Chocolate Pound Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Butter a jelly-roll pan, which is 10.5" x 15.5", and line it with parchment paper.

In a heat-proof bowl, pour in 1/2 cup of hot coffee, add in 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and continue stirring till it has fully dissolved. Let this come to room temperature.

In a separate bowl with a sieve, add 1.25 cups cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Sift this in.

In a separate bowl, add in 1 cup of room temperature unsalted butter, and beat on low speed for 1 minute until smooth. Then add in 1.25 cups of granulated sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes, until it's light and fluffy. Then on low speed: beat in 4 large eggs, 1 egg at a time, just until incorporated. Beat in the cocoa mixture. Then beat in the dry ingredients, adding them one-third at a time, careful that it doesn't fly everywhere, and beat till just combined. Scrape down the bowl.

Transfer batter into the prepared baking sheet and smooth out the top with your spatula. Bake it in the preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and surface springs back when gently pressed.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the cake, to prevent it from sticking to parchment paper. Place a big piece of parchment paper bigger than the cake over the cake, invert the cake onto the parchment paper, lift off the sheet pan, and peel off the parchment paper the cake was baked with. Let this cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Mousse:

In a small mixing bowl, add in 3 room temperature egg yolks, and beat with an electric beater on low speed for about 2 to 3 minutes till it's smooth and looks lemon-yellow in color. Set this aside.

Place a large heatproof (stainless steel or glass) mixing bowl over a water-bath on medium-low heat. Add in 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, which is about 1 and one-third cups of chocolate chips, and 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into six 1-tbsp cubes. Melt and mix them together until smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Slowly whisk in the egg-yolk mixture, and an optional 1 tablespoon of brandy. Set this aside to cool till it is lukewarm.

In a separate mixing bowl, add in 1 cup of very cold heavy cream and 2 tbsp of granulated sugar. Beat this till you start to see stiff peaks.

In a separate stainless steel or glass mixing bowl, add in 3 room temperature egg whites and 1/4 a teaspoon of salt. Beat with clean and dry beater attachments, till you see soft peaks.

When chocolate has cooled to lukewarm, fold in the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, one-third at a time, till it's smooth. Then do the same thing with the whipped egg whites. Set this aside.

Assembling the Cake:

Cut the chocolate pound cake with a 9-inch metal cake ring. Put the metal cake ring in the middle of a cake stand / plate. Put acetate sheet inside cake ring. Put chocolate pound cake at the bottom. Then add the layer of chocolate mousse. Refrigerate overnight for the mousse to set. At least 8 hours.

In a large mixing bowl, add 4 oz cold cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until smooth. While the mixture is still whipping, slowly pour in 2 cups of very cold heavy cream. Continue whipping until the cream can hold stiff peaks. Transfer the frosting into a piping bag and create little turrets of whipped cream frosting all over the top of the cake.

Take a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips, and sprinkle them over the top. Leave this in the fridge till you're ready to serve. Take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!