Tuxedo Cake Recipe
Layers of chocolate cake, dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache.
Servings: 14 slices
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 120 g (1 cup) All-purpose Flour, (Plain Flour)
- 200 g (1 cup) Granulated Sugar, (Caster Sugar)
- 35 g (⅓ cup) Cocoa Powder, Dutch processed
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) Salt
- 60 ml (¼ cup) Whole Milk, room temperature
- 2 (2) Large Eggs, room temperature
- 60 ml (¼ cup) Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) Espresso Powder
- 60 ml (¼ cup) Hot Water
For the Chocolate Mousses
- 5 (5) Large Egg Yolks
- 480 ml (2 cups) Heavy Cream
- 100 g (½ cup) Granulated Sugar, (Caster Sugar)
- 12 g (1½ tablespoon) Cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoon) Vanilla
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) Salt
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
- 170 g (6 oz) White Chocolate, finely chopped
For the Chocolate Ganache
- 140 g (5 oz) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) Heavy Cream
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C (160°C fan-assisted) and grease an 8-inch cake pan.
- In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients, including the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk everything together.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients, except the hot water, which includes the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla. Whisk together lightly until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until everything is combined and there are no lumps.
- In a small bowl or a glass, combine the hot water with the espresso powder and mix until completely dissolved. Pour into the cake batter and mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let it cool completely in the pan.
- Once cooled, use a cake leveler or serrated knife to cut off any dome on top, then slice cake in half lengthwise so you have two thinner layers.
- Place a cake ring on top of a cake board or serving plate and place one of the layers of cake on the bottom. Set aside until the mousse is ready.
For the cleanest sides and easiest removal, line your cake ring or pan with acetate.
Make the Chocolate Mousse
- Put egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until they become slightly thick and pale.
- Pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into a saucepan and warm over medium-low heat until it is scalding hot. This means it is giving off steam and there are tiny bubbles appearing on the surface. Don't let it boil.(Make sure you keep the remaining heavy cream in the fridge so it is cold enough to whip later).
- Drizzle a little of the hot cream into the egg yolks and whisk it in. Keep drizzling a little more, whisking the whole time, until all the cream is added. Then pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and return to the heat.
- Heat the custard while whisking constantly until it thickens and begins to boil. Let it bubble for 30-60 seconds or until it is noticeably thickened.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla extract and salt.
- Divide the mixture evenly between two bowls, then stir the dark chocolate into one and the white chocolate into the other. Mix each bowl until the chocolate has completely melted.
- In a separate bowl, whip up the reserved heavy cream until medium peaks form. By the time you have whipped the cream, the two chocolate mousse bases should have cooled to the point that they are no longer warm, but still fluid. If they are still hot, let them cool further.
- Split the whipped cream evenly between the two chocolate mousse mixtures and fold it in gently until completely combined.
Assemble the Tuxedo Cake
- Pour the dark chocolate mousse on top of the cake layer in your dessert ring and smooth it out with a spatula.
- Pour the white chocolate mousse on top and smooth it out in the same way. The dark chocolate should be firm enough to add the white mousse on top without them mixing together, but if it seems too soft, put the cake in the fridge for 5 minutes before adding the white chocolate mousse.
- Put the entire cake in the fridge for 10 minutes while you make the ganache.
Make the Chocolate Ganache
- Heat the cream on medium heat, stirring occasionally until it is steaming; don't let it boil.
- Remove from the heat and pour the cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute.
- Mix the cream and the chocolate together until completely melted, glossy, and smooth.
Finish the Tuxedo Cake
- Take the cake back out of the fridge and place the second cake layer on top, gently pressing it down into the mousse.
- Pour the chocolate ganache on top of the cake, it should spread out into a nice even layer.
- Top with chocolate shavings, sprinkles, gold leaf, or edible glitter.
- Chill the whole cake in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Notes
I always recommend measuring your ingredients with a scale rather than with cups - it's very hard to be accurate when measuring with cups and incorrect quantities could mess up your entire bake! So, for best results, always use a scale. All my recipes provide measurements in both cups and grams so you can choose what works best for you.
EDIT:
After feedback from readers, I have made a few small tweaks to this recipe to help everyone have the best chance of success. This is to compensate for the fact that ingredients vary slightly between countries.
The changes made were:
- Increased the amount of white chocolate in the white chocolate mousse so it sets up better.
- Adjusted the ratio of cream to chocolate in the chocolate ganache so it is less runny
- Improved instructions to clarify how the cream is divided and used.
- Improved the instructions for heating the cream properly so that the mousse thickens.