Week 20: Red beans and rice???

So this week I had several things on the schedule one of them being red beans and rice. Now I thought that this would be a great meal for us it has everything a person could want but in the end it was not really our cup of tea. I found a veggie version of this Creole classic on The Bicycle Chef. Since none of us (even Luca) liked this dish I will leave it to you to follow the link and make it if you want. I should note that this is not a case of the dish tasting bad it was just a flavour profile that we did not like. Do you like how  dropped the "flavour profile" like I was some host on The Food Network;-)

This week was also my mother's birthday and since they were going to be in town for a visit I decided to make her a nice meal. I made a lovely rack of lamb on the BBQ with a herb rub and a balsamic reduction. Since this was not technically a "new" recipe I won't go into the details. What I will talk about is the dessert I made. Now anyone who knows my mother knows she loves chocolate almost as much as she loves her 2nd son. So I wanted to make her something super yummy and super chocolate-y. I found a recipe for chocolate raspberry cake and it did not disappoint.

Here is what you will need

Chocolate Cake

12 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa (80 ml)

Raspberry Filling

1 cup raspberry jam
4 cups fresh raspberries

Chocolate Mousse

2 cups 35% cream
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup soft butter
5 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

This recipe was a little intimidating when I first looked at it but once I got going it was not so bad. To make the cake start by preheating the oven to 350'C and butter two 9 inch pans. I did not have 9 inch pans so I used a large pyrex pan. It also recommended lining the bottom of the pan with parchment. 
Beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, then sift and fold in the cocoa with a spatula. 
Beat egg whites until firm peaks form and then slowly add it to the chocolate mixture in 3-4 batches.
Add the batter to the cake pan and bake in the middle of the oven for ~20 mins or until it springs back when touched. 

The raspberry filling was super easy, just melt the jam and then gently stir in the raspberries. Since it is not raspberry season I used frozen berries and then worked very well.

Finally the mousse, boil the cream in a saucepan then remove from heat. Add the chocolate and let stand for a couple minutes. Whisk the ganache until smooth then add butter and let cool to room temperature. 
Beat egg whites to soft peak. Add sugar and continue to firm peak stage. Slowly add this to the ganache and mix gently. Keep in the fridge for an hour. 

Assemble the cake by putting a layer of mousse on the first layer of cake. Top this with some raspberry sauce and then add the other layer of cake. Repeat and you are done. 

Here are a couple of notes, first these ingredients make a boat load of mousse so either cut it in half or use half of it and save half for a snack the next day;-). Second, my mousse was a little runny so I would leave it in the fridge a little longer. Finally, the cake was a little underdone in the middle (might have been the big pan) so I cooked it for another 10-12 mins after it was done. 

Mark's thoughts: In the end it did not look at good but it tasted yummy.

Jamie's thoughts: I think she thought it was yummy but that the mousse was not that great.

Looks can be deceiving, it was much tastier then you think...