Chocolate mousse cake (gluten free)... or chocolate mousse

Hello?

Anybody out there?

Hoooooney, I'm hooooome!

Thought I was eaten by a bear in the mountains? Was snowed in (a concrete possibility given the weather we had over Easter)? Hit by an avalanche?

Sort of.

Snow? No.

Boiled eggs? Yes.

Dye, stickers, baskets? Yes.

Chocolate eggs, bunnies, chicks and any other barnyard animal you can conjure? Yes.

Bathing suits, t-shirts, snow suits, ski boots? Yes.

Diapers, dummies, bibs, baby clothes? Yes.

(no, I am not pregnant, in case you were wondering)

Work? Yes.

More work? Yes.

Kleenex? Yes.

Let's just say that after a few pretty intense and difficult months in the office involving unions and lawyers, we reached a turning point last week. Good for some, better for others, worse for a few unfortunately. It has been tough and it is over now, but it will take a while to get back to normal.

Then I had a lovely but unexpected houseguest staying with us.

Then we left for the mountains and, although really nice, it as usual involved way too many eggs and suitcases.

I came back to the tail of the office drama, and an extra pretty big work project on the side.

And a horrendous cold, the kind you get once every 18 months that leaves you in a wheezing, oozing, coughing, lump on the floor.

Oh and then, minor detail, I had my best friend's baby shower on Saturday.

So, yes, I was hit by an avalanche of sorts.

I still have a bit of a cold, we had a really lovely time in the mountains and I shocked my friend out of her maternity compression socks when a few out-of-towners showed up at her surprise baby shower. And let me add that, even if many of us didn't know each other, we did not need the tahini, peanut butter, Nutella and green curry paste filled diapers or the toilet paper to break the ice.

So all is well that ends well.

Once again, Nigella Lawson saved the day when it came to making some goodies for the shower.

I used her cut-out biscuit recipe to make pink glazed bear and rocking horse shaped cookies.*

I also made her chocolate mousse cake, because you can't put 12 girls in a room and not make something chocolate, right?

I loved this recipe the minute I read it for three reasons:

1) I had tons of Easter chocolate that I was dying to use up.

2) I loved that you can get two desserts out of one recipe: if you bake it with a water bath you get this lovely cake, but if you simply put the chocolate mixture in the fridge to set, it is a luscious chocolate mousse. I went for the cake because for obvious reasons, I didn't want to serve raw eggs.

3) Two of my guests were gluten intolerant and this made for a perfect dessert.

It is quick to prepare and quite forgiving: I overbeat the egg whites and added in the milk chocolate later without a hitch.

* the horses were finished with strawberry sugar a dear friend/family member makes along with a whole range of amazing sugars and salts. She just sent me an incredible sample box and some recipes to try them with, so you will be hearing more of her. People of NYC, I will let you know where you can buy her products asap. They are absolutely out of this world, the most incredible and enticing flavors, colors and combinations you could imagine.

Ingredients (8 servings)

300gr dark chocolate

50gr milk chocolate

175gr butter

8 eggs

200 gr sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

Separate egg yolks from whites. If you are using a 23cm springform as suggested by Nigella, line the inside with aluminum foil. I used a round, glass ovenproof dish.

Preheat oven to 180°C/375°F.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave or double boiler. Beat egg yolks and sugar until the eggs turn pale and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract and salt and the cooled chocolate mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks. Energetically mix a spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and then gently fold in the rest.

Pour the cake batter into the pan, which you will then place into a bigger roasting tin. Boil some water and pour it into the larger tin up to about 2.5cm (roughly an inch). Cook for about 50 minutes, so the outside is dry and cakey but the inside is very moist and mousse-like.

Let cool. If you used a lined springform, very gently peel away the foil after placing the cake on a plate.