Mini Mousse Cake

I found the greatest little cake pans at Michael's arts and crafts store. They are for making miniature cakes with a space in the middle to be filled with cremes, puddings, ice cream, fruits, etc. (It was $9.99 for four pans which makes 2 mini cakes, but make sure to use a 50% off coupon when you get them and it will only be five dollars). Anyways, I was inspired by a Strawberry Chocolate Mousse cake I once made from one of Marcel Desaulniers books titled Death by Chocolate. Don't get me wrong it was absolutely fabulous. It was one of those cakes that you could cut yourself a sliver and almost not be able to finish because it was so rich! It also took me almost an entire day altogether to make and the heap of dishes leftover was unsightly. So, I decided to make a simpler, less rich, and less messy version. I started out with eight mini pans, which is two sets. (Makes 4 mini cakes)

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix
* ingredients needed to make cake per box directions
1/2 recipe of chocolate mousse (without the raspberry sauce)
strawberries
hot fudge or chocolate ganache for the icing

Grease the cake pans, (I sprayed them with Pam). Make the cake per box directions and evenly distribute it between the 8 cake pans. Cook at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes until done. Let rest for ten minutes, cut the tops off to make flat surfaces, and remove the cakes from their pans. Meanwhile make the half recipe of chocolate mousse, as seen previously in this blog, and refrigerate it to set. Let the cakes cool completely. Now, it is time to assemble. Take one cake and place a thin layer of chocolate mousse in the cavity area. Cut the tops off of as many strawberries as you wish to use. Place them in the hole in the middle of the cake as well. Spoon some additional chocolate mousse into a second cake and place the two cakes together with the mousse filled centers facing each other. Next, I heated up some hot fudge topping and spread it over the cake as icing. Another option would be to use chocolate ganache as icing, which is simply melted chocolate with cream added. Lastly, I sliced a strawberry almost to the top and fanned it out to decorate the top of the cake. There are so many different things you can do with these cakes. I would love to have a party with a bunch of different cakes, some white, some chocolate, maybe even some angel food cake, filled with strawberries, puddings, and mousses, all with different icings and decorations. A great idea for presentation, if you have some large candlesticks, is to place them right on top. A miniature cake plate if you will. Don't forget to keep cakes refrigerated after assembling (because of the mousse).