I should have posted this dessert months ago, but time has been so scarce that it is seeing only the light of the day today. I know many of you have asked to get this recipe, so here it is;-) A Vos fourneaux mes chers amis!!!

On birthdays, we are expected to invite the whole family over to celebrate the event. I never understood why, but I have gone along this tradition ever since I have been married to my husband. So since I am to cook, and since we are celebrating someone special, i always always ask what my husband, son, or daughter wish to eat on their special day.

When my oldest child  Lisa  turned 18 this year, she requested the following : Beef Wellington, Macaroni and Cheese Appetizers, a chocolate dessert and anything in between. I figured the rest out making sure it would please her. I think we had macaroni and cheese appetizers bites, mini crab cakes, truffle flavored potatoes, green beans and a very very yummy dessert.

She loves chocolate mousse and love decadent desserts like me so i thought i would bake a cake out of the wonderful book of Stephane Glacier called Le Marceau from hi s beautiful bool called Tartes, Gouters, and Entremets.

I adapted his recipe since it was designed to make 4 cakes, and not everything turns out the same with American ingredients and ovens.

Chocolate Cake:

• 57 gr. of yolk
• 50 gr. of sugar
• 20 gr. of dark chocolate cocoa
• 29 gr. of flour
• 57 gr. of egg whites
• 12 gr. of sugar
• 20 gr. of butter

Praline Crunch:

• 175 gr. of pralin ( recipe here).
• 63 gr. of milk chocolate
• 8 gr. of hazelnut oil to be found at the fresh market ( or any fancy grocery store)
• 125 gr. of feuillantine ( very thin waffer from France, if you do not have any, you may replace with cigarette russes ( it will not be as good, but it will work).

Mousse au chocolat:

• 20 gr. of water
• 100 gr. of sugar
• 67 gr. of yolk
• 100 gr. of eggs
• 235 gr. of chocolate ( preferably 65% cocoa (I like Ghiradhelli)
• 340 gr. of heavy cream

Vanilla Syrup:

• 125 gr. of water
• 100 gr. of sugar
• 2 gr. of vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:

• 125 gr. of heavy cream
• 100 gr. of Syrup ( 60 gr. of sugar, 40 gr. of water brought to boil)
• 25 gr. of glucose or corn syrup
• 300 gr. of dark chocolate chips such as bittersweet Ghiradhelli.

First we want to prepare the cake so that it will completely cold when we will assemble to cake.

1. Beat the egg whites with 12 gr. of sugar until they are forming hard peaks. Set aside.
2. Place the egg yolks in a kitchen mixer and beat the egg yolks with 50 gr. of sugar until they are foamy and have doubled in volume. Set aside.
3. Place the butter in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds or until it is completely melted. Set aside.
4. Add 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture carefully so as not to deflate the egg whites.
5. Mix the flour, cocoa and add it to the egg white/ egg yolk mixture.
6. Add the rest of the egg whites to it.
7. Slowly mix in the melted butter.
8. Pour the batter into a medium round that you would have placed on a medium perforated sheet, and cook in a warm oven of 320 for 20-25 minutes (or until the tooth pick comes out clean).
9. When the cake is cool. Unmold it from the round mold. 
10. Slice it in half and set it aside.
11. Let’s do the syrup as well since it needs to cool: place 100 gr of sugar, 125 gr of water, and 1 tbsp of vanilla extract into a small saucepan and bring to boil. When it has, turn the heat off and set it  aside to cool.
12.  Let’s prepare the Praline Crunch: Place the chocolate into a small bowl and microwave it for 60-90 seconds or until it is melted and fluid.
13. Pour this chocolate into a kitchen mixer. Add the pralin, the hazelnut oil and the feuillantine and pulse a few seconds so as to make a paste like texture.
14. Place the metal round onto a medium silpat that you would have placed on a perforated sheet.
15. Pour the praline croustillant inside the metal round and spread it out evenly. Place it in the fridge to cure.
16. Prepare the mousse: in a small saucepan place the water and 100 gr of sugar and cook over high temperature. Cook until you are starting to see large bubbles or your thermometer is showing 118c.
17. Mix the egg yolks, and eggs into a kitchen mixer until they are becoming foamy. Slowly pour the syrup while you are still beating the eggs. And beat on high until the mixture has cooled down completely.
18. Set aside.
19. Meanwhile place the chocolate into a medium sized bowl and cook for 90 seconds to 2 minutes until it is melted and free if lumps. You may need to add 30 more seconds to get to the right consistency. Set aside.
20. In another kitchen mixer, beat the cream into a soft peak whipped cream.
21. With a spatula carefully fold in the whipped cream into the chocolate.
22. Whisk the mixture to get an even mixture.
23. Add the egg mixture and mix well until the mixture is homogeneous.
24. Yeah, now it is time to assemble the cake!! With a spatula, spread a bit of the mousse atop of the pralin layer.
25. Pour the syrup into a rectangular cookie sheet and soak up the cake with that syrup. You will need to either turn the cake, or pour some on top of the cake to make sure that the cake is throughly soaked with that syrup.
26. Place one cake on top of the mousse. Press hard so as to glue the cake to the mousse.
27. Top the cake with 1/2 of the mousse.
28. Place the other half of the cake.
29. Cover the cake with the remainder of the mousse.
30. Place the cake in the freezer to set at least one hour.
31. Meanwhile prepare the chocolate glaze. In a microwavable container, pour in the cream, syrup, and the glucose and cook for 1 minute in the microwave or until it is hot. Pour the mixture over the chocolate chips that you would have placed into a bowl. Let the mixture sit for a while to let the chocolate chips melt on their own.
32. After 1-2 minutes, start stirring. Let the mixture cool a bit before glazing the cake.
33. Place the cake onto a cooling rack, and pour the ganache over the cake.
34. Collect the ganache that dripped down and pour it over the cake again. Be careful to only use “clean ganache” without cake debris so that the cake will look shiny and even.
35. Place the cake into the fridge to cool.
36. Decorate the cake as you wish. I used vanilla flavored macarons;-)
37. Et voila!!! Miam , miam. Definitely one of the best cake I have ever made!!! Merci Stephane!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!