Watch CBS News

Mimi's Bake Shoppe Recipe: Chocolate Decadence Cake

Mimi's Bake Shoppe in Cranberry is known for their décor, and during the holidays they're able to really put their creativity to good use. Chris Williams and Diane White stop by the Pittsburgh Today Live kitchen to decorate some holiday cookies and show the ins and outs of their four-layer Chocolate Decadence Cake.

Chocolate Decadence Cake

Chocolate Cake
A. P. Flour 16 oz
Granulated sugar 27 oz.
Large Eggs 7
Unsalted butter 7 oz
Salt ¾ tsp. (.20oz)
Cocoa Powder (not Dutch Process) .5 oz
Vegetable Oil 7 oz
Unsweetened Chocolate 7 oz
Brewed coffee 12 oz
Sour Cream 5 oz
Vanilla Extract 2 tspn (.35 oz)

Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in the microwave. Pour into mixing bowl of stand mixer and add coffee, sour cream, vanilla and mix well. Add eggs one at time and mix until incorporated. Sift together all dry ingredients and slowly add until all dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients. Pour into two six inch square cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 24 minutes, or until a tester comes out just dry.

Chocolate Mousse
Bittersweet chocolate 4 oz
Unsalted butter 1 oz (2 Tblspn)
Eggs – separated 2
Cream of Tarter 1/8 tspn
Sugar 3 Tablespoons, divided into 2 Tblspn and 1 Tblspn
Vanilla Extract ½ teaspoon
Heavy whipping cream ½ cup

Melt chocolate and butter together in microwave. Be careful to melt in stages so not to burn the chocolate. Mix with rubber spatula and set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then mix in the two egg yolks until incorporated. Place in refrigerator while you complete the rest of the recipe.

Whip the two egg whites with the cream of tarter until foamy. Gradually add the 2 Tablespoons of sugar and whip to stiff peaks. Set aside.

Whip the heavy cream, the remaining sugar and the vanilla to soft peaks.
Remove the chocolate mix from the refrigerator and stir in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mix. Fold in the remainder of the egg whites until no streaks remain. Fold in the whip cream. Cover with plastic directly on the mousse and refrigerate.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze
1 cup Heavy whipping cream
8 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped into small pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Heat the whipping cream to the boiling point in a small saucepan. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and pour the boiling cream over the chocolate. Using a plastic spatula, slowly stir the chocolate and cream mixture until it is smooth. Stir in the butter until well blended.

To assemble the cake:
Remove the cake layers from the cake pans and halve horizontally. Place a parchment border around the inside of one of the cake pans and place half of a cake layer in the bottom of the pan. Layer with chocolate mousse. Place another half of a cake layer on top of the mousse, and layer that with chocolate mousse. Place the final layer on top of the mousse, leaving one half of a layer of chocolate cake out.
Place pan in freezer overnight.

Remove the frozen cake from the pan by running a knife between the pan and the parchment and turning the frozen cake upside down. Place the frozen cake on a cooling rack over a sheet pan and trim the sides of the cake to make it straight.

Make the chocolate ganache. While the ganache is still warm, pour over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides and cover the sides. Complete the sides of the cake by pressing chocolate shavings into the ganache on the sides of the cake, leaving the top for final decoration.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.