Mozart shortbread cake with chocolate mousse

The process of making a cake with such a sonorous name, we will start with baking cakes. We will do this:

1. Cut the butter into cubes at room temperature, then whisk until creamy.
2. Add powdered sugar and ground almonds to the butter.
3. Grate the yolks on a fine grater, mix everything together.
4. Pour in the cognac.
5. Sift the flour and mix with baking powder. Add it, stirring, to the rest of the ingredients in small portions.
6. Knead the dough until smooth, homogeneous consistency. The dough should be very soft and tender, sticky enough.
7. Divide the dough into three parts, form a ball from each, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
8. Time has passed - take out one ball, let the rest lie in the refrigerator for now. Roll out between a layer of parchment and cling film. Cut out a circle according to the shape (it is better to take a detachable one). Prick the future cake with a fork over the entire surface. Directly on this parchment, send it to the oven to bake in the form for 15 minutes (temperature - 180 degrees Celsius). The cake should turn slightly brown.
9. While the first cake is baking, remove the second ball from the refrigerator and repeat step 8. Do the same with the third ball of dough.

The cakes are ready and cool down (or you can bake them in advance), you can move on to the next stage. So, we prepare a cinnamon-apple mixture:

1. Wash the apples, peel them, and cut out the cores.Now they need to be cut into small cubes.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan.
3. Put the apples in the butter, add sugar and cinnamon. Reshape without ceasing. The sugar should turn slightly brown (caramelize).
4. Pour in the cognac, let it evaporate, then remove the cinnamon-apple mixture from the heat. Let it cool down. Apples should remain whole pieces, not turn into porridge.

It's the turn of the chocolate mousse:

1. Break the chocolate into small pieces, then put it in a water bath to melt.
2. At this time, bring the cream and cinnamon stick to a boil in a small saucepan. After boiling, remove the wand.
3. Pour the cream into the chocolate and mix gently with movements from the bottom up. It is best to do this with a wooden spatula. An important moment! You can't whip it up!
4. Put the proteins in a separate bowl and whisk with sugar (it is better to add it in two steps). Beat the whites to soft peaks - this is also important.
5. Mix the whipped whites into the chocolate-cream mass - in the same way, with careful movements from the bottom up, with a spatula.

Chocolate mousse is ready. Add the cinnamon-apple mixture to it, mix. Now you can start assembling the cake:

1. Put a circle of parchment on the bottom of the split mold, on which lay out the cake.
2. Pour half of the chocolate mousse on the cake.
3. Put the second cake on the mousse. You can't push! Pour the remaining mousse on top.
4. We cover the future cake with the last cake, also without pressing.
5. We put the form in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

It remains only to prepare the glaze:

1. In a small saucepan, mix the sugar and cocoa.
2. Pour the milk into the mixture, put it on a slow fire and heat until all the sugar crystals completely dissolve. Don't stop interfering.
3. Put the butter, keep it on the fire until bubbles appear, but you do not need to bring it to a boil!
4. Cool the glaze so that it is warm, but not hot.

Pour the finished icing over the cake, decorate it to your taste and put it back in the refrigerator for another hour. Before you serve the cake to the table, you need to get it out of the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes - this will make the mousse softer.

Bon appetit and happy holidays!