Oreo Mousse Cheesecake

In addition to the evil eye cookies I made for my dad’s birthday last month, I made him a small Oreo mousse cheesecake. Yup, small. It happens on every birthday. By the time we get to the cake, everyone is already full from the chocolates and sweets. So I made a small cake to fit our appetites. What a mistake. The cake was so delicious, it was gone in a matter of seconds.

As small as the cake might be, everyone got a taste of it. The cake is considered an entremets, a fancy mousse cake with impressive depth. Such a cake is usually made out of several layers: some crunchy, some airy, some creamy.

The original plan was to make all those layers. At the last moment I skipped the creamy part and even the glaze. What resulted was a light mousse cake with a very crunchy base that doesn’t need to be shy about its naked beauty.

I decorated the cake with chocolate rings. It’s the first time I made these decorations at home. They are not necessary, but they do add some elegance. I wasn’t able to take photos of the whole process, but I hope that I explained it well in the recipe. Another option is to grind Oreo cookies and spread them around the base of the cake for a similar effect.

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Ingredients

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Gelatin Mass
7 g gelatin powder
35 g water

Oreo base
30 g soft butter
25 g sugar
15 g sliced ​​almonds
3 Oreo cookies (about 33 g)
1 g salt (3 pinches)
5 g all-purpose flour (1½ tsp)

Oreo & cream cheese mousse
350 g cream cheese 9% (about 500 g before straining)
120 g sugar
50 g heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla paste
40 g gelatin mass
200 g heavy cream
7 Oreo cookies (about 77 g)

Decoration
200 g dark chocolate
about 5 Oreo cookies

Equipment
Round ring, 14 cm diameter
Round ring, 16 cm diameter and 4 cm height
Small round ring for the decoration (about 8 cm diameter)
Thermometer
Large offset spatula
Small offset spatula
Acetate strip

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The recipe makes a mini Oreo mousse cheesecake, 16 cm in diameter

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Advance prep

Cheese straining: Place a strainer on top of a bowl. Put the cheese in the strainer and store in the fridge for about an hour or two. In this process, most of the liquid will be separated from the cheese.

Gelatin mass: Sprinkle gelatin powder over the water, mix well and keep in the fridge for at least half an hour. Cut into small pieces before use.

Oreo base

Preheat oven to 170 °C (340 °F). Line a baking tray with baking parchment and place the small ring on top (14 cm).

Grind Oreo cookies to small crumbs in a food processor. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to the mixer bowl and add sugar, butter, almonds and salt. Mix with the paddle attachment for about 3-4 minutes to grind the almonds slightly. Add flour and mix for another half a minute until the flour is well combined.

Transfer the mixture into the ring and flatten the surface with a small offset spatula. Place the tray in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until the base begins to brown. Remove from the oven and immediately remove the ring (careful, it’s hot!). Allow the base to cool at room temperature.

Prepare the large ring (16 cm): cover the bottom of the ring with plastic wrap by attaching it to the sides of the ring, creating a flat sealed bottom to the ring. Place the ring on a tray and place the Oreo base in its center. Put aside.

Oreo & cream cheese mousse

Using a food processor, grind Oreo cookies into small crumbs. Keep aside. Whisk 200 g cold heavy cream until you almost get soft peaks (beware not to over whip, the goal is to get a texture that resembles yogurt). Keep in the fridge.

Weigh the filtered cheese and put it in a bowl. Add vanilla and sugar. Whisk until uniform. Put 50 g heavy cream in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add gelatin mass and mix until completely dissolved.

Pour into the bowl containing the cheese mixture. Whisk well until you get a uniform and smooth consistency. From this stage, you have to work fast.

Remove the whipped cream from the fridge, whip it a little bit and then fold it into the cheese mixture in 3 parts until the mixture is uniform. Add the Oreo crumbs and fold as well. Pour immediately into the large ring over the Oreo base to the top (and even a little bit more).

Remove the excess mousse using a large offset spatula to make the surface flat. Tap the bottom of the mousse cake lightly so it spreads uniformly. Keep in the freezer for at least two hours. (Preferably overnight)

Decoration

Cut the acetate strip a little bit longer than the large ring’s circumference (about 53 cm). Cut another strip a little bit longer than the tiny ring’s circumference (about 28 cm). Cut both strips to a 2 cm height (or any other height you desire). Cut two similar strips from parchment paper.

Place the acetate strips on a clean flat surface. Temper chocolate following this post. Once the chocolate is tempered, pour it down the length of each strip. Using a small offset spatula, spread the chocolate across the strips to get a thin and uniform layer, 2 mm thick (better thick than thin).

Lift each strip and place it on a clean surface. Cover the chocolate surface with the suitable parchment paper. Place the suitable ring on the edge of each strip. Roll the ring along the strip, wrapping the strip around the ring while doing so. Set the ring on its side and let it stand on the edges of the strip.

Let the chocolate set for about 5 minutes. Set the rings back on the surface. Gently release the rings from the strips. Release the outer acetate strip and then the inner parchment paper, gently. Keep the chocolate rings aside.

Putting it all together!

Release the mousse from the ring (by rubbing the ring between the palms of your hands). Set it on a serving plate. Wrap the cake with the large chocolate ring. Place the small chocolate ring in the center on top of the cake. Decorate it with Oreo cookies inside. Keep the cake in the fridge for at least 6 hours before serving. It keeps up to two days.

Yum