Rigo Jancsi

• Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
• Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and brush it with melted butter.

Chocolate Sponge Cake

• In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and flour. In another small bowl, add the chopped chocolate pieces and butter. Microwave it for 10 second bursts till chocolate and butter start to melt. Mix well after each burst. Repeat till the mixture is smooth and velvety. Set it aside to cool.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl, whip the egg yolks (on high speed) till pale and fluffy. Add half the sugar in a stream and whip till well incorporated and yolks and sugar fall from the whip in a ribbon.
• Fold in the cooled chocolate-butter mixture.
• Put the egg whites in a clean bowl and whip to soft peaks, add the salt, then add the remaining sugar in a stream. Continue to whisk till the soft peak stage.
• Combine ⅓ of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well to loosen the egg yolk mixture and gently fold in the rest of the the whites mix in two batches.
• Fold in the flour-cocoa mixture.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, level it with a spatula and bake for 12-15 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from the pan, remove the parchment paper and set it on the wire rack to cool.
• While the cake is cooling down, make the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze.

• Prepare the glaze by combining all the ingredients except vanilla in a small bowl.
• Microwave the bowl for 20 seconds on full power, then apply as many ten-second bursts as needed to melt the chocolate completely, stirring in between.
• When the chocolate and butter is completely melted, stir in the vanilla and mix well to get a smooth glaze.
• Trim the edges of the sponge cake to even it out and pour the glaze over the cake, spreading it as evenly as possible using a spatula.
• Allow the glaze to set for about 30-45 minutes in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Mousse filling

• Add 1 tablespoon cold water to gelatin and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then add 1 tablespoon of boiling water into the gelatin.
• In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and the powdered sugar.
• In a different bowl, melt the chocolate pieces with 1 tablespoon heavy cream in the microwave, using a 20-second burst, then as many ten-second bursts as needed until it’s completely smooth. Cool it to warm-to-the-touch.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl, pour the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and rum extract.
• Whip the cream mixture to just shy of soft peaks. Add the cocoa and and powdered sugar mix and mix well.
• Add the melted chocolate and quickly whisk till well combined.

Assembly

• Prepare the apricot glaze by mixing apricot jam with water.
• Divide the cake into two equal halves.
• Place the bottom layer on a serving dish (cake board works just fine) with the chocolate glaze side up.
• Brush the apricot glaze liberally over it using a pastry brush.
• Spread the chocolate mousse filling as evenly as possible on the cake.
• Place the other half of the cake (again with the chocolate glaze side up) and fill in the gaps (if any) with the chocolate mousse.
• When ready to serve, dip a serrated knife in hot water, wipe and then cut into desired size and serve.