Chocolate cake to die for

~ Liz A

My son-in-law wanted to have a many-layered chocolate cake for his birthday, so I dug up a recipe by Wolfgang Puck on the Internet and modified it (natch). I’m pretty sure I’ll be making it again, so here’s the cake (before trimming and after frosting) …

and the recipe …

17-layer cake (8 layers of sponge cake, 8 layers of mousse, 1 layer of ganache)

  • Cake
  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 2/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup almond meal
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • vanilla extract to taste
  • Mousse (and possibly jam for layering)
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 11 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips, melted (72% if possible)
  • 1 1/3 cups heavy cream, whipped
  • Ganache
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  1. To prepare the cake: preheat the oven to 375 degrees
  2. Spray two (12 by 18 by 1/2-inch) baking sheets with flour cooking spray, line with parchment paper and flip to expose the sprayed side of the paper.
  3. In largest mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks and granulated sugar. Cook over a double boiler while whisking until triple in volume, and until the mixture reaches 110 degrees F (doesn’t take long)
  4. In Kitchenaid mixer beat the egg whites until soft peaks. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until stiff but still shiny.
  5. Whisk 1/4 of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture.
  6. Combine the flour, cocoa, almond meal and salt. Gradually fold the flour into the egg mixture. Gently fold the remaining meringue into the mixture.
  7. Divide batter evenly into the two greased baking sheets and spread evenly to the edges of the parchment. Smooth out the top (it won’t settle during baking)
  8. Bake for 6 minutes, rotate pans, bake 4 more minutes (watch for burning). Flip cakes onto clean baking sheets lined with fresh parchment paper and peel off the baking parchment while the cakes are still warm. Allow to cool completely.
  9. To prepare the mousse: in a saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Lower to a simmer and keep on burner.
  10. In largest mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks on high speed until light and ribbony. Lower the speed and whisk in the hot syrup. Continue to beat until slightly cool. Fold in the melted chocolate.
  11. Whip cream in Kitchenaid and fold into mousse.
  12. Refrigerate mousse until cake is completely cool. Consider whether to add thin layers of raspberry jam to some of the layers.
  13. To assemble the 16 layer cake: Cut each cake into 4 pieces (6 x 7.5 inches).
  14. Place the first layer of cake on a piece of cardboard covered with freezer paper turned shiny side out. Spread 1/8 of the chocolate mousse evenly over the cake. Top with another layer of cake and mousse. Repeat until you have 8 layers of cake and 8 of chocolate mousse. Chill for at least ½ to 2 hours in fridge.
  15. Trim off about 1/4-inch from all the sides with a serrated knife that has been dipped in hot water (you don’t really need to saw through). Have a large plate or bowl ready to catch the trimmings and a towel to keep rinsing and wiping off the knife.
  16. Chill until cake sets … about half an hour.
  17. To prepare the ganache: bring the cream to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
  18. Spread the ganache to evenly cover the top and sides of the cake. Insert candles before refrigerating.
  19. Put leftover ganache on trimmings and refrigerate for taste testing.
  20. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

P.S. I did try making a vanilla cake version when we were in St Louis last week. Unfortunately, the sponge cake recipe I used was a little too heavy and didn’t cut cleanly, and I ended up with 6 cake layers instead of 8, so maybe I’ll try 1/3 cup each of flour and almond flour. That said, I didn’t hear any complaints …

Trimmings

and for sure there were no leftovers!

25 thoughts on “Chocolate cake to die for”

  1. Good thing you can’t see me drooling over here! My niece once made a desert with ganache, that she created the recipe herself (this was many, many years ago) – so good, we remember it to this day!

    That first pic looks like a place for an archeological dig! Or the cliffs in Utah…or maybe some petroglyphs might appear around the corner of that tall cake!

    Yum, yum, yum!

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    1. Following recipes isn’t my strong suit, so I was skeptical when I hit the “cliffs in Utah” stage … but I was pleasantly surprised by how easily the cake trimmed up (the first time anyway)

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  2. Seventeen layers!!! You are a baking star! (and here I was feeling good about making muffins last week!). One of the most enjoyable things during lockdown was moon becoming a baker. Although my jeans are probably a lot happier now that he’s gone off to college.

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    1. I live for events that give me an excuse to bake … back in my teaching days Don would come into the kitchen and ask “who are you baking for this time?” … at Christmas the answer was always “all the teachers, staff, and their kids (as I proudly surveyed chocolate chip cookies on every horizontal surface in the kitchen)

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    1. the recipe was a personal indulgence, including references to which of my bowls to use for future reference … I confess I’m a bit disappointed that Parker has opted for a traditional chocolate layer cake with vanilla icing, but I will be on the lookout for future opportunities to bake this one!

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  8. What a splendorous cake! It reminded me of a cake I had when we first moved to TN, TN apple stacked cake but this one, all in chocolate far surpasses. The patience to make all of the layers in this cake is beyond me…what a gift for your son-in-law and all those who enjoyed this luscious offering…since we “eat with our eyes first”, let me just say that I so enjoyed this truly celebratory cake! it was a wonderful treat just to see it…

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  10. Oh my Liz, all that work. But it sure looks like it was worth the effort. There wouldn’t have been any leftovers with my crowd either. LOL 

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