Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Torte

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Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Torte

This Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Torte is a showy torte that is actually easy to accomplish. It's like the best chocolate covered strawberry you ever ate!

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Chill Time2

Total Time2 50

Course: Dessert, Tortes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate strawberry mousse torte, chocolate strawberry torte, chocolate torte

Servings: servings

Calories: 653kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

9x3 cheesecake pan or a 9x3 springform pan

Ingredients

Reine de Saba Base

¼ cup flour (35 grams or 1 ¼ ounce)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (4 ounces)
½ cup butter softened (114 grams, 4 ounces or 1 stick)
¼ cup sugar (50 grams or 1 ⅔ ounce)
2 eggs

Chocolate Mousse

6 tablespoon butter (90 grams or 3 ounces)
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (340 grams)
3 ounces white chocolate (85 grams)
5 egg whites, room temperature (150 grams or 5 ¼ ounces)
1/3 cup sugar (75 grams or 2 ½ ounces)
3/4 cup 40% or heavy cream, whipped to medium peaks

Chocolate Glaze

2/3 cup 40% or heavy cream
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (140 grams)

Assembly

Reine de Saba layer cooled
2 quarts strawberries, the same size as much as possible
chocolate mousse, below
chocolate glaze, below

Instructions

Reine de Saba Base

Spray the center of a 9 inch round pan. Line with parchment circle and spray center only. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
Melt chocolate over a double boiler or at half power in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes. Set aside but keep it lukewarm, but not hot. Cream the butter and sugar on low.
Add one egg, beat well on low and then add the chocolate. Beat to incorporate chocolate completely. Add remaining egg and last the flour mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth out.
Bake for 20 minutes. Cool; release, remove parchment and turn right side up.
Finished batter weighs 395 grams or approximately 13 ¾ ounces. The baked layer is ¾ inch high.

Chocolate Mousse

Combine the butter and both chocolates in a large bowl. Place them over a double boiler with simmering water below, or microwave them at half power. I used the microwave, and it took 3 minutes at half power. You can see by the photo it didn't look melted. But when whisked, it became smooth. If not, add a bit more time at half power and whisk again. Set aside but keep it at lukewarm temperature.
Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat on high until the whisk leaves a trail in the whites. Gradually add the sugar. Beat to medium peaks. Stir ¼ into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.
Place the remainder of the beaten whites and the whipped cream on top. Fold in by placing a rubber spatula in the middle of the bowl, touching the bottom. Scoop the mixture to the edge of the bowl nearest you and turn it over. Turn the bowl slightly and continue this motion until everything is one uniform color. This technique keeps much more air in the mixtures than if you stirred everything together.
Yield: Approximately 890 grams or 2 pounds

Chocolate Glaze

Place the cream in a small pan. Heat until very hot and steamy, but do not boil. Submerge the chocolate under the hot cream.
Let it sit for a few minutes. Whisk smooth. Do not whisk too vigorously, or you will get a lot of air bubbles in the finished glaze.
Pour over the top of the set up mousse. Pick the pan up and rotate it, so it covers the entire top.
Chill until set up. To release the tart a hair blower and large can are needed.
To remove the torte (this is one of the reasons I prefer a cheesecake pan over a springform mold), heat the edge briefly with a hair blower set on high.
Do not overheat or you will melt the mousse. Place the pan on a fat can about double the height of the side of the pan. Grasp the side of the pan and slowly move it down until it clears the bottom of the pan.
Release the bottom of the torte by sliding a metal spatula under the layer. Using two pancake turners, placed between the bottom of the cake and the bottom of the pan on opposite sides of the torte, pick up the torte and transfer it to a serving dish or cardboard round.
Yield: 1 - 9" Torte, 12 to 16 servings.

Assembly

Release the Reine de Saba layer by using a small, flexible, metal spatula. Keeping the spatula pressed against the side of the pan, go around the whole pan. Place a round over the top of the cake pan, turn it upside down and release the layer. Remove the parchment, place the bottom of the pan on the layer and turn it right side up. Place it in the pan.
Cut the stem ends of the strawberries flat. Cut as many strawberries in half vertically as needed to go around the inside edge of the pan.
Fill in the entire pan with whole strawberries. If they are too tall, simply cut more off when stemming them, so the strawberries are about the same size.
Make the Chocolate Mousse below and pour it over the strawberries. Rap the pan on the work surface several times while filling to seat the mousse between the strawberries and eliminate any air pockets. When you rap the pan, holes around the side may appear, simply fill them in and level the top.
Place in the refrigerator to set up.

Notes

For a 10" round or square pan, use 1 ½ recipes for a 9x13 inch pan double the recipe. Watch the baking time as you don't want to over-bake these or they will be dry.

Nutrition