Black Tie Mousse Cake
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This is the Dessert Now version of my Valentine’s Date Night idea for you all, because we want our dessert first right?
When my husband & I go to Olive Garden & haven’t eaten too much, we will typically share a dessert, & it is always, hands down, the Black Tie Mousse Cake. But who really wants to spend that much money on one slice of cake? Not me! So I altered this at home version.
This cake is slightly time consuming, but worth every second. Plus, it is so rich that it will take you a while to finish it, & since it is kept in the freezer, that is no problem! The perfect decadent chocolate dessert to serve your lover for Valentine’s Day.
Black Tie Mousse Cake
Ingredients
Layer 1: Chocolate Genoise Cake (Crust)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large or extra large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup dutch baking cocoa
- 1/2 cup flour
Layer 2: NO BAKE Chocolate Cheesecake
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup dutch baking cocoa
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Layer 3: NO BAKE Cheesecake
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Layer 4: Dark Chocolate/White Chocolate Ganache:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 10-12 oz (1 bag) dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- Nestle mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- LAYER 1 CAKE: Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly grease a 9" springform pan.
- In a medium bowl cream butter & sugar with a hand mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla & mix well. Sift cocoa & flour & add to mixture, until combined. Batter will be thick, but light & fluffy; not pourable, but easily spreadable.
- Bake cake at 350*F for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. Remove from oven & cool completely; may even use the freezer to speed process along.
- LAYER 2 NO BAKE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE: In a bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until incorporated. Add cocoa & blend well. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer whisk heavy cream until it starts to get fluffy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisk until stiff peaks are achieved. (**May do the whipped cream mixtures for both cheesecake layers together at the same time in your mixer & then divide in half evenly.)
- Add whipped cream to the chocolate mixture & beat until well combined. Cover bowl & put in refrigerator.
- LAYER 3 NO BAKE CHEESECAKE: In a bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until incorporated. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer whisk heavy cream until it starts to get fluffy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisk until stiff peaks are achieved. (**This step may have already been done if you did it the same time as the whipped cream for the chocolate cheesecake.)
- Add whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture & beat until well combined. Cover bowl & put in refrigerator.
- ASSEMBLE FIRST 3 LAYERS: Once cake is cooled you may run a knife along the edges & release the spring-form edge to help ensure it's ability to release after all the layers are complete. If you release the edge, put the edge back on & then continue with the layers.
- Spread the chocolate cheesecake mixture evenly over the cooled chocolate cake.
- Spread the plain cheesecake mixture evenly over the chocolate cheesecake mixture.
- Cover pan with saran wrap (try not to let it touch the cheesecake) & freeze for 4-6 hours in the freezer.
- After the cake is frozen. Use a warm offset spatula to run along the edge of the pan & remove the spring-form edge. (Keep cake on the base.)
- GANACHES: Put dark & white chocolate chips in separate bowls.
- In a small saucepan on LOW, heat heavy cream & butter until it just comes to a boil.
- Measure 3-4 Tbsp of the cream/butter mixture & put it on top of the white chocolate chips. Pour remaining butter/cream mixture over the dark chocolate chips. Let cream melt chocolate chips & then stir them up in their separate bowls. Let the ganache cool slightly until spreading consistency.
- Using a cooling rack placed on a cookie sheet, set cake on cooling rack (the ganache that falls off the cake will be caught in the cookie sheet, underneath the cooling rack) & pour dark chocolate ganache over the top of the cake; spread evenly with an offset spatula.
- When the chocolate drips over the edges, smooth the ganache with your spatula & immediately apply mini chocolate chips to the sides before the ganache hardens from the frozen cake. Continue around all sides of the cake saving extra dark chocolate ganache to swirl with the white ganache on top & enough to pipe a border for the edges.
- Once the cake is ganached & chocolate chips decorate the sides, drizzle the white chocolate ganache on the top. Add small dollups of dark chocolate ganache (saving enough to pipe a border on the edges) & using a toothpick/knife swirl the two ganaches together.
- Use the remaining dark chocolate ganache to pipe a border around the edge, once the ganache has set/thickened a little bit, but still soft enough to work with.
- Store cake in freezer. Cut & enjoy cake frozen.
30 Comments on “Black Tie Mousse Cake”
I have made this cheesecake twice in the past two weeks now and It has been met both times with rave reviews. For the second iteration, I used a gluten-free chocolate cake for the first layer die to a guest’s specific dietary requirements and it was still awesome! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Wow that’s so great! Glad your friends enjoyed it gluten free as well!
Best cake ever! I actually think this is better than the Olive Garden’s. I substituted flourless chocolate cake for the first layer the last time I made it (my friend has Celiac’s disease), and it was equally delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe! This is my go-to cake for every event!
Ooh! A flourless chocolate cake sounds like a great base for this recipe! Glad you are enjoying it!
Hi Amber
What an amazing cake! I just made this for my birthday last weekend. My husband said it is the best thing I’ve made, and now he wants me to make it again in a couple of weeks for his birthday! Thanks for a great recipe.
Oh I am so glad you liked it! And I hope you had a great birthday!
This looks so good – how long before you serve the cake should you take it out of the freezer?
I would take it out 20 to 30 minutes before you want to slice and serve it.
Amber, Thank you so much for your delicious recipes. I will certainly make this cake (hope it comes out as good as yours).
Aw, you are so sweet! Good luck with everything, I hope it turns out great!
Omg!!! This sounds incredible! Please take a stab at the lemon cream cake, its my favorite!!!
I haven’t had the lemon cream cake, but I will have to try it soon!
How would you recommend storing in it the freezer so that it doesn’t get freezer burn but also the decorations don’t get messed up?
I have a cake container with a lid, but if you don’t have that, put the cake on a plate, insert some toothpicks into the top of the cake (mainly near the edges and one in the middle) and lightly wrap some plastic wrap over it. The toothpicks should hold up the plastic wrap and keep it from touching the decorations as long as you don’t poke through the plastic.
Too keep it covered in the freezer, stick small marshmallows on toothpicks and THEN stick the toothpicks into the cake. Then cover well and freeze. The marshmallows will hold the saranwrap up but it won’t get punctured by the toothpicks.
What a great trick! Thanks for sharing!
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This cake looks amazing. Came over From We Like to Learn As We Go.
That looks so delicious! I love to get this when I go to the Olive Garden. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for stopping by Tori. This is one amazing cake! Death by chocolate & cream cheese! YUM!