Chocolate Ginger Mousse Cake

Serves 6

Ingredients

Gingerbread Mousse

• 1-cup milk chocolate covertures – (250ml)
• ¼ cup dark covertures – (60ml)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons gelatin – (10ml)
• 2 ¾ cups cream – (425ml)
• 2 tablespoons mixed spice – (30ml)
• 1 cup finely chopped candied ginger – (250ml)

Other

• 12 inch U-shaped Mold
• 1 Acetate Strip 5”x 2.5” inches wide
• A wood-graining tool to create bark effect on chocolate
• Dark and Milk couverture – tempered for Bark exterior
• 2 rectangular sponge cakes

Directions

1. Bark Pattern:  Temper some dark couverture and some milk couverture. This is the routine of carefully melting, stirring and cooling chocolate to prepare it to be used as a hard candy shell.  Do one at a time.  Start with dark chocolate couverture.  Melt all but 1/3 of the finely chopped chocolate over a bain-marie and bring to a temperature of 115° F.  Add the last third of the finely chopped chocolate to the mix. The temperature will lower.  Bring it back to a temperature of 88-90° F.  Quickly spread a thin layer of dark couverture on an acetate strip.  Using a grain effect tool create your pattern.  Allow to set.   You will repeat this process with the milk chocolate couverture later in the recipe.
2.  Ginger Mousse:  Slowly melt your milk and dark couvertures together over a bain-marie.
3. Beat your cream until it is semi-stiff and set aside.
4. Beat egg yolk and one egg until frothy in a copper/metal bowl over hot water. The mixture should increase in volume.  Dissolve in powdered gelatin in mixture. Remove from heat.  Gently mix your melted chocolate couverture and alcohol into your egg mixture.  Stir in 1/3 of your cream into your mixture.  Add your spices and gingerbread into what is left of your cream and fold this into your mix.
5. Now – prepare your tempered milk chocolate as you did the dark earlier.  Spread a thin layer over the bark-patterned dark couverture.  Place the acetate strip acetate side down into the Yule Log Mold.
6. Spoon some of the gingerbread mousse into the mold and smooth out with a spatula.  Place the narrower strip of sponge cake made to measure the inside width of your mold on top of the mousse.  Fill up mousse up to the edge of the acetate strip and smooth out.  Place the sponge cake cut to fit the outside width of the mold on top.  Place in fridge and let set.
7. Serve and enjoy!