Double Chocolate Torte

This past Friday I celebrated 5 years of being married to the most terrific husband ever, but I will spare you the mushy gushy and get straight to the food. That is, afterall, why you are here, right?
The occassion completely warrented itself to a very decadent dessert, so I went all out with this one! Double Chocolate Torte- chocolate on top of chocolate- doesn't get much better than that. It is a rich and fudgy chocolate torte base topped with a creamy, fluffy chocolate mousse. I have never made a torte or mousse, so it was an adventure! The torte is basically a very rich brownie- same method, just different amounts of the same ingredients. So that was simple. The mousse was a little more intimidating- trying to heat eggs without curdling them and then folding the whites into the warm chocolate. It turned out surprisingly well, just maybe a little more grainy than I would have liked. But oh so rich and decadent and perfectly paired with a glass of sweet red wine- the perfect end to a perfect day of celebrating!

Double Chocolate Torte (from smittenkitchen.com)

For the torte (the cake):

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/4 cup flour

For the mousse:

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

4 egss, seperated

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 Tbsp. vanilla

8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup sugar

For the whipped cream topping:

3/4 whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

For the cake:

*Butter and sugar a springform pan.

*Melt chocolate and butter in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool to lukewarm.

*Whisk in the sugar.

*Whisk in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.

*Mix in the vanilla and salt and then the flour.

*Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 35 min. (until the center just rises- a toothpick inserted in center will not come out clean)

*Cool completely and then chill while making the mousse.

For the mousse:

*Melt the butter in a double boiler or heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (dont allow bowl to touch water).

*In a small bowl whisk the yolks, cream and vanilla.

*Gradually add yolk mixture to the butter and whisk constantly over simmering water until thermometer reaches 150 degrees (about 6 min)- Dont worry if mixture appears curdled

*Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate to melt, then set aside.

*Beat the egg whites and sugar medium stiff peaks form.

*Whisk 1/4 of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites.

*Pour the mousse over the cake and chill for at least 6 hrs until set.

*Release the torte from the pan and transfer it to a serving platter.

*Whip the 3/4 cup of cream with the 1 1/2 tsp of sugar and top the torte.

*Garnish how you like, with chocolate shavings, raspberries, etc.

**Note: The batter of the cake oozed out of the springform pan and onto the bottom of my oven when I made this. Ugh! Thankfully I realized it before too much mess and placed a pan on the bottom rack to catch it and it didnt seem to effect the outcome of the cake, but not real sure how to keep that from happening again- maybe wrap the pan in tin foil?