I found this recipe last year and held on to it because it sounded delicious! Over the summer I made it for a coworker's bday and made it DAIRY FREE! It was such a huge hit! When I was preparing for my youngest son's 17th bday I showed it to him and he decided he must have this for his birthday too. His doesn't need to be dairy free so I made it with dairy products, but it is incredibly easy to swap out if you need DF! I also would like to try this with raspberries in place of strawberries!
Crust:
32 Oreo cookies, crushed fine (I used Dark Chocolate, you could use regular, or they did at one time have Chocolate/Strawberry filled, but that one disappeared, if you can find them use them!!)
1/2 cup butter (dairy free, I used Country Crock Plant butter with Almond oil, but that has since been discontinued, I have used the avocado oil version in baked goods with great success
pinch of salt
Filling:
2.5 tsp gelatin
3 TB cold water
1- 11.5 oz bag Signature Reserve Extra Dark Chocolate Chunks (these are sold at Safeway, they worked for my dairy free friend, but they do have a warning the "May" contain milk, so if you have a severe allergy, any dairy free semi sweet or dark chocolate would work)
3 cups heavy cream , divided (Silk Dairy Free heavy cream was my replacement, I hear country crock has one now as well, but I LOVED the Silk!)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 lbs fresh strawberries
Ganache Topping:
1- 11.5 oz Signature Reserve Extra Dark Chocolate Chunks(see above for sub)
2/3 cup heavy cream (see above for sub)
Assembly:
Crust:
Place a circle of parchment paper in a 9-inch springform, combine crushed Oreos, melted butter and
salt, press into pan and set aside
Mousse:
Combine gelatin and water, let sit for 5-10 minutes.
Place chocolate chips in a heavy pan with 1 cup heavy cream, bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring often until the chips are melted and it is smooth and glossy.
Remove from heat, microwave your softened gelatin for 10 seconds, then add to chocolate and stir until dissolved. (you can skip the microwave step if you wish, I just felt it incorporated better this way)
Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
Whisk the remaining 2 cups heavy cream and powdered sugar in a mixer until stiff
peaks form.
Stir in a good scoop of the cream into the cooled chocolate, then fold in the remaining
cream.
Prepare about 10 strawberries(depending on size) buy cutting off the tops and slicing them in half top to bottom, put cut
strawberries around the edges of the pan
Then slice off the tops and use whole strawberries to fill in
the entire pan. (you should have a few berries left for topping, dice or slice those up for your decorating style)
Gently scoop the mousse filling around the strawberries (you can pipe it in with a pastry bag if you like)
Gently tap the entire cake on the counter to fill in any air pockets, then spread over the tops creating a flat top, refrigerate
4-6 hours
Ganache Topping:
Heat the 2/3 cup heavy cream and about 2 cups of the chocolate chips (reserve a small handful from the bag for some topping) on low heat, stirring often, until it is smooth and glossy.
Refrigerate until
thickened about 20 minutes, then spread over mousse (still in the spring form) (Sorry missed this step in pictures)
Immediately top with remaining chocolate chunks and the diced or sliced strawberries
Chill at LEAST 6 more hours
Gently insert a thin knife around the edges of the spring form to loosen it from the pan, remove spring form
