Mocha Frangelico Mousse Torte

 Spiced Hazelnut Cake with a Mocha Frangelico Mousse filling, covered in Chocolate Ganache and topped with Frangelico Candied Hazelnuts.

I'm SO over cupcakes! Give me a proper slice of cake dammit!!

So, it was my husband's birthday the other day and I had asked him to think of what flavour cake he would like. He absolutely adores anything hazelnut and I also realized I have never made a mocha based cake before, coffee yes, but not mocha. I then remembered that there was something that ticked all those boxes in the ever brilliant Vegan Cupcakes take over the World cookbook - the "Hazelnut Cupcakes with Mocha Hazelnut Mousse Filling". He was sold by title alone and that was it I would try that one out.

Of course I had to make this as a whole cake and not cupcakes, something I haven't had much success with in the past, it seems a lot of cupcake recipes don't like to be baked as cakes but I had no problem with this one. I used a smaller 6" high sided loose bottom cake pan here and once baked I thought it was going to be too small (height wise) but once the mousse went on it was actually a perfect height.

Now, you guys know I love my mousse. Unfortunately all my mousse recipes here call for Granovita Soy Whipping Cream and you can't buy it or any suitable replacements anymore. I have made tofu based mousses before, I'm certainly not against them, they taste great it's just texturally speaking they are not mousses!! Firm puddings maybe, but not light and airy mousse which is what my mousse recipes used to give. All that being said, this mocha "mousse" was amazing, incredible flavour and still a really nice texture, perfect in the cake which was dense and moist without being gummy.

The cupcake recipe also calls for some ganache on top and they do provide a recipe however I've gone for my standard ganache recipe here. Not that I'm not sure their recipe isn't fantastic, I'm just used to and love my own :-) My recipe always calls for booze of some sort so of course I've added more Frangelico here.

As for the topping, well, it was a no-brainer really: the Frangelico Candied Hazelnuts that I used in the Chocolate Frangelico Mousse Gateau. This time I kept them whole for decoration (and so my non-hazlenut liking child could easily pick them off) and they just went beautifully with this cake.

Altogether this was a huge success, we all absolutely loved this cake and I will certainly make it again. Now I have to apologise for all these teaser photos when I cannot give you a recipe for half of it as the cake and mousse have come straight out of Vegan Cupcakes take over the World but I will give you some notes here on what I did and links to my recipes for the ganache and candied hazelnuts.

Spiced Hazelnut Cake:

I followed the recipe for the Hazelnut cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes take over the World exactly as is but greased and lined the bottom of a 6" high loose bottomed cake pan and baked it for 40 minutes instead, you want a toothpick to come out clean.

Mocha Hazelnut Mousse:

Also from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World. For this I could only get firm silken tofu not extra firm so I omitted the soy milk that the recipe called for and I also increased the Frangelico to 1 tablespoon from 2 teaspoons. I also didn't refrigerate it for an hour before spreading it on the cake as there was no need as the whole cake once assembled was going in the fridge.

Frangelico Chocolate Ganache:

200g plain or semi-sweet chocolate (dark)
170ml soy cream
20g solid coconut oil
1 Tbsp Frangelico

Finely chop the chocolate and place in a large bowl. Heat the coconut oil and soy cream together until it just comes to a boil - stir often. Pour this over the chocolate, leave it for a minute and then whisk up. Add the Frangelico and whisk again. Leave it to thicken slightly so that it will still pour over the cake but will pour slowly to cover well.

And, just like with my 10 Layer Chocolate Orange Truffle Cake you will have leftover ganache. I highly recomend making truffle pots with it, just spoon it into little cute bowls and chill - quick, easy and posh little dessert!

Frangelico Candied Hazelnuts:

I used my recipe here but kept the hazelnuts whole.

Assembly:

Once the cake has cooled, carefully slice it in half. The easiest way to do this is to use a serrated knife and slice all along the edges not going fully through to make sure it is even. THEN use the knife and slice through the centre. Slide a wide spatula inbetween then remove the top layer.

Line the cake pan that you baked the cake in with cling film. Place the top cake layer, top side down into the pan. Fill with the mousse then lay the bottom cake slice, bottom slice up on top. That should be your flattest cake side, which you want on top. Taking the overhanging cling film wrap the top of the cake up and place in the fridge for the mousse to fully set, about 1 - 2 hours. I have step by step photos of all of this on my Double Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake recipe if it helps!

Remove the cake from the pan, just pull up from the cling film and place on a cutting board, removing the cling film. Pour the ganache over, again, it should be thick enough to not run all over the place, using a knife make sure all the sides are nicely coated and place it again in the fridge for the ganache to set. Before it fully sets though, decorate with the Frangelico Candied Hazelnuts so that you can push them into the still soft ganache, it might be a bit too soft to put them on right away but you also don't want the ganache fully set. I probably added mine after 15 minutes in the fridge.

Take the cake out of the fridge about an hour before you want to serve it just so it's not fridge cold. I've been keeping mine stored in the fridge but mostly as it's summer and we have quite a warm kitchen, not sure I would bother in the winter. At any rate, this cake won't last long, trust me :-)

♥

Nutritional Information: based on 1 slice out of 12

Calories: 388

Protein: 5g

Fat: 22.7g

Sat Fat: 7.6g

Fibre: 3.2g

Carbs: 41.5g

Sugar: 27.4g

Sodium: 167mg

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Chocolate Frangelico Mousse Gateau

Double Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake