Has anyone made the Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake from Dec04 BA?

[clairea]

Has anyone made this cake yet? We are going to a Christmas party tomorrow night for which I always make the desserts, and one of the girls saw this mag and asked that I make this cake. I made the cake layer this morning, and was really disappointed -- it is dry and not very flavorful. I think I am just going to make another cake layer using a recipe I know works, and then go from there with the rest of the recipe, but I am wondering if I messed up somehow or if the cake part just isn't good. I didn't do a trial run since I have always had good luck with BA recipes, so if this doesn't work I am going to be scrambling for another plan tomorrow!

Claire

[Gulfstreamer]

Claire,I am interested in making the Chocolate Mousse Cake but have been unable to find the gianduja bars. Did you find them, and if not, what did you use in place of them? I am thinking of using a good quality milk chocolate instead. The cake recipe seems awfully complicated and I agree with you about using another recipe for the cake part of it.

Mary Ann

[Meg O'C]

Claire,

Kudos to you for trying this. I wish I could be of more help - I bought the magazine at the market because this cake looked so amazing on the cover. When I read the recipe I felt totally intimidated! I may still give the cake a whirl for Christmas but now that the Red Velvet Raspberry Cake in this month's CL is getting some good reviews, I may just go with that. I would love to hear how the BA cake turns out!

There are also some great looking cookies in the BA issue so even if I don't make the cake, it wasn't a total waste ;) - the chocolate dipped gingerbread cookies look good - sort of an elegant spin on an old favorite!

Good luck!

[clairea]

Gulfstreamer, I could not find the gianduja bars locally and didn't have time to order it, so I just used a good quality milk chocolate and added some extra frangelico;) I wound up just using the Died and Went to Heaven recipe for the cake part since that is nice and rich and never fails me. We are having it tonight, so I will post reviews tomorrow.

Meg, that red velvet raspberry cake caught my eye too. Since one of my friends specifically requested the BA cake, though, I figured I would give it a try.

Claire

[MISSINDI]

Claire -- how did the cake end up? Was it good? Did you just replace the "cake" part and use the rest of the recipe?

[Beth]

My husband saw te cover, and with the magazine still in the wrapper said, "We gotta make that one!" WOuldn't be until Christmas though, so I'll be interested to see how yours went together after the cake layer sub.

[krispy spo]

Bumping back to up. Claire, I'd love your review of the finished product!

[Gilgamesh37]

There's a review of it over on Gail's:

Choc Hazelnut Cake Review (http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/swap/58615.html)

The woman has some helpful hints on pan size, but didn't say anything about the cake being dry or difficult to work with. I'm anxiously watching this too, as I have this planned as our Christmas Eve dessert, and have the gianduja (which I special ordered from CA) tucked away in my freezer

[clairea]

Sorry I forgot to come back and post a review:o The cake came together well with the cake layer substition. Even if the cake in the recipe had turned out, it was a huge pain to make so I don't think it would be worth it since that part is still just a basic chocolate cake. Other than the cake recipe (which I definitely won't fool with again) it really was a pretty easy recipe, but definitely looks impressive. It disappeared quickly with lots of raves, but personally, although it was good, I didn't think it was anything too special . I am interested to see how it is with the gianduja since I am wondering if that would add the "wow" factor to the flavor. I am going to try to get the gianduja and make this again for my friend who had requested it, as she was unable to make the party because her baby was admitted to the hospital.

Here are some pictures:http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid149/pdf24dcb16c27c941ce82eee073fbb289/f5fc5bee.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid149/pd28dfb35e11d4e7fa222b4789813f2bc/f5fc5887.jpg

Claire

[Middydd]

This recipe sounds intriguing, I called a local Italian bakery today and they said they have three kinds of Gianduja in stock. Will get there tomorrow and start baking the cake.

I've got a good tried and true recipe for chocolate Genoise, I'm going to compare it with this one and decide which to use.

Will review and report on how the cake turns out.

[Meg O'C]

Claire,
It looks beautiful! What a shame your friend who requested it was unable to make the party - hope her baby is doing better!

So, is is worth it to try this? If so, what chocolate cake recipe did you use in place of what the recipe calls for?

Missy, would love to hear your review if you make this. As you can tell, I am still vacilating! Thanks.

[clairea]

Meg, I think this is worth trying since it really isn't that difficult to make. The cake recipe they give is very complicated, but if you use a different recipe for the cake layer, then the bottom layer is basically like a rice krispy treat, and the mousse layer is really just a chocolate whipped cream. I used the Died and Went to Heaven recipe for the cake layer, but I think any good cake recipe (or even a boxed mix:o ) would work fine.

Claire

[Middydd]

We made this cake last night, just tried pieces of it. The cake is excellent, light but moist, I baked it two minutes less than the recipe called for. The mousse is light and airy but rich, the crunch layer is a perfect contrast.

I was surprised that a recipe that sounded so complicated actually came together very easily. The finished cake is very impressive. I'd make it again and again.

The only cake stencil I have has hearts at the edges and a starburst in the middle, I used that and put half a hazelnut on each heart and another in the middle.

Overall, I'm really happy with this recipe and think it's a perfect combination of textures and flavours.

[clairea]

Middydd -- did you use the cake recipe they provided? I was in a hurry when I made that piece, so my bad results may well have been cook's error -- just curious as to whether it turned out well for you? I hate it when I can't get something to turn out, so I am inclined to try the cake piece again and see if it works if you had good results.

Claire

[Middydd]

I love the cake itself, I made it exactly as written except I baked it for 28 minutes instead of thirty. It's light but moist, brushing it with the liqueur makes it even moister. A cake that was more moist to start with might just get soggy. It's also got just the right chocolate flavour, I suspect that a richer cake might overpower the delicate flavour of the mousse.

I'd try making the cake again, keep in mind it's very, very easy to overbake. As soon as the top springs back, take it out of the oven!!

[Gilgamesh37]

D***. This is going to be our Christmas Eve dinner, and I had planned to substitute a different cake based on Claire's experience, so I've already baked nad frozen that layer. Now I'm thinking I should try the actual cake recipe instead......sigh.....such decisions..... :p

[clairea]

Sorry Gilgamesh;) If you lived close I'd make their recipe again and give it to you -- since I have already made the whole cake twice I don't really want to make it again, but I hate being defeated by a recipe! For what it's worth, I didn't think the cake layer I used got soggy or was overpowering, but that recipe (Died and Went to Heaven) isn't terribly dense to begin with.

Claire

[Middydd]

Does anyone know of a technique to keep the icing sugar stencils from "melting" into the cocoa dusting?

Mine looked great for about two hours and then just disappeared. Maybe a heavier dusting would last longer?