Chocolat Fraise Cake, replica of Chocolat Framboise

Hello all! Apologies for my long absence! Almost 2 weeks since my last post but who's counting, haha! Can't really say that I am busy but just couldn't get my momentum back in blogging. :P Although I do still bake and cook a lot lately, just didn't find the inspiration to post anything up. :( Damn...I hope I don't lose it, this blog has been my baby for 4 years now....*sigh*. I guess every blogger faces this issue some where along the way. :P I just hope this passion about blogging won't die on me anytime soon. :P *fingers crossed*

Back to today's post. It was my FIL's birthday last weekend, so it goes without saying that I had to churn out a cake for his big celebration. Although I was down with flu(recovering), it seems like a bad excuse to the old folks if you tell them I can't bake his cake because I ain't feeling too well. So by hook or by crook, I bit my lip and got to work. I browsed through so many cake books and finally decided on a recipe from this fabulous book from "Le Cordon Bleu (De la Cueillette, a la Recette)" also known as "法國藍帶糕點應用". I acquired this cookbook while I was touring in Taiwan last Nov and fell in love with it. I doubt I will be able to find a copy here in Singapore. I grabbed the opportunity to bake one of the simpler recipes in the book...yeah, Le Cordon Bleu...renowned French culinary school. ~stress~ At some point while I was preparing for this cake...I was asking myself if I was kidding myself to go with this recipe, lol! Anyway, I did made some changes to the original recipe, mainly because of the preference of taste in my family and also the fruit in season. 

The recipe I choose from the book was Chocolat Framboise, simply mean Chocolate Raspberry cake. It may sound simple, but it's pretty complicated when you read the recipe. It's a cake with layers of chocolate cake also called Sacher, Cremeux Framboise (raspberry cream jelly), Mousse Chocolat (chocolate mousse) and raspberry jam. One of the major change in the recipe is I used strawberries instead of raspberries. I know, it's like a totally different cake! I felt I didn't do the recipe justice by changing this main ingredient. :P But I thought strawberries are in season now and it won't differ that much maybe in taste? Anyway, I swore I will bake this again using raspberries, just you wait! Lol!

The other part which I made changes to is using a chocolate sponge cake recipe versus the sacher  cake as stated in the recipe. As the sacher uses almond paste and I didn't have any at hand, I decided to just go with my all trusty chocolate sponge cake. Without further ado, here is the recipe of the cake I made:

Ingredients for Chocolat Fraise Cake  (makes a 8" round)

Please refer to here for the Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe

Cremeux Fraise (Strawberry cream jelly)

140g strawberry puree

40g egg yolk

50g whole egg

40g caster sugar

3g gelatine sheet

50g unsalted butter

Mousse Chocolat (Chocolate Mousse)

113ml simple syrup (at 30C temperature)

(2 part sugar, 1 part water ratio, heated together till melted and cool to 30C)

98g egg yolk

45ml fresh whipping cream

225g quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

389ml fresh whipping cream

fresh strawberry compote (you can use strawberry jam)

Cocoa powder

fresh strawberries, halved  for deco

Method:

• After you have baked the chocolate sponge cake, let cool and then cut it into two 7" disc and two strips that are at least 3" height, as shown below:
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• Set the cake slices aside for use later. In the meantime, make the strawberry cream jelly layer.
• In a saucepan, add in egg yolk, whole egg, caster sugar and strawberry puree and mix well. Place over medium low fire and cook mixture till slightly thicken.
• Add in the soften gelatin sheet and stir well till completely incorporated. Remove from the heat and add in the butter and stir till butter has melted and combined. At this point you can sieve this mixture but I choose not to.
• Pour the mixture into a prepared 6" round cake pan and cover with plastic wrap and chill till firm. What happened to the colour?!? O well.... :P
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• To make the chocolate mousse: Beat the egg yolks till foamy, then gradually add in the warm sugar syrup and continue to beat till doubled in volume and lightened in colour.
• In another heat proof bowl, heat up the 45ml cream till almost bubbly and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes. Then stir well to get a thick chocolate ganache.
• In a mixer, whip the heavy cream till stiff peaks. Add half of the whipped cream to the egg yolk mixture. Then the other half of the whipped cream to the chocolate ganache. Then combined both these mixture together till well combined and be careful not to deflate the mixture. Chill chocolate mousse till needed.
• Assembly: Place the 2 (or less, cut away as per needed) strips of chocolate cake along the inner cake ring.
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• Next place a 7" round cake disc at the base...make sure there is no gap between the cake layers else the mousse will ooze out. 
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• Spread some strawberry jam at the surface of the base cake layer...generously.
• Next pipe a layer of chocolate mousse over the jam layer.
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• Next, place the strawberry cream jelly over the mousse. Make sure the jelly is firm enough to handle. Mine was a little wobbly but I still manage to slide it in ok. Else you can freeze it to firm it further. 
• Next, pipe another layer of mousse over the jelly and then place the other cake disc over the mousse. 
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• Lastly, spread some mousse over the cake layer and smooth it out. Chill the whole cake in the fridge for another hour before removing the cake ring.
• You can at this point frost the cake with more chocolate mousse and decorate at will.

My goodness...that is a load off! Sorry for being so long winded but these are basically the steps. :P But making this cake is a real experience...loads of work but sure pays off when you take the first bite~!

It's funny how sometimes we ordered such a cake and never really notice how all these wonderful and yummy layers that marry each other so nicely! After baking one myself, then I truly appreciate each individual layer much much more, haha!

Everyone that tasted the cake liked it, going for seconds and cleaning up their plates in no time. The strawberry did pair off nicely in place of the raspberries, lol! Come-on, you can't go wrong with strawberries and chocolate right? I declare this attempt a successful one! Yoohoo! Looking forward to tryinbg out more challenging cake recipes from this Le Cordon Bleu book....if I dare, lol!

If you ever do attempt to bake this cake, do drop me a note/comment and let me know how it turns out ya? 

There you go! An almost 2 weeks break and I came back with this super long post of a 5 layer cake! Hope I redeemed myself, haha! Have a great day all!

 

Mango & Strawberry Mousse with Oreo Crumbs

The weather is getting pretty warm lately. Needless to say, Summer has already arrived and besides trying to enjoy the nice weather, one has to stay cool as well...literally. I have already brewed water chestnut and chrysanthemum tea a couple times now for the family this month, a delicious drink to "lower the heat"(降火气) in your body. I am sure many of you out there has special cooling teas to beat the heat. And since I didn't want to turn on my oven on such hot weathers, I opted for a cooler desert to serve my family, Mango and Strawberry Mousse with Oreo Crumbs.

I just made this and was really eager to share with everyone since this is such an easy and delicious desert, anyone can do it! If you prefer some other fruits other then Mango or strawberries, by all means, change to what you like. :)

Ingredients for Mango and Strawberry Mousse with Oreo Crumb (makes 4 cups)

140g fresh mango puree

140g strawberry reduction (See note)

2 tbsp gelatine powder (separate 1 tbsp for each flavor)

300ml fresh heavy whipping cream (separate 150ml for each flavor)

8 round discs of vanilla sponge cake (diameter of the sponge depends your cup size)

5 pieces of Oreo cookies, blend into crumbs

Note: Strawberry reduction : Using 250g fresh, diced strawberries and 100-120g caster sugar and cook in a heat proof sauce pot at low heat till the mixture becomes thick like jam consistency. About 10-15mins. You can do the same for the mango if you want but I was happy with the consistency.

• In two heat proof bowls, microwave the gelatine powder with 1 tbsp of water. Once the gelatine powder has melted in, quickly add in the fruit purees, mango puree in one and strawberry reduction in another. Stir well and set aside.
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• In a large mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream till stiff peaks. Then divide into 2 equal portions and mix in the fruit gelatine mixtures in to one portion each.
• Assemble: Scoop some mango mousse into the cup to about almost half way. Then place a piece of sponge on top. Then scoop the strawberry mousse over the sponge cake to 90% full. Then top it with another sponge cake.
• Cover the cups with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
• After chilling, top each cup with the Oreo crumbs till full. You can opt to top it with more fresh fruits if you prefer. Serve cold!

I was really happy once I tasted it. It's so yummy! Everything just comes together nicely. Since I did not add any extra sugar, the desert was really light and easy to eat. It literally melts in the mouth, so heavenly. ;) I'm now planning to make it into a larger version into cakes for special occasions. ;) Do try it out this summer, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Okay, have a great weekend folks!