Chocolate and Orange Mousse Cake

Last year the BBC presented its best series so far: The Great British Bake Off. In the series was Mary-Anne Boermans, whose creativeness just stuck with me. This is her recipe, but I slightly adjusted the Joconde sponge quantity as for me it was just too much....my sponge was  too thick therefore I couldn't bend it...it broke into pieces.

I made this cake for my husband's birthday party but I used the dreadful supermarket's food colouring....as the stripes meant to be orange.........and I clearly hasn't achieved that effect (at that time I tough it was my fault), but the cake was divine.

Half of the Joconde décor paste will be left over, but necessary to make this amount to create the waves....but the good news is:you can freeze it and keep it in the freezer for a month. I did it and when I made my Individual Strawberry Cakes, they were like a new batch of paste.

Chocolate and Orange Mousse Cake

Joconde décor paste
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g icing sugar
100g egg whites
110g plain flour
orange food colouring
2tbs melted butter

Joconde sponge
135g egg whites, at room temperature
20g granulated sugar
170g ground almonds
170g icing sugar, sifted
4 large eggs
30g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
65g clarified butter, melted


Chocolate and orange mousse
1 orange, zest and juice
1 tsp powdered gelatine
175g plain (60%+) chocolate, broken into pieces
2 large eggs, separated
300ml double cream, whisked to soft peaks

To decorate

300ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 220°C, 200°C Fan
Line two 45cm x 30cm (half sheet) baking trays with baking parchment and brush with the melted butter.

Make the joconde paste:

• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then gradually add the egg whites, beating continuously.
• Fold in the sifted flour then add the food colouring.
• Spread the paste on the buttered baking paper and using a cake comb create a pattern through the coloured stencil paste. To help visualize I found this in a book...Hope it helps , it certainly helped me:(although I used baking paper not Silpat like on the pictures)

• Make the joconde sponge:
• Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
• Add the granulated sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks are formed.
• Scrape the meringue mixture into a bowl and cover with cling film to prevent the meringue collapsing.
• Beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs in the bowl for 5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Turn the speed down to low and mix in the flour and cocoa powder.
• Gently fold in the meringue mixture using a large spatula.
• Put the melted butter in a small bowl and mix in a cupful of the sponge batter. Pour this back into the mixing bowl and gently fold into the rest of batter.
• Remove the baking trays with the decor paste from the freezer.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two baking trays, spreading it smoothly over the decorations and into the corners ensuring it is level. An offset spatula is useful for this.
• Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the sponges are cooked and springy to the touch and have shrunk away from the edges of the pan.
• Turn out by covering the sponge with a sheet of parchment then flip the baking tray over onto the work surface. Peel off the paper to reveal the pattern, and lay it lightly on top of the sponge. Leave to cool.
• When cooled, cut strips of sponge to line the sides of the cake tin, ensuring the pattern is facing outwards against the sides of the tin. Cut a circle of sponge to line the base and lay it patterned-side down, in the bottom of the tin. Cut a second circle to make the top of the cake and set aside.

• Make the mousse:
• Pour the juice from the orange through a fine sieve into a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Set the mixture aside for three minutes then place the bowl over a small pan of simmering water, taking care the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, and stir gently until the gelatine has dissolved.
• Place the chocolate in a large bowl and melt it in the microwave, stirring every 45 seconds.
• Mix the orange zest and egg yolks into the melted chocolate, then stir in the gelatine mixture and fold in the whipped cream.
• Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks then gently fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mousse into the tin, level the surface and place the remaining sponge circle on top, pattern uppwemost and chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
• To decorate:
• Release the sides of the springform tin and peel off the acetate/silicon. Transfer to a serving plate .
• Whip the double cream to stiff peaks (be careful not to over-beat) and pipe swirls around the edge of the mousse cake(or cover the whole cake like me).