Chocolate Chesnut Mousse Cake - Mousse Cake #2

I made this cake and sent it over to my SIL's in-laws (my hubby's sister's in-laws). We are in good relations with them and they always send us good free range chicken or river caught snakeheads. Well, I could only return them with bakes and Chinese New Year is always the time of gifting. They told me it tasted like cheesecake and they loved it.

Few days later I made this again for my dessert loving friends who came to my house for Chinese New Year 2012. This was served the same day as the beef stew. They told me, each time dessert is always the one they look forward to when they come eating at my place. LOL. Most loved it and a few told me they still prefer butter cake (these were said by males!)

Year end is always a good time for chestnuts. If you don't want to roast your own, buy those pre roasted in packs, easily available in supermarkets costing around RM3.50 per pack. If you can get small one from Daiso, even better. Those taste nuttier, but stocks in Daiso changes all the time. See here to see different packagings of affordable roasted chestnut.

Martha's recipe assembled the cake upside down whereas I did it the upright way. It's up to you on how to do it,

Chocolate Chestnut Mousse Cake

Recipe from Martha Stewart with some modifications

225gm peeled roasted chestnuts
250gm fresh milk
50gm light-brown sugar
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1.5 Tbsp gelatin + 60gm water, melted
60gm bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent cacao), melted and very slightly warm
300gm cold whipping cream
100gm Oreo cookies
Oreo halves (as needed)

Topping
100gm whipping cream
1/2 tsp gelatin + 1 Tbsp water, melted
dark chocolate shavings

1. Prepare an 8 inch pan with removable base. Line the sides with plastic cake dividers or non stick baking paper or strips of aluminium foil. (I set mine directly onto the cake board)
2. Take 100gm of oreo (with cream) and pulverize. Spread the oreo crumbs into prepared pan. Press and compact it. Cover and freeze until needed
3. Grind chestnuts finely.
4. In a 4-cup (or larger) capacity bowl, whisk yolks,sugar and cornstarch.
5. Bring milk to boil and pour into (4), whisking all the while (prevent yolks from cooking in lumps). Pour this mixture back into the pot.
6. Put in milled chestnuts. (If it doesn't look fine enough, blend it finely with an immersion blender at this point together with all the runny liquids). Cook on medium low heat until it thickens. Mix in vanilla. Leave it to cool down (or beat it with mixer until it cools down)
7. At this point, prepare your melted gelatin and melted chocolate.
8. When the chestnut paste has cooled down, whip cream until almost stiff and then put in melted gelatin and whip until stiff.
9. Fold 1/3 of the cream into chestnut paste. Then pour the lightened chesnut paste into the whipping cream and fold until well combined.
10. Divide the chestnut mousse into 2. Pour one part into the prepared pan. Level it and top with oreo halves. (Put into the freezer as you do the next step)
11. Fold the balance of mousse with the slightly warm chocolate. Very gently pour this into the pan over the oreo halves.
12. Chill for 5 hours minimum. Remove from pan and place cake on serving platter. Peel the strips off the side of cake. Keep chilled as you do the next step.
13. Whip 100gm of cream until you can see streaks and put in 1Tbsp of sugar. Whisk until almost stiff and add in melted gelatin. Whisk until stiff and spread this onto the cake.
14. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and keep chilled until time to serve.