Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Eggnog Mousse

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Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Eggnog Mousse is the perfect holiday flavor combination! Trust me, making this cake is easier than it looks.

I have a killer recipe for you all today, Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Eggnog Mousse! This chocolate cake is fabulous as is, but because it’s the holidays, I layered it up with some really simple eggnog mousse. It’s fabulous, creamy, cold and super chocolatey! How every cake of the chocolate variety should be, in my humble opinion. –>Never mind. I’m really not that humble when it comes to cake.

I loosely based this cake off of this pumpkin cake, but made it more festive for Christmas. It’s the kind of treat that looks fancy, but couldn’t be simpler! And you don’t need any special pans or ingredients…unless you classify a half sheet pan and/or eggnog as special. Whatevs. Totally normal stuff I have this time of year.

Here’s how you make this awesome cake:

Start by softening some butter. I had salted and unsalted butter in my fridge so I used both. Use what you have! No big deal!

Cream the butter with some granulated sugar until light and fluffy.

While that is mixing, chop up some unsweetened dark chocolate. I used Scharffen Berger.

And you’ll also want to mix together some dry ingredients. Simple stuff: flour, salt, baking soda and unsweetened cocoa powder. Again, using Scharffen Berger cocoa.

Back to the bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla into your butter and sugar.

Scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix again. It should be a little more liquidy, but still pretty airy.

Now we can dump in the dry ingredients…

along with some buttermilk and sour cream. I love adding both of these ingredients to any cake because it keeps it so moist! All cake in the world should be moist. Amen.

So, the last thing to do is melt down that chocolate you chopped and stir it into the batter.

Spread it into a well greased half sheet pan and bake. It will spread really thin, but should grow to be about 1/3-1/2 of an inch thick.

Like so! Let it cool and then cut into equal fourths, width-wise.

While the cake is cooling, we can make the eggnog mousse. Calm down. It’s not REAL mousse. I’m a pregnant impatient lady. I made a box of instant vanilla pudding with eggnog instead of milk and then folded in a bunch of whipped cream. THAT’S IT. Store this in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.

Once you are ready to go, layer cake and mousse 4 layers high and then top with lots of chocolate shavings. {I just took a vegetable peeler to a big hunk of chocolate….super simple.} Store this in the fridge until you’re ready to serve 🙂 So yummy, guys! You must must must try it this holiday season.

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5 from 3 votes

Layered Dark Chocolate and Egg Nog Mousse Cake

Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Eggnog Mousse is the perfect holiday flavor combination! Trust me, making this cake is easier than it looks.

servings 12 servings

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

for the cake:

• ▢ 10 tablespoons butter softened
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1/2 cup sour cream
• ▢ 3 oz. bittersweet dark chocolate melted

for the eggnog mousse:

• ▢ 2 cups eggnog
• ▢ 1-3.4 oz. box instant vanilla pudding small box
• ▢ 3/4 cup heavy cream
• ▢ chocolate shavings for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray one half sheet pan with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whip butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Alternate adding in dry ingredients with buttermilk and sour cream. Scrape sides, pour in melted chocolate and mix again briefly. Pour into prepared baking sheet and spread as evenly as possible. It will be a very thin layer. Bake 10-12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool completely.
• For the mousse, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside. In another bowl, whip eggnog together with vanilla pudding until it starts to thicken. Fold in cream. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
• For assembly, cut chocolate cake into 4 even pieces width-wise. Using a large spatula, remove one of the four pieces and place carefully onto a serving platter. Top with 1/4 of the eggnog mousse. Continue this layering process until you have 4 layers of cake with eggnog mousse in between each, being sure to finish with eggnog mousse. Top with chocolate shavings and refrigerate until serving. Slice into pieces and serve cold.

Nutrition

Calories: 386kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 274mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 715IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 2.1mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dark chocolate, egg nog mousse cake, holiday

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