Recipe for Monte cake
Recipe for chocolate mousse cake on a sponge cake
I invite you to try the recipe for Monte cake – a unique feast for chocolate lovers! This light and fluffy cake consists of a delicate sponge cake layered with two layers of creamy chocolate mousses. Preparing this unique cake is simple, and the result will satisfy even the most demanding palates. The finished dessert will delight all lovers of sweets. You must try it!
Table of content
Monte Cake recipe step by step
If you like light chocolate cakes for a large baking sheet, then you must try this mousse cake recipe. You will delight everyone with this cake!
Monte Cake recipe with video
Wyposażenie
- Baking pan approximately 24/24 or 20/30 lined with baking paper.
Składniki
sponge cake ingredients
- 2 eggs (size L)
- 50 g sugar (1/4 cup)
- 50 g wheat flour – all-purpose (1/3 cup)
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
ingredients for chocolate mousse
- 250 g mascarpone cheese (well chilled)
- 100 g chocolate (melted and cooled)
- 100 g Nutella
- 7 g gelatin (+ a little cold water – 2 teaspoons)
- 330 ml heavy cream (well chilled)
ingredients for white chocolate mousse
- 100 ml heavy cream
- 200 g white chocolate
- 230 ml heavy cream (well chilled)
- 7 g gelatin (+ a little cold water – 2 teaspoons)
Instrukcja
Step 1 – preparing the sponge cake
- Mix the eggs together with sugar into a thick and fluffy mass – mix for at least several minutes on high speed of the mixer.2 eggs, 50 g sugar
- Sift the wheat flour and potato starch through a sieve.50 g wheat flour – all-purpose, 1 tablespoon potato starch
- Gently mix the flour with the beaten eggs.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread in an even layer.
- Bake the sponge cake in an oven preheated to 170 degrees (convection mode) for about 10-12 minutes – until a dry stick comes out clean.
- After baking, cool the sponge cake, then carefully peel it off the paper.
- Place the sponge cake back with the paper in the pan in which it was baked.
- If you like moist sponge cakes, you can additionally soak it now – e.g., with slightly sweetened water, or light tea.
Step 2 – preparing the chocolate mousse
- Pour a small amount of water over the gelatin and set aside for a few minutes to swell.7 g gelatin
- Whip the heavy cream on high speed of the mixer until it is thick.330 ml heavy cream
- To the cold mascarpone cheese, add chocolate-hazelnut spread (e.g., Nutella) and melted and cooled chocolate250 g mascarpone cheese, 100 g Nutella, 100 g chocolate
- Mix together on high speed of the mixer, but only until combined.
- Heat the gelatin briefly until it becomes liquid (I heat it for a maximum of 10 seconds in the microwave), add a tablespoon of chocolate cream to it and mix thoroughly.
- Pour the gelatin into the cream and mix on high speed.
- Add about half of the whipped cream to the chocolate cream and gently mix with a spatula.
- Transfer the rest of the whipped cream and mix thoroughly.
- Spread the chocolate cream over the sponge cake and refrigerate.
Step 3 – preparing the white chocolate mousse
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan and when hot, add the broken chocolate to it.100 ml heavy cream, 200 g white chocolate
- Wait about 2 minutes and mix the chocolate thoroughly until it melts and you get a smooth glaze.
- Set the chocolate aside to cool.
- Pour a small amount of water over the gelatin and set aside for a few minutes to swell.7 g gelatin
- Whip the heavy cream on high speed of the mixer until you get thick whipped cream.230 ml heavy cream
- Pour the cooled chocolate into the whipped cream and gently mix – only until combined.
- Heat the gelatin briefly until it becomes liquid (I heat it for a maximum of 10 seconds in the microwave), add a tablespoon of chocolate cream to it and mix thoroughly.
- Pour the gelatin into the cream and mix thoroughly.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the chocolate mousse and smooth the surface.
- Refrigerate the cake for about 4 hours.
- Before serving, sprinkle the Monte cake with bitter cocoa, or decorate as desired.
Film
Uwagi
Wartości Odżywcze
What is Monte cake?
My cake today is a delicious, light, and wonderfully chocolate cake that everyone will surely enjoy. I was encouraged to prepare it by various photos from Pinterest, and the cake itself is inspired by the popular Monte dessert, where two flavors are combined – chocolate-nut and light vanilla. And here too, I have such a combination. The base of my cake is a light and fluffy low sponge cake prepared with just two eggs. The next layer of the cake is a chocolate-nut mousse, which has a sweet and light, like bird’s milk, white chocolate mousse on top. Such a combination of flavors will certainly delight not only children but also adults. I prepared this cake in a large baking pan, and it can be divided into many portions. Therefore, Monte cake will be an excellent choice for the upcoming Easter holidays, or for various family celebrations and occasions. You must try it!
Ingredients necessary for preparing Monte cake
To prepare this extraordinary chocolate mousse cake, you will need a few basic ingredients. Below is a condensed list of essential products and possible substitutes.
- mascarpone cheese – for the chocolate-nut mousse, I used strongly chilled mascarpone cheese. You will need a 250g package. You can easily buy this cheese in larger supermarkets, as well as in discount stores – such as Lidl or Biedronka. If you buy cheese at Biedronka, pay attention to whether you are buying plain cheese or flavored, because they are often mixed up.
- whipping cream – whipping cream is essential for the mousses – I used 30% whipping cream in a carton here. For each mousse, I used 330 ml of whipping cream. You can buy cream of this capacity at Biedronka and probably also at Lidl. You can, of course, buy a different weight of cream and measure it with a kitchen measuring cup.
- Nutella – to give the chocolate mousse sweetness and a slightly nutty flavor, I added 100g of Nutella to the mousse – you can also add more – to taste. Instead of traditional Nutella, you can use any chocolate-nut spread.
- chocolate – for the chocolate-nut mousse, you will need 100g of chocolate – you can use milk or dark – depending on how sweet you like your cakes.
- white chocolate – for the white chocolate mousse, you will, of course, need white chocolate – here, 200g of chocolate is needed. When buying it, pay attention to the package weight. Manufacturers often underestimate it, and white chocolate can be 90g or even 80g. That’s why I most often buy white chocolate from Lidl – it’s 100g and of good quality.
How to make Monte cake – tips
This chocolate mousse cake is not difficult to prepare, but it is definitely easier and faster if you divide the work into stages. Start preparing the cake with the sponge. You can bake it even a day or two in advance and store it wrapped in foil so it doesn’t dry out. Then all you have left is to prepare the two mousses and chill the cake in the refrigerator.
How to prepare sponge cake for the cake?
You can bake your favorite sponge cake – if you have a recipe that never fails you. Don’t bake too high a sponge cake, as it is only meant to be the base here and is not divided into layers. For my baking pan, about 20×30 cm, I prepared a sponge cake from two L-sized eggs. You can prepare the sponge cake as I did, with whole eggs mixed with sugar, or you can separate the whites from the yolks and first mix only the whites with sugar into a thick and fluffy mass (similar to preparing meringue). Only then add the yolks to the whites and the flours sifted through a sieve. Sifting the flour through a sieve is an important point in preparing a sponge cake, so be sure to remember that! The second important thing is, after adding the flour to the mixed eggs, mix it gently and only until combined. This is so that the cake does not lose its fluffiness. I also encourage you to watch a short video where I show how to prepare a reliable sponge cake, perfect as a base for various cakes.
How to bake a sponge cake? Such a low sponge cake needs a short time in the oven – usually 10-12 minutes is completely sufficient. I always bake my sponge cakes with convection at 170 degrees. But you can also bake the sponge cake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees in top/bottom heating mode.
Cool the finished sponge cake, and if you are preparing it in advance, wrap it in foil or put the entire mold into a plastic bag to protect it from drying out. I also highly recommend detaching the baking paper from the sponge cake before spreading the chocolate mousses on it. Only then transfer the paper back to the mold and place the sponge cake. Why this prior detachment? This helps later in easier serving of the cake onto guests’ plates. A sponge cake stuck to the paper is harder to detach for serving and can damage the cake and mousse. Detaching the sponge cake from the paper beforehand allows for cutting nice and shapely pieces without worrying about damaged cake.
How to make chocolate mousses for the cake?
To prepare the mousses for the cake, you must remember to thoroughly chill the mascarpone cheese and whipping cream so that they can be nicely and quickly whipped. If the whipping cream is not thoroughly chilled, you will not be able to whip it into a thick whipped cream. To make the chocolate mousses for the cake more stable, I added gelatin to them. I use powdered gelatin. You prepare each mousse separately. First, make the chocolate-nut mousse and spread it on the sponge cake. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, and in the meantime, prepare the white chocolate mousse.
How to make gelatin for mousse?
Pour the gelatin into a glass or mug and add cold water – pour just enough to cover the gelatin, stir with a spoon, and set aside for a few minutes for the gelatin to swell. During this time, it will become very thick and firm. Now you need to briefly heat the gelatin to make it liquid. I put it in the microwave and set it for 10 seconds. I observe the gelatin, and when I see that it becomes liquid and starts to rise in the glass, I turn off the microwave. How to heat gelatin if you don’t have a microwave? You can heat it in a water bath (i.e., over steam), or place the glass in a pot with hot water and stir until the gelatin dissolves.
Do not add such warm and heated gelatin directly to the cream, as it may form “lumps”. Before adding gelatin to the cream, it needs to be tempered. This is done by adding a spoonful of cream to the gelatin and mixing. Add this tempered gelatin to the cream and blend or stir vigorously.
How to store chocolate mousse cake?
Due to the whipping cream and the delicacy of the mousses, this Monte cake must be stored in the refrigerator. The cake tastes best when served cold. But of course, it can stand outside for a while without harm. So it will calmly sit on the dessert table during holidays. Thanks to the sponge cake, the cake is ready to serve immediately after being taken out of the refrigerator. It does not need “warming up” or standing on the counter before cutting.
To cut nice pieces, it’s best to warm the knife beforehand – ideally, hold it in hot water for a moment. Then you can easily cut the cake into portions. Remember to sprinkle the cake with bitter cocoa before serving. You can also sprinkle it with grated chocolate or chocolate sprinkles.
How many calories does chocolate Monte cake have?
This chocolate Monte cake has about 325 kcal per 100 grams. However, if you divide it into 24 portions – each piece will have about 217 kcal, which in my opinion is a very decent calorie count for such a chocolate cake. The remaining macros for such a piece are: carbohydrates 13g, fat 17g, and protein 3g. Of course, I am providing an approximate calorie count calculated for the products I used. The final calorie count may vary slightly with the use of other products.
I hope that this Monte cake will inspire you to bake and prepare it. If so, I would be extremely happy if you share your thoughts on it in the comments below the photo. Be sure to also check out my Easter recipes, where you will find many inspiring ideas for sweet baked goods perfect for the holidays.
Recommended recipes for cream cakes
I highly encourage you to try my other recipes for delicious cakes with cream and mousses. There is a huge selection of them on the blog, so you will surely find the perfect recipe for yourself here. I recommend three such recipes, among others, and many more on the blog.
