Last week our dinner time conversations were pretty much the same
me : what kind of cake would you like for your birthday?hubby : I don't want cake, just mint chocolate chip ice-cream.me : I've never made ice-cream, I don't even have an ice-cream machine, don't plan on buying one these days. So what kind of cake?hubby : ohh, make some cookies then. me : I can make you a peanut butter and chocolate cake, you know how much you loved the last one I made. hubby : yeah, but I'm in the mood for some mint chocolate chip ice-cream. me : let me make you a cake and we buy some ice-cream. hubby : no, no, no. just make some cookies
Until Friday evening I had no idea what kind of cake I was supposed to make.
When it comes to cake, hubby and I make a perfect team. He eats the filling and the frosting and I eat the cake. Since mint chocolate chip ice-cream was out of the picture, I had to come with a cake I knew hubby would love. One with tons of filling or frosting. The idea of a mousse cake was very tempting. It may be a little time consuming but when you have a little one to run after, time flies faster than you want.
I decided to go with two mousse cakes, with and without chocolate.
The chocolate one I teased you with in my last post, unfortunately I don't have step by step photos of neither of the cakes since there were so many things going on at the same time.
Three mousse chocolate cake
The 1st layer is a gluten free cake, very easy to make.
Heat the oven at 400F. Prepare a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper.
In a bowl sift together : 1/2 cup almond flour1/2 cup confectioners' sugar2 tbsp cocoa
In your mixer bowl mix until stiff peak 1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 egg whites) with a pinch of salt.
Slowly, mix the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle some confectioners sugar over the layer, remove for the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. When cooled put it in a springform cake pan. Set aside.
Chocolate mousse
I used dark, milk and white chocolate. For the white one I highly recommend Lindt white chocolate bars.
In a sauce pan heat 1/2 cup heavy cream. Do not boil!Pour over 4 oz dark chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts. Let it cool. Mix the cooled melted chocolate with 1 cup heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks.
Pour over the cake layer and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
When set, start making the milk chocolate mousse following the dark chocolate mousse recipeThe same for white chocolate mousse. Of course, you can switch the layers, it's your decision.
The second cake I made was adapted from a Romanian well known cake, but left the egg whites out since they are used raw. The only cake I can't resist, despite the raw eggs, is Tiramisu.
Usually this cake is crust free and filled with lots of fruits. To make sure everyone will enjoy it I left the fruits out and each guest topped it with cherry or blueberry pie filling, drizzled some fudge on top or left it plain.
I'm far from being a cake expert but this mousse cake looks more like a mousse pie, but let's call it cake. I'm not that crazy about pies.
For the crust I used 1/2 cup graham crumbs, 1/2 cup ground almonds and 4 tbsp soft butter. Mix everything together and lay it in thinly in a 9 inch springform pan. Put it in the fridge.
In a sauce pan combine 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup sugar and 3 egg yolks. Place it over low heat, stirring constantly until the sauce starts to thicken and temperature gets above 180F (mine even reached 200F) making sure the egg yolks are not left raw. Turn the stove off and let it cool slightly. Meanwhile dissolve 1 package knox gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water. Wait around 3 minutes and then pour it over the egg yolks mixture. Mix and leave it to cool.
In a bowl whip 2 cups heavy cream until stiff peaks. Slowly mix in the egg mixture and pour over the almond crust and put it back in the fridge for a couple of hours. If you want, you can add layers of fruits but pay attention since some of the fruits contain an enzyme which breaks down gelatin causing it to lose its thickening properties.
Just before serving, remove it form the pan, slice it and enjoy.
That's about it for today. Thank you so much for your visit and feedback.As usual,
