(bday) chocolate and raspberry mousse cake

Since it's still my birthmonth, I thought I'd share a little birthday cake recipe. Or any-occasion cake recipe, really. The cake has a bit of a messy look to it, but I like that and it is really good!

I haven't really been baking a lot lately, so this is the last birthday cake I made for myself a few years back. I feel like I haven't been doing a lot of things I love doing (like baking) lately. Because I "have no time", which is such a weak excuse. In reality, I have all the time in the world. If I "have no time" to do something, it's most likely because all the time has gone into binge watching something. So clearly it is only about prioritizing. And I want to start doing more fun things - like baking!

This is how you make this

CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY MOUSSE CAKE:

For cake
6 eggs
2½dl sugar
2½dl plain flour
1dl (dark) cocoa powder

For mousse
500g (frozen) raspberries
2dl sugar
4 gelatine sheets
300g cream cheese
3dl double cream

For ganache
200g dark chocolate
2dl double cream
pinch of salt

I. To make the base, mix the eggs and the sugar into a light foam. Mix the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to the foam through a sieve. Carefully mix until smooth. Pour into a springform pan (about 20cm in diameter) and bake in a 175°C oven for 35-40min. Let it cool.

II. To make the raspberry mousse, you may have to first boil and then let the raspberries cool if you're using foreign ones or prefer to boil them anyway. Remove the seeds from the berries by pressing them into a bowl through a sieve. (This is all a pain, but necessary if you want to have the right texture.) Add the sugar to this raspberry puree. Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water as instructed in their packet. Squeeze the water out of the sheets. Heat up ½dl of the raspberry puree and mix the gelatine sheets into it. Mix the rest of the raspberry puree with the cream cheese, and then add the gelatine mixture. Whip the cream and fold into the mixture.

III. Cut the cake into three layers. Place the bottom one on a serving dish and put the sides of the springform pan around it. Pour half of the mousse onto the bottom layer and place the middle layer on top. Pour the rest of the mousse and place the top layer on top of it. Let the cake set in the fridge overnight.

IV. Remove the springform pan sides from around the cake, and pour the chocolate ganache onto the cake. Decorate with tiny meringues (use any meringue recipe you like, I make mine usually with the ratio of 2 egg whites:1dl sugar, and just added some red food colouring to make these pink!).

V. Enjoy!