Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

This recipe makes double the amount of cake needed, so you'll be able to freeze the extra cake to have on hand when you want to make an encore of these fabulous flavors.

CHOCOLATE CAKE: In large bowl, beat egg yolks with 1/4 cup of the sugar until very pale. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually beat in remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture. Sift flour and cocoa over egg mixture; gently fold in. Pour into buttered 8 inch springform pan;bake in 350F oven for 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Run knife around edge of cake to loosen. Let cool on wire rack.

RASPBERRY SYRUP: In small saucepan, combine sugar and water; cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, about 1 minutes. Stir in liqueur. Let cool.

RASPBERRY MOUSSE: In small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand for 5 minutes to soften. Pass berries through food mill to puree and remove seeds to make about 2 cups. Transfer puree to separate saucepan. Add sugar and lemon juice; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir in liqueur; transfer to large bowl. Over low heat, heat gelatin until dissolved; stir into raspberry mixture. Chill, stirring occasionally,over larger bowl of ice and water for about 20 minutes or until consistency of raw egg whites. Whip cream; fold into cooled raspberry mixture. Reserve 1/2 cup for garnish.

TO ASSEMBLE: Cut cake into 3 or 4 thin layers; reserve 2 layers and freeze remaining layers for another use. Sprinkle 1 cut side of each of the 2 layers with raspberry syrup. Place 1 layer, syrup side up, in 9 inch springform pan; pour in half of the raspberry mousse. Top with second cake layer;pour in enough of the remaining mousse to come almost to top of pan. Smooth surface. Refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE: In top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, melt chocolate with cream, stirring until smooth. Let cool to room temperature yet still spreadable; pour over mousse and spread evenly. Spoon remaining mouse into pastry bag fitted with small plain tip; pipe three concentric circles over top of cake. Pull toothpick through circles to form spiderweb design. Refrigerate until chilled.