Chocolate entremet (mousse cake) with Amarena cherries

An entremet, or mousse cake, is a luxurious treat and a perfect way to end a dinner. It can also be made entirely in advance. Generally, an entremet consists of multiple layers where, typically, the outer layer consists of a mousse and the lowest layer of cake. The entremet is finished with a (mirror) glaze, or in this instance, with a layer of sprayed velvet cocoa butter.

This specific entremet consists of two layers of chocolate brownie as a base, sour Amarena cherries, and dark chocolate mousse. As the entremet consists of multiple layers that need to be frozen, this recipe cannot be made in a single day. The following steps need to be done:

• Day 1: Bake and freeze the brownie base.
• Day 2: Create the mousse and assemble the cake.
• Day 3: Unmold, spray and serve the cake.

For this recipe, some special equipment/ingredients are required:

• Entremet mold. For this recipe, I used a Silikomart “Saturn” Entremet mold. If you don’t want to buy a dedicated mold, you can also use a cake tin lined with acetate foil.
• A cake tin to bake the brownie, the tin should be slightly smaller than entremet mold. Of course, you can also use the entremet mold and cut the brownie to size.
• Fruit filling. We choose to go for sour Amarena cherries as they complement the richness of the brownie and mousse. Of course, you can substitute this for something else.
• Cocoa butter velvet spray. I usually use the spray colors from Modecor as they are available at my local supply store. Alternatives are available through Amazon, like from Silikomart Make sure you get a food-safe cocoa butter spray.

1. Making the entremet base (the brownie)

The brownie can best be made the day/evening before you want to assemble the cake. A fully frozen brownie base makes filling the entremet mold significantly easier.

This recipe makes enough for two small layers of brownie, based on the size of the entremet mold I used. You can bake the brownie at once and then cut in two, or bake the layers separately.

Ingredients

• 155 g butter
• 80 g fine sugar
• 90 g dark caster sugar
• 140 g eggs (whole)
• 70 g flour
• 1 g (coarse sea) salt
• 125 g dark chocolate

Required materials

• Handmixer or whisk (if done manually)
• Mixing bowl
• Silicon mold, baking mold (anything to bake the brownie in)

Steps

1. Bring eggs and butter to room temperature. This way, the ingredients will mix more evenly, and you lower the risk of getting lumps in the batter.
2. Preheat the oven to 160 °C.
3. Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and whisk until soft.
4. Add the dark caster sugar and whisk/mix until the mixture is light and fluffy.
5. Gently add the eggs in batches and whisk until the eggs are fully incorporated into the mixture.
6. Sieve the flour and sea salt, and add to the mixture.
7. Melt the chocolate (45 °C) over a double-boiler. You can also use a microwave for this step, but be gentle. Add the melted chocolate to the mixture.
8. Put the brownie mixture into the desired mold, this can be either a round cake pan or a silicone mold. For an entremet, you do not want the brownie to be too thick (7-10 mm will do). When you use a silicon mold, make sure that it is proper silicon and can withstand the temperatures of the oven.
9. Place the mold into the oven at 160 °C for 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of your tin. The brownie is done when the middle does not ‘wobble’ when you move the tin, the top has a paper-like crust, and the sides are starting to come loose from the tin. You can use a clean wooden skewer to test if the brownie is ready. The cake is ready when the inserted wooden skewer comes out clean from the center of the cake.
10. Let the brownie cool, and if needed, cut to size.
11. If you make one large brownie, create two thinner layers by cutting the brownie through the middle. If you make two individual brownies, bake the second one by repeating the steps above.
12. Wrap the two brownie layers in cling-film and store them in the freezer overnight.

2. Making the chocolate mousse

For the chocolate mousse, please refer to my crème anglaise based chocolate-mousse. Halve (50%) of that recipe is sufficient for a single entremet. You can easily scale up this recipe if you plan to make multiple entremets.

3. Assembling the cake

When the chocolate mousse is ready, it is time to assemble the entremet. Note that the chocolate mousse sets over time, so don’t wait too long between making the mousse and assembly of the cake.

1. Place a layer of chocolate mousse in the base of your mold. Then, with a spatula, spread the mousse around the sides of the mold and make sure that they are covered. This prevents holes in the outer mousse layer. Don’t forget the sides of the inner ring if you are using the “Saturn” mold.
   
   

   

2. Lay the first brownie layer on top of the chocolate mousse. Press gently to spread the chocolate mousse around the sides of the layers. Make sure that the brownie does not touch the sides of the mold.
   
   

   

3. If using, add the Amarena cherries on top of the brownie. Cover with chocolate mousse.
   
   

   

4. Add more mousse to the mold to fill all the sides. Spread the mousse on top and make it even using a spatula or palette knife.
   
   

   

5. Cover the filled silicone mold with cling wrap and put it in the freezer. Freezing will take at least 6 hours (varies on the size of your mold and temperature of the freezer). The mousse cake must be completely frozen before removing it from the mold.

4. Decorating the entremet

If using cocoa butter (velvet) spray, check the instructions on your spray. Most sprays need to be heated in water for at least 20 minutes. When the spray is up to temperature, you can continue with the entremet.

When the cake is completely frozen, remove the mold and put the cake on a bowl (or something else to raise it). With clean hands, you can carefully remove condensation from the entremet; this makes sure that the velvet spray sticks to the entremet.

Spray the mold with the cocoa butter spray and let un-freeze in the fridge.

Instead of the velvet spray, you can also cover the cake with a mirror glaze or keep the chocolate mousse as the outer layer. The velvet spray is just for show and does not add any significant flavor.

Just before serving, you can add any garnishes of your choosing. I opted for some chocolate decorations in green: