1/2 vanilla bean (seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
150 g of 50% dark chocolate or 70% if you prefer a more intense flavour
INGREDIENTS (for the chocolate mousse) 220 ml fresh whole milk
50 g of sugar
25 g corn starch
1/2 vanilla bean (seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
15 g of bitter cocoa
120 g dark chocolate
100g of mascarpone
100 ml of fresh whipping cream
bitter cocoa for the top
PROCEDURE
Melt the butter cut into cubes with the chopped chocolate in a bain-marie and leave to cool (you can also not melt it in a bain-marie but in this case stir often).
Beat the sugar with the eggs, add the vanilla, cornstarch, yeast, cocoa and melted chocolate with the warmed butter, mixing well.
Bake in a pan lined with baking paper at 170° for about 30 minutes. Do the toothpick test.
Let cool on a rack.
Prepare the mousse: break the chocolate into pieces.
Mix cocoa, sugar and starch in a non-stick pan. Slowly add the milk and vanilla, stirring constantly. Cook the cream until it thickens. Add the chocolate pieces and stir vigorously to melt it and obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Whip the fresh cream, which must be very cold to whip quickly.
Soften the mascarpone with the whisk.
Add the mascarpone and whipped cream to the chocolate cream, stirring gently to avoid deflating the mixture.
Pour the chocolate mousse over the chocolate sponge cake. Level the surface.
It will harden in about 3 hours. You can speed up this process by putting the cake in the freezer, but remember that it must reach room temperature before being eaten.
Place the cake on a cake stand or serving plate and sprinkle the cocoa on top. You can use a stencil to create a decoration.
