pop rocks chocolate cake

Oh sweet, sweet innovation.  The other day a co-worker introduced me to a pop rocks infused chocolate bar and I was giddy with sheer joy after only one bite.  In an attempt to figure out to how to make this ingenious concoction at home, I stumbled upon something even better.  A pop rocks infused chocolate mousse cake.  Are you kidding me?  Aside from being the best idea to stem from an 80's candy, it's simply gorgeous!  The recipe is below, courtesy of Chubby Hubby but I must apologize... I was too busy lazy to complete the conversions from metric.  Please forgive me and make this awesomeness for my birthday?

{recipe & image via chubby hubby}

Pop Rocks Chocolate Cake

For the popping-candy base

85g whole hazelnuts

40g milk chocolate

2 tsp mixed spice

100g popping candy

For the chocolate mousse

350g dark chocolate

400ml double cream

Pinch of salt

For the chocolate glaze

20g chocolate (same type as for the mousse)

120ml water

8 whole coffee beans

Couple of pinches of salt

30g cocoa powder

70g unrefined golden caster sugar

Directions

To make the base, preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas Mark 4 and roast the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes until lightly coloured. Blend to a paste in a food processor, then set aside. Melt the milk chocolate in a bain-marie (a large basin over a saucepan of simmering shallow water — take care that the water does not touch the basin) and stir in the ginger spice and popping candy. Next, fold in the hazelnut purée. Place the 12 cm ring mould on a serving dish and gently press in the base mixture to a depth of about 1cm. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until hard.

To make the mousse, chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a metal bowl. Bring 150ml of the cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir extremely gently until all the chocolate has melted, watching carefully to ensure it doesn’t take on a granular texture. Add the salt to taste. Once the chocolate cream has cooled to room temperature, lightly whip the remaining 250ml cream to soft peaks, but do not over whip. Fold into the chocolate mix. Pour over the base in the ring mould and place in the fridge to set for two hours.

To make the glaze, chop up the chocolate and set aside. Place the water, coffee beans and salt in a pan, whisk in the cocoa powder, then set over a medium heat and simmer for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put the sugar in a small pan and melt over a medium heat. Unrefined sugar will caramelise quickly, so keep an eye on it; when it does, pour over the coffee and cocoa mix — stand back, as it will bubble and spit. Beat in the chopped chocolate and, when melted, pass through a fine sieve. When cool, but still liquid, pour over the mousse to your preferred depth and return the cake to the fridge to set.

To serve, run a hot knife around the inside of the ring before removing the cake. When slicing it, again make sure the blade of the knife is nice and hot.