On my son’s birthday I like to bake a special cake. One year I made a carrot cake. One year it was a vanilla cake filled with raspberry jam and whipped cream with lemon curd  and topped with chocolate frosting.

This year I found a recipe online at a site that was new to me. The cake was  chocolate mousse with ganache. My son loves chocolate. I made the cake base a day earlier. I leave it in the springform pan. The chocolate was enhanced with coffee and enriched with sour cream.  

This two or three step process allows me to do more. Small steps and I can manage. Otherwise my pain becomes too intense and I am miserable. I can enjoy my Julia Child moment.

The mousse was made with 62% chocolate and cream cheese. It border lined somewhere between a chocolate mousse and a chocolate cheesecake. The mousse tops the cake in the springform pan and is chilled for several hours.

The springform pan released.  Cake looks good, clean layers. I slid it onto a cake plate. Chocolate ganache gave the top of the cake a glossy finish. My son loved the cake. It was good.  Success.