Chocolate, gingerbread and berry dessert cake

With a thin layer of gingerbread cake on the bottom, topped with a rich mousse and finished with fresh berries, this is a sensational chilled dessert.

Chocolate, gingerbread and berry cake. Credit: Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Alla Wolf-Tasker’s gingerbread cake

• 75 g plain flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp bicarb
• 35 g butter
• 30 g brown sugar
• 100 g golden syrup
• 60 g milk
• 1 egg yolk

Dark chocolate mousse

• 60 g cream
• 60 g milk
• 30 g glucose
• 3 egg yolks
• 150 g dark chocolate buttons
• 270 g cream, whipped to soft peaks
• 2 g gold-leaf gelatine, bloomed in cold water

To garnish

• Mixed berries e.g. raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and/or blackberries
• Icing sugar, to dust, optional

Chilling time: 4 hours.

Instructions

1. For the gingerbread: Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a square baking pan (the pan needs to be just slightly larger than the pastry ring or springform pan you will use to form the dessert) with baking paper. Line a pastry ring or a springform pan, minus the base, with baking paper around the sides.
2. Sift together the flour, spices and bicarb and set aside. Melt together the milk, butter, syrup and sugar before adding to the dry ingredients. Finish by whisking in the egg yolk then spread batter in a square baking pan, around 1cm thick. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until it comes away from the sides. Allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, for the dark chocolate mousse: Warm together the 60 g cream, milk and glucose until just simmering. Meanwhile whisk together the yolks until lightened before tempering with the milk mixture. Return to the heat and stir until the custard has just thickened. Strain through a sieve and onto the chocolate buttons, add the gelatine and allow to sit and melt the chocolate. Once melted, stir together and allow the mixture to cool to around 36°C.
4. Using the pastry ring or tin as a guide, cut a circle the size of your pastry ring in the cake.
5. Place the pastry ring or springform pan, minus the metal base, on a serving plate and place the circle of gingerbread cake inside.
6. Once the mousse reached around 36°C, fold through the soft cream and pour over the gingerbread base. Allow to set in the fridge for 4 hours or until completely set. Serve cold.
7. Decorate generously with the berries, and dust with a little icing sugar if desired.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.