Strawberry Mousse with Joconde Cake

This particular week I felt the need to make something tasty, but be a new project as well.  The mood does not strike all the time, so I did take some time to decide.  This particular recipe has something called stencil paste. In this recipe a design is done on parchment and then a cake batter is spread over the top.

Since this was the first time dealing with this type of medium, I kept it very simple with the stripes.  I am sure with practice designs can become more intricate.  Also, the end result was actually three different assemblies from the same recipe.

Regarding the taste, I really did like the combo of the cold strawberry mousse with the chocolate almond cake.  The ratio of mousse to cake was just right.

Please be sure to read all the recipe completely before starting, especially the tips and notes.  One note is crucial to making your decision on the form of your dessert. If making round cakes, you will need 8 stainless steel 3 inch pastry rings.

Strawberry Mousse with Joconde Cake
adapted from the book Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients/Chocolate stencil paste
1 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup flour
3 egg whites, room temp
4 tbs butter, room temp

Ingredients Joconde Sheet Cake
2 tbs melted butter
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Strawberry Mousse
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 cups strawberry puree
1/4 cup cold water
2 tbs unflavored powdered gelatin
3/4 cup sugar
8 extra whole strawberries for garnish

The stencil paste will need to be made first.  Prepare a jelly roll pan by greasing the interior and then lining with parchment.  Also, grease the face up side of the parchment.

Using a stand mixer, beat together the confectioners sugar with the butter.  Scrape down the sides occasionally and beat until it becomes smooth and creamy.  Then beat in the egg whites.  The batter may look lumpy at first, but continue to beat until the lumps disappear.

With a wooden spoon, fold in the flour and cocoa powder until just combined.  Take the paste and spread thinly over the parchment paper, covering all corners and sides.  Once all is spread evenly, take the tip of a spatula and remove long strips of chocolate, moving down the shortest length of the pan.  Clean the spatula after every stripe, before starting another.

Once all the stripes are complete, place  pan in the freezer. Then preheat the oven to 450 degrees

For the cake, fill a stand mixer bowl with whole eggs, egg yolk, confectioners sugar and both types of flour. Beat together until smooth, stopping a few times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Set aside
when all is blended.

Fill another bowl with the egg whites and beat until they reach a foamy consistency.  Continue to beat, adding the sugar slowly.  The mixture should turn into a shiny meringue.  Fold this into the almond flour batter until no streaks remain.  Then stir in the melted butter.  Take care not to deflate the egg whites.

Take the pan out of freezer and smooth the batter on top of the stripes, making sure all is even.  Place in oven and bake until top springs back when lightly touched, which is about 5-8 minutes.  Put a sheet of parchment paper ( slightly longer than the jelly roll pan) on a flat, heat tolerant surface. Remove cake and let cool for 3 minutes and then invert onto parchment paper.  Remove top sheet of parchment and let cool completely.

For the strawberry mousse, start by sprinkling and mixing gelatin powder in a bowl with the cold water.  Let stand for about 5 minutes.  It will become spongy.  Set aside.

Blend the strawberry puree with the sugar.  Then heat the gelatin mixture in the microwave for 15 seconds.  Stir and then pour into the puree.  Let sit for 20 minutes to thicken.

While that is thickening, pour the whipping cream in a bowl and whip until thick and fluffy.  Give the puree a stir at the 20 minute mark.  Blend in 3 tbs of whipping cream. Then fold in the rest of the cream until pink hue is consistent throughout.

To assemble, place pastry rings on a flat plate and line with parchment paper.  Then cut cake strips that are the same inside diameter and about 1 1/2 inch wide.  Be sure to cut so stripes are parallel to the 1/1/2 inch width.  Line the inside of the rings with the cake, stripes facing outward.  Then fill with about 1/2 cup of mousse, which should bring it to a height of about 1/2 inch beyond top edge of cake.
Refrigerate for about an hour.

To serve place cake ring on a small plate, remove steel ring and parchment paper.  Then garnish with one sliced strawberry on top and serve immediately.

Tips and Notes:
1. Cake was not very flexible, so it broke upon trying to line the rings.  I pieced it around but it was more of a box. Based on that, I tried the assembly as a sandwich, which turned out quite nicely.  If I had to do over again, I would make entire sandwich cakes by making two pans of cake and putting mousse between the layers.
2. Getting the thick stencil paste on the parchment was a difficult task, the parchment slid around while I was trying to smooth it out.  This does take some patience.  Also, I used the handle straight end of a measuring spoon to scrape the chocolate off to make stripes.
3. My cake had more of a milky look to the chocolate stripes, next time for a darker contrast I may use a darker cocoa. The recipe never stated which to use.
4. If making sandwiches, leave a overhang of parchment when preparing the bottom layer of cake.  It will need to be lifted out and placed in a cool jelly roll pan instead of being inverted.  Then you can put the mousse on top.  Let set up in fridge before placing cake layer on top.  Then cut in squares, perhaps it can be frozen first before adding the top layer so there is a clean sharp cut.
                          **LAST YEAR: Cinnagrog Pie***

Chocolate Banana Slices

It has been some time since I have indulged in a chocolate covered banana, so when I saw this recipe, I could not pass it up.   The recipe was found in a rather hi-brow dessert cook book so I was not to sure that I could achieve the same that was in the picture.

Even though the recipe had a step that involved making some type of foil collar to put around the cake, I decided to go ahead and make it. The collar was to hold the mousse layer at the same height right to the edge of the cake so it would set evenly.

In the long run, I skipped that step anyway. I just trimmed off the edges after the mousse set up so all of the cake was evenly covered with the mousse layer.  I have included both options in the recipe below.

This is definitely the recipe for someone who loves chocolate dipped bananas and if you also like them covered with peanuts, you can sprinkle them on top of the chocolate layer before it sets.

Chocolate Banana Slices
adapted from Kaffeehause Cookbook

Ingredients/Cake
3 eggs, room temp.
2 tbs milk
2 tbs unsalted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
3 tbs Dutch cocoa
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
vegetable oil spray (if doing foil collar method)

Ingredients/Filling
1 1/2 tbs rum
6 oz finely chopped bittersweet choc
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

Ingredients/Glaze
1 tsp corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

To make the base or cake layer, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter the inside of a 8X11 cake pan.  Place parchment on the bottom and dust the bottom and sides with flour.

Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, mix for about 1 minute.  The put a pot of water over medium high heat and let come to a simmer.  Take the bowl from the stand mixer and place it over the simmering water, making sure the bottom does not touch the water.  Let the mixture cook while whisking constantly.  Continue to whisk and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the batter is hot to the touch.  You can test both qualities with your finger to detect any graininess as well as the heat factor.

Transfer bowl back to the stand mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, beat the batter on high speed for about 3 minutes.  The batter should be triple in size and fluffy after beating.

In another bowl, sift together the salt, cocoa and cake flour.  Set aside.  Then take out a saucepan and melt the butter on medium heat. Add the milk and heat until simmering.  Remove and stir in the vanilla.

Take half of the sifted mixture and fold into the egg batter.  Once blended, fold in the other half.  Scoop out a spoonful of the batter and stir it into the milk mixture. After that is blended, stir it back into the batter.  Spoon out batter into pan and smooth the top until all is even.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched  Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes and then invert onto rack.  Remove the parchment paper and let cool completely before adding the next layer.

To make the filling place a sauce pan with the cream over medium heat.  Let come to a simmer and remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and pour in the rum and let sit for 3 minutes, without stirring.  Then whisk until smooth.  Cover bowl and place in freezer.

After 15 minutes in the freezer, remove and beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute.  Cover and place bowl back in the freezer.  Continue with this process until the mousse is very thick and holds its shape like frosting.

Place the sliced bananas on top of the cake, cut side down.  Then smooth on the mousse.

If using a foil collar, spread the mousse evenly and leave about 1 inch from the edge of the cake.  Fold a 40 inch long strip of foil in half lengthwise.  You will have a strip 6 inches tall.  Spray the foil with the vegetable oil and wrap around the cake, oil side in and tape together at the ends.  You may need to crimp the foil to get a tight fit.  Then, using an offset spatula, smooth the mousse over the remaining 1 inch edges so it is touching the foil.  Place the cake on a serving tray and put in refrigerator to let the filling set.  This should take about 2 hours.

If not using a foil collar, follow the directions in the first sentence of the above paragraph. but smooth the mousse all the way to the edge of the cake.  Make sure it does not go over the side of the cake.  Place the cake on a serving tray and let the filling set.  This should take about 2 hours.

Then you can make the glaze. The above recipe came up short for me and I was unable to completely cover the cake, so I added an additional half of the glaze ingredients listed with the original measurements ( 2 tbs heavy cream, 1 oz chocolate and 1/2 tsp corn syrup).  Pour the cream into a saucepan placed over medium high heat.  Let come to a simmer and remove from heat.  Whisk in corn syrup and chocolate until mixture is smooth and resembles a dark hot chocolate.  Let cool for 5 minutes.

If you opted to use the collar, remove it from the cake. Pour the glaze on top of the set mousse layer and use a spatula to smooth it out, covering all of the edges as best you can.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until glaze sets.

If you did not use a collar, trim the edges where the mousse layer was uneven, using a hot, wet knife.  Use that same method for cutting servings.  Serve chilled.
                 **LAST YEAR: Chocolate Coconut Candies**