Recipe: Crispy layered chocolate mousse cake

1 Preparing the dacquoise: preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Butter your mold well on the sides and bottom, or line it with parchment paper fitted snugly to the mold (I buttered mine). Whip the egg whites using a robot mixer with the pinch of salt until the whites become foamy, then add the caster sugar. Continue working the whites until they become very stiff. Once the whites are stiff, add the icing sugar and hazelnut powder by folding gently with a spatula. Once mixed, spread evenly in your mold. Dust with icing sugar and bake for about twenty minutes, watching the baking carefully, the biscuit should be lightly golden but still remain soft. Let the dacquoise cool.

2 The praline crunch: crumble the gavottes biscuits. In a bain-marie, melt the praline paste and milk chocolate. Add the crumbled biscuits off the heat. Pour the mixture onto your cooled dacquoise, spreading the crunch layer gently (start from the center then gradually spread to the edges). Put your mold in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3 Milk chocolate mousse: soak your gelatin in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Melt your milk chocolate in a bain-marie. Bring the milk to a boil and off the heat add your well-squeezed gelatin and mix everything together. Gradually pour the melted chocolate into this mixture while whisking vigorously with a spatula. Let the mixture cool slightly. Take the heavy cream at 30% and start whipping a light, mousse-like whipped cream (still slightly liquid) to create a light mousse. Pour the chocolate into the whipped cream and fold it in gently always using a spatula. Pour the mousse over the praline crunch and refrigerate for one hour.

4 For the dark chocolate mousse: make your dark chocolate mousse in the same way as for the milk chocolate. Then pour your dark chocolate mousse over the milk chocolate and let it set overnight or at least four hours.

5 For unmolding: let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, remove the clips very carefully and lift off your mold ring.

6 For decoration: you can decorate with bitter cocoa powder, chocolate pearls, or in this case since it was for Easter, little chocolate eggs.