Milk Chocolate Mousse Cake with Hazelnut Crunch Crust

This recipe that I got from epicurious.com is very methodical but so worth it! You'll want to eat the whole thing yourself. The mousse is phenomenal and you'll get rave reviews from your guests!


Cake

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup sifted all purpose flour (sifted, then measured)
• 1/3 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process; sifted, then measured)
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar

Hazelnut crunch

• 5 ounces imported gianduja bars (hazelnut-flavored milk chocolate, such as Callebaut), chopped
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, finely chopped*

Mousse

• 10 ounces imported gianduja bars (hazelnut-flavored milk chocolate, such as Callebaut), chopped

• 1 1/4 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon (scant) salt
• 3 tablespoons water

• 3 tablespoons Tuaca (sweet citrus-flavored liqueur) or Frangelico (hazelnut-flavored liqueur)

• Additional unsweetened cocoa powder
• Powdered sugar