Chocolate in Chocolate Mousse Cake

Asked by shangeorge. Answered on 13th February 2013

Full question

Can I use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate in Nigella's Chocolate Mousse Cake recipe? If so, would I need to reduce the amount of sugar used? Thanks.

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Mousse Cake (from Domestic Goddess, p176) is a flourless type of chocolate cake. It is made with good quality dark (bittersweet) chocolate. Unfortunately we would not recommend using milk chocolate as a substitute for the dark chocolate.

There are considerable differences between dark chocolate and milk chocolate, and sugar is just one of them. Good quality dark chocolate will usually have between 62% and 72% cocoa solids (most of Nigella's recipes suggest using a chocolate with 70% cocoa solids, if possible). Good quality milk chocolate will have around 30% cocoa solids, though many milk chocolates may have less that this.

Therefore milk chocolate will contain other ingredients as well. This will include sugar and milk powder but also fat, quite often in the form of vegetable fat. These ingredients will affect the taste and texture of the cake and could lead to disappointing results.

For a milder chocolate cake we would suggest trying the Chocolate Malteser Cake from Feast (p283), though this cake contains flour.