Chocolate Dream Trifle

Directions

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 pan. ( We used baking spray and lined the bottom with a piece of parchment). Mix all the dry ingredients. Add oil, milk, coffee, and eggs. Beat with electric mixture until smooth. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 20-30 minutes and remove from pan to finish cooling.

For the mousse: In a small bowl, mix gelatin and cold water. Let it stand for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir. In another small bowl, combine cocoa powder and sugar. In a large bowl or using a stand mixer bowl, beat whipping cream at medium speed until foamy. Gradually add cocoa/sugar mixture. Beat until stiff peaks form. Stir in gelatin mixture. Cover and chill in fridge for 4 hours.

For the icing: In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 6 minutes while stirring often. Remove from heat, add butter and chocolate. Stir until smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in powdered sugar. Let it continue to cool.

Assemble the trifle: Cut cake into large cubes. Layer the bottom of the trifle with cake. Layer chocolate mousse followed by chocolate icing. Repeat layers two more times. Top with grated chocolate and chocolate curls.

Chocolate Curls: Melt 3 squares of semi-sweet chocolate or 3 heaping tablespoons of chocolate chips with 1 tbsp shortening. Melt in microwave safe bowl stirring every 20-30 seconds until melted. Spread with off-set spatula onto the bottom(underside) of a sheet pan. Spread out until it is thin. Place in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Working quickly, use a spatula to scrap and curl up the chocolate in sections. If chocolate quits curling, it is too warm. Stick it back in the freezer a few more minutes.