Chocolate Mousse Cake

You know the feeling when you get to eat something divine, ask for the recipe and are lucky enough to get it, try it out yourself – only to be bitterly disappointed with the result? Well, this is what happened to me with an absolutely exquisite chocolate mousse cake. A Portuguese friend of mine had served this tempting and delicious chocolate dessert a few months ago.

After the first failed experiment, I decided not to bake that cake anymore. I just couldn't take the disappointment anymore.

Things recently changed. The reason is that I have been drowning in egg whites that have been left over from pastéis (where you only use the yolks). And I got an idea: what if I used a lot of egg whites in the chocolate mousse cake, instead of whole eggs? Luckily enough, it worked! This cake is fluffy, tasty, and dangerously addictive. Bake at your own risk!

For one cake you need:

• 7-8 egg whites


• 2 eggs, whites and yolks separated


• 150g butter


• 250g dark chocolate


• 200g sugar


• 8g vanilla sugar


• 100g all-purpose flour

First, melt the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave. Add the two egg yolks and stir. Let cool a bit. In the meantime, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add sugar and vanilla sugar gradually and continue beating. Now, add flour and the butter-chocolate-mixture to the egg whites and stir gently so that all ingredients get well combined. Pour into a buttered round cake form and bake in a preheated oven (175C) until the sides set but the center is still a bit liquid, or about 15-20 minutes.

Let the cake cool well and serve it plain or with some vanilla sauce or ice cream. And good coffee, of course!

P.S. I asked my daughter if the cake tasted as good as Orlanda's. "Well, almost", was her honest answer!