Chocolate Dream Tree Cake

He was waiting for his lady under a lonely chocolate tree.

She came and he sang her a serenade.

Together they disappeared into the night. The chocolate tree stayed but felt no loneliness any more. 

Quite often when I bake a cake I feel like I am baking a story. Like writers say that at some point their novel starts living a life of their own, I feel that happens to my cakes too. I want to bake a cake but I don't have a recipe or model so I start creating something from scratch. I may be vaguely craving for something like strawberries or chocolate - or like in this case - chocolate mousse. 

So yesterday I thought I would make a chocolate sponge and fill it with chocolate mousse and maybe grate some chocolate on top, simple as that! But when I had the cake 'ready', it looked dull and boring and unambitious. And suddenly I saw a tree full of leaves in front of me and when the tree was there, I heard a cat singing a serenade...

Chocolate Sponge

200 g butter
100 g granulated sugar
100 g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
200 g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
100 g dark chocolate
2 tbsp milk

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C (375 F) and grease and flour (I use dried and ground breadcrumbs) one  a 20 cm round spring form.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients.

3. Melt the chocolate.

3. Cream together butter and sugar.

4. Add eggs and mix well.

5. Add the dry ingredients, milk and melted chocolate.

6. Pour the mixture into the pan.. 

7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until solid in the middle.

8. Let cool completely on a rack.

Chocolate Mousse

150 g dark chocolate

1 egg

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

2.5 dl / 1 cup double cream

4 gelatine leaves

1. Melt the chocolate.

2. Add one egg and two egg yolks to the melted chocolate and mix well.

3. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.

4. Take two tbsp of the cream and heat it up with the soaked gelatine leaves so that the gelatine leaves melt completely (about 1-2 minutes in the microwave).

5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff.

6. Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks.

7. Mix the chocolate, egg whites and whipped cream carefully together so that the mixture stays airy.

8. The mousse starts setting quickly but you may want to put it the fridge for ½ h if it is too runny for filling the cake.

Decorations

150 g white chocolate

some melted dark chocolate - I used what was left in the bowl when melting the dark chocolate for the mousse, you need it only a little to 'draw' the tree

To compile the cake

1. Cut the sponge into two layers.

2. Put baking parchment in the bottom of the spring form you baked the cake in and place the bottom layer of the cake in the form.

3. Spoon half of the mousse on top of the bottom layer and place then the top layer of the cake carefully on the mousse pressing gently.

4. Spoon the rest of the mousse on top of the cake and put the cake in the fridge to set while you make the decorations.

White chocolate leaves to decorate the cake

Melt the white chocolate and fill a piping bottle or pen with it. Pipe leaves on a baking parchment or silicone mat. I bought recently a transparent silicone mat just for this purpose and find it extremely handy as you can put a pattern template/printout underneath it.

White chocolate is soft so when you have all leaves ready, put them in the freezer for ½ h so they will harden enough and you can remove them safely from the mat.

For the tree I used some dark chocolate to draw the shape. Then, one by one I placed the white chocolate leaves on the branches. This needs to be done quickly as white chocolate starts softening fairly fast. On the other hand, softness is one of the benefits of white chocolate because when you cut the cake it cuts nice and easy where you want and does not crack like dark chocolate does.

For the final touch - and story... I remembered that I had some chocolate cats I had bought at the Sheridans Cheesemongers Food Fair in May. They are made by Celtic Cocoa and are just adorable - and excellent chocolate, too!