Tracy's Bakery: I found something I want you to bake me!

My darling roommate comes up to me with a recipe for "Bailey's Frozen Chocolate Chunk Mousse Cake" and said we should have a St. Patrick's Day dinner. I aggreed if she did clean up and bought the Baileys! I made the whole thing the day before and it is slightly labor intensive, but I don't mind!

Espresso Cake
Preheat the oven 350. Butter and cocoa powder an 8-inch square cake pan.

1/4 cup instant espresso
1/2 cup hot water

Put together and let sit for 5 minutes

1 cup cake flour
1/2 tea soda
1/4 salt

Sift together on waxed paper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream

Beat the butter until creamy. Add sugar gradually until light in color and then add eggs one at a time while beating. Beat in the vanilla and sour cream. Add half the flour mixture and then 1/4 cup of espresso. Add the rest of the flour. Fill the cake pan. The batter was thick and it didn't seem to be enough, but it baked up well. Bake 25-30 minutes until the cake is set. Let cool completely on a wire rack. I put it in the fridge to cool faster!

Chocolate Chunk Mousse

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup Bailey's
2 teaspoons vanilla

Heat milk, sugar, & salt until boiling over the stove. Take off the stove and add in chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add in the Bailey's and the vanilla. Let cool completely, again I put this in the freezer to go faster.

2/3 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
1/4 cup Bailey's
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips

With the electric beaters, beat the cheese and until light in texture. Beat in the Bailey's. Switch to the whisk attachment. (Side note - at this point my beloved hand mixer died :-( All whisking from this point on was done my hand!) Whisk the cream until you have stiff peaks. Gradually add the cooled chocolate mixture to the cream. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Frosting

3/4 heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Beat all three ingredients together until stiff peaks form.

Assembly Divide the cake into 2 layers. Put parchment paper inside the 8-inch cake pan with paper over the sides. Put one layer of the cake cut side up back in the pan. Spread all the mousse evenly over this layer. Put the second layer cut side down over the mousse. Spread the frosting over the top layer. Garnish with remaining chocolate chips. Freeze over night.

Serving I took the cake out of the parchment paper and trimmed the edges with a knife dipped in hot water. The trimming makes everything look nicer! I cut the cake into 12 pieces and put them back in the freezer until after dinner. We had leftover chocolate-mint sauce so I heated that and poured over the cut pieces. You don't really need the chocolate sauce, but who doesn't love chocolate!