Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Crust
200g / 7oz chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
45g / 3tbsp butter, melted

Chocolate mousse filling
225g / 8oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
240ml / 1 cup heavy cream, cold, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut butter mousse filling
125g / 1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
35g powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
120ml / 1/2 cup heavy cream, cold

Caramel sauce
100g / 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tbsp honey or corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
30ml / 2tbsp water
60ml / 1/4 cup heavy cream
8g / 1/2 tbsp butter

Chocolate sauce

30g / 1oz semisweet chocolate

30ml / 2tbsp heavy cream

1) Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a 20cm / 8inch pan with a removable bottom with parchment paper. 

2) To make the crust, mix together finely crushed cookies with melted butter and press down to he bottom of the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

3) To make chocolate mousse filling, place copped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat 120ml (1/2 cup) of heavy cream until hot enough but not boiling! Pour over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. After 1 minute, stir to make a smooth ganache. Mix in the vanilla extract. Let cool slightly while you beat the cream. In a cold bowl, add the remaining 120ml of heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix carefully until incorporated. Spread onto the prepared crust. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

4) To make the peanut butter mousse filling, mix together peanut butter, salt, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a small bowl. In another bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently mix the heavy cream into the peanut butter mixture. Spread over the chocolate mousse filling. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or until firm.

5) To make the caramel sauce: in a medium saucepan, combine together sugar, honey or corn syrup, salt and water. Bring to boil while stirring. When it starts bubbling, stop stirring and let it turn to a light/medium amber color. At this point it will NOT look like caramel. Especially if your saucepan has a black bottom, you won't be able to see the real color so turn off the heat when it looks just slightly golden, otherwise, it will be dark and bitter. The whole browning process should take no more than 10 minutes. When you reach the desired color, remove from heat and slowly start pouring in the heavy cream. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the butter. Let cool. Once it has cooled, drizzle over the peanut butter mousse. Refrigerate.

6) To make the chocolate glaze, heat heavy cream until hot but not boiling. Pour over chocolate, let sit for a minute, and stir to make a smooth ganache. Let cool slightly and drizzle over the caramel.

7) Let the cake sit in the fridge overnight or at least for a few hours before slicing and serving.

Recipe by collecting memories