Chocolate Mousse Cakes

Flourless Chocolate Cake: Separate the eggs while they are cold. Place the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature (about 30 minutes).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan and line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.

In a heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.

In another clean bowl whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add the granulated white sugar and whip just until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites (in three additions) into the batter just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter). Pour into your prepared pan and, with the back of a spoon or with an offset spatula, smooth the top. Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes or until the cake is set. The cake will rise during baking and there may be cracks on the top surface of the cake.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. As the cake cools it will deflate. Once it has cooled to room temperature gently press the top of the cake so the surface is even and flat. Then place in the freezer for about an hour or until firm. Remove from freezer and using a 2 1/4 inch (5.25 cm) round cookie cutter, cut the cake into rounds (you will have about 10 rounds). Place the rounds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can keep the leftover scraps of cake to make a trifle.

Chocolate Mousse: In a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment (or with a hand mixer), whip the heavy cream with the suga until soft peaks form. Then whisk or fold about one quarter of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate. (Do this quickly so the chocolate does not seize (become grainy).) Then gently, but quickly, fold or whisk the rest of the whipped cream (in three stages) into the chocolate.

Place the chocolate mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe swirls of the mousse on top of each round of chocolate cake. If desired, garnish each cake with a fresh raspberry. Serve immediately or they can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days.

Makes 10 - 2 1/4 inch (5.25 cm) Chocolate Mousse Cakes.