Chocolate Mousse Cake With Strawberries

Prep Time: 1 hour & 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Chilling Time: 5 hours & 30 minutes
Total Time: 7 hours & 25 minutes
Servings: 10 slices

This chocolate mousse cake features three indulgent layers of rich chocolate goodness. You’ve got a soft and moist chocolate cake at the bottom, followed by a light and airy whipped chocolate mousse, and topped off with a luscious fudgy chocolate ganache. To add a delightful touch, it’s garnished with fresh strawberries, bringing a burst of color and fruity flavor to every slice!

Why you'll love this recipe:

Soft and moist chocolate cake. An easy-to-make chocolate cake base that comes together quickly and stays soft when chilled because it's made with oil instead of butter.Chocolate ganache topping. It's a rich and silky layer of chocolate to finish off the cake in an elegant way.
Fresh strawberries. A perfect pairing with chocolate.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:

120 g all-purpose flour
50 g natural cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
50 g granulated sugar
50 g brown sugar
120 g light-tasting oil
220 g milk, room temperature

Chocolate Mousse:

450 g whipping cream or heavy cream, divided into 200g & 200g
250 g dark or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Chocolate Ganache Topping:

200 g whipping cream or heavy cream
200 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Filling & Topping
12 fresh strawberries, halved, plus more for topping

Directions:

Chocolate Cake:

Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set aside a 9" springform pan. It's not necessary to line the pan with parchment paper but you can if you want to.
Flour mixture: In a small bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Egg mixture: In a large mixing bowl, add the egg, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Whisk together until well-combined. Add the oil and whisk again until smooth and combined.
Alternate adding flour and milk: Add half of the flour mixture and mix until barely combined. Add half of the milk and mix again until barely combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk and mix until just combined into a thick but fluid batter.
Fill pan: Pour the batter into your springform pan. You can either add cake strips to the outside of the pan to help prevent the cake from doming or just level the cake after it has been baked.
Bake: Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Level the cake (if needed): Once cooled, if your cake has domed, run an offset spatula around the edges of the cake. Release the cake from the pan. Use a serrated knife and a horizontal sawing motion to cut off the excess cake until you have a flat cake layer. Return the cake to the pan and reassemble the springform pan.

Chocolate Mousse:

Prep: Place the chopped chocolate in a small heat-safe bowl. Set aside.
Heat cream: In a small pan, heat 200g of the whipping cream on medium heat until tiny bubbles start coming to the surface and it's beginning to simmer. You can also do this in a microwave.
Melt chocolate: Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Stir the chocolate mixture until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. If there are still any unmelted chocolate chunks, gently warm the mixture in the microwave with 10-15 second intervals or on a warming element on your stove. Set aside to cool while you whip the cream.
Whip cream: In a medium mixing bowl, add the remaining 200g whipping cream. Use an electric hand mixer or a whisk to whip the cream until it becomes just barely soft peaks. Do not whip it further past this point or the mousse will become stiff and dry.
Combine cream and ganache: Add about ⅓ of the whipped cream to the bowl of chocolate ganache. Fold together with a spatula until combined. Transfer this mixture to the rest of the whipped cream. Fold together until combined and no streaks remain.
Arrange strawberries: Arrange halved strawberries around the sides of the pan on top of the cake layer, pressing the cut edges to the pan.
Spread mousse mixture: Transfer the mousse mixture to the pan on top of the cake layer. Use an offset spatula to spread the mousse into an even layer, making sure to get in between each strawberry. Finish by smoothing the top of the mousse as best you can.
Chill: Cover and chill the entire cake in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight to allow the mousse to set.

Chocolate Ganache Topping:

Prep: Place the chopped chocolate in a small heat-safe bowl. Set aside.
Heat cream: In a small pan, heat the whipping cream on medium heat until tiny bubbles start coming to the surface and it's beginning to simmer. You can also do this in a microwave.
Melt chocolate: Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Stir the chocolate mixture until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. If there are still any unmelted chocolate chunks, gently warm the mixture in the microwave with 10-15 second intervals or on a warming element on your stove. Let the ganache cool slightly and thicken.
Spread ganache: Pour the ganache on top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread it to the edges and smooth the top. Chill the cake in the fridge for another 30 minutes to allow the ganache to set before releasing the cake from the pan.
Decorate: Decorate the top of the cake with strawberries before slicing. Run your knife under hot water and wipe dry before and in between each slice for clean cuts.

Tips & Notes:

Use low and gentle heat when melting the chocolate. When making the chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache, sometimes you'll still have unmelted chunks of chocolate that need a bit more help to melt down into a smooth mixture. I like to only use the warming element on my stove (meant for keeping food warm) to slowly heat the mixture. The chocolate can seize and clump up if it's heated too fast or with high heat.
Don't overwhip the cream (for the mousse). The chocolate mousse will thicken the moment you combine the melted chocolate mixture with the whipped cream. In order to achieve an airy and melt in your mouth mousse texture, whip the cream only to soft peaks. It will continue to firm up when the cake is chilled in the fridge.
Use good quality dark chocolate. Since chocolate is the main ingredient in this cake, be sure to use a good quality chocolate. Chocolate bars from Lindt or Valhrona, for example, are great choices. It's personal preference but I would also recommend using dark chocolate because it offsets the sweetness and gives the cake a deep and rich flavour.
Egg: This should be at room temperature for smooth and seamless mixing.
Strawberries: Use fresh and ripe strawberries. They should be halved for the cake trim and a mixture of whole and sliced strawberries for the decoration on top of the cake.