼ teaspoon
• Coconut Milk Full Fat 1- 15ounce can (*refrigerated overnight)
• For the Amaretto Chocolate Ganache
• Semi Sweet Vegan Chocolate 4 ounces (113g)
• Plant Milk * I prefer to use soy milk 6 Tablespoons (90ml)
• Amaretto 2 Tablespoons *optional- if not using replace with more plant milk
• For the Simple Syrup
• ½ cup water
• ½ sugar
• 2 Tbs Amaretto *optional
• 1 Recipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Instructions

1. For the Cake Batter Be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before beginning.
2. First prepare your cake pans with professional bakery pan grease and parchment paper lining.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F
4. Combine the flax meal & hot water together in a small bowl and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes.
5. Grind the almonds in a food processor or chop as fine as possible by hand with a knife, set aside
6. Combine the plant milk & yogurt with the vanilla and set aside.
7. Sift the flour with the salt, baking powder & baking soda
8. In a large mixing bowl, cream the vegan butter and sugar on medium to high speed until light & fluffy, this may take 3-5 minutes.
9. Scrape the bottom & sides of the bowl from time to time to ensure an even mix.
10. Add the flax paste to the creamed mixture and then whip on high for 20 seconds to emulsify
11. Turn the speed back down to low and add ⅓ of the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until it is combined
12. Add half of the plant milk/yogurt mixture and mix just until combined
13. Repeat with another ⅓ of the dry ingredients, the other half of the plant milk and then the last of the dry ingredients.
14. add the finely ground almonds and mix well
15. Portion the batter into your prepared pans and bake in the preheated 350°F oven for 25 minutes.
16. Turn the oven temperature down to 300° and bake for another 15-20 minutes or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, no raw cake batter.
17. *I turn the oven temp down half way through because this is a very thick cake layer I do not want it to over brown on the outside & edges while the inside batter cooks
18. Cool the cakes in the pans until they are cool to the touch, then flip them out onto a wire rack to cool the rest of the way
19. Be sure to remove the parchment paper lining.
20. Prepare the buttercream recipe of your choice and set it aside
21. Prepare the Chocolate Ganache by chopping the chocolate to same sized small pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl.
22. In a small sauce pot heat the plant milk to just below a boil then pour it over the chocolate in the bowl, add the Amaretto *if using and whisk everything smooth to melt.
23. Allow to set at room temperature *or speed it up in the refrigerator to make the truffles
24. The truffles are simply scoops of set ganache rolled into chopped almonds
25. Prepare the Chocolate Mousse
26. Combine the hot coffee and the agar powder and whisk smooth. Keep it warm or the agar will set and you will have to remelt.
27. Meanwhile open the can of coconut milk that has been refrigerated overnight and carefully scoop out the fat that is on top and place in a mixer with a whip attachment
28. Whip the coconut cream to soft peaks and reserve in the refrigerator
29. Melt the chocolate in a large bowl over a double boiler or in a microwave safe bowl
30. Add the hot brewed coffee with the agar and the vanilla extract to the melted chocolate all at once while whisking vigorously to incorporate well.
31. Cool the chocolate mixture to about 80°F or tepid to the touch or your whipped coconut cream will melt back to liquid.
32. Add the reserved whipped coconut cream and whisk smooth
33. Whip the aquafaba/agar with the cream of tartar to stiff peaks while adding the sugar very slowly
34. Take a small portion of the AF meringue and fold into the chocolate mixture to lighten.
35. Fold in the rest of the AF gently
36. At this point you can allow the mousse to set in the refrigerator to a scoop-able consistency to build the cake, or set the cake up in a ring mold and pour the freshly made mousse into the mold with the layers and allow everything to set together. *as you will see in the video how I did that
37. Once the mousse is set proceed to assemble and ice the cake as shown in the video tutorial

Notes

Chocolate Mousse Cake ~ Almond Sponge Cake must be kept refrigerated but can be kept at room temperature for an hour before serving.

Store for up to 1 week wrapped loosely to prevent drying

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For more cake recipes like this one click the links below!

HAZELNUT TRUFFLE CAKE

OPERA CAKE

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER MOUSSE CAKE