Strawberry Mousse Cake

Finally! Midterm season is over (oh, how the quarter system moves so quickly). Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow, and I am thrilled to return home to Walnut and see my beloved high school friends. As novel as UCLA has been, I miss the friends that I've grown up with for the past 4+ years. I'm tired of living with other people (which may sound rather spoiled, but I am used to having and sleeping in my own room). Here at college, it is so difficult to control my studying and sleeping environment. I can't sleep when I want to, have to desperately search for a quiet place to study, and worst of all, I CAN'T COOK! I'm having cooking withdrawal.

I made this strawberry mousse cake awhile back in October, for my mother's birthday. I haven't had time until today to sit down and write out the recipe because of the whole rush of midterms and papers that has been plaguing me week after week. It feels good to be back. Please decorate the cake as you wish. You don't have to cover it with chocolate covered strawberries or ganache, but I believe that presentation is just as important as taste. If you do try this recipe, I would absolutely love to see pictures of your variation.

Happy thanksgiving! Don't forget to say "I love you" to those you most cherish, because to be honest, you can never say that enough. Even I have to admit that I am never grateful enough to my family and friends for all they have done for me. Thanksgiving recipes will come… later. After thanksgiving is FINALS! Look forward to cinnamon rolls, buttermilk clusters, and perhaps even a swirled cheesecake?!

Strawberry Mousse Cake

Strawberry Mousse

• 250 grams strawberries (about 20 medium-sized berries)
  
• 4 tbs sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1/3 cup water
  
• 2 ½ tsp unflavored gelatin
  
• 1 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Sponge Cake

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
  
• 3 tbs milk
  
• ¾ cup sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 2 tbs butter, melted

• About 20 thin slices of strawberry (to form the outside layer of strawberries)
  

Chocolate Covered Strawberries (optional)

• 6-8 ounces of chocolate chips
  
• 1 tbs oil
  
• 3-4 strawberries (or however many you want to use on the cake)

To make the Strawberry Mousse:

1. Wash, de-leaf and quarter the strawberries and place in a pot. Add the water, sugar and unflavored.
   
2. Bring to a boil and then simmer until everything dissolves. Let the strawberry mixture cool and then pulse in a blender until mixture is pureed. Refrigerate.
   
3. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream until just thickened, before peaks begin to form. Fold in the completely cooled strawberry mixture and mix with a spatula. Refrigerate until ready to assemble cake.

To make the Sponge Cake:

1. Beat the eggs until they become a thick and creamy mixture (around 7 minutes).
   
2. Add the sugar, and continue beating for another 3 minutes. Add in the flour, milk, butter, and vanilla extract and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
3. Pour into a 8-inch circular cake mold (or whatever shape you want your cake to be) and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes. When completely cooled, cut the cake in half (lengthwise) so you have two circular pieces of cake.

To make a large mousse cake:

1. Take one of the 8-inch circle cakes and place it into an 8 ½ inch springform pan. Surround the sides of the cake with the 20 thin slices of strawberry (you might need more or less, depending on the size of the strawberries and how good you are at shoving them in between the sides of the cake and the springform pan)Spoon about half of the strawberry mousse onto the cake and spread evenly, making sure to fill out any air bubbles in the mousse.
2. Carefully place the second 8-inch circle cake and place it on top of the mousse. Spoon the remaining strawberry mousse on top and spread evenly with a spatula.
   
3. Give it a gentle shake or two to make the mousse and cakes settle. Cover the cake with saran wrap (but don't let the saran wrap touch the top layer of mousse, or else you'll end up ripping off part of the smooth top layer along with the saran wrap when it is done chilling). Refrigerate for at least an hour.
   

To make the Chocolate Covered Strawberries (optional):

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, heating the chips in 30-second increments until melted. Add in the oil and stir with a spatula until smooth and glossy.
2. Grasp the strawberries by the leaves and dip in the chocolate, lifting up the strawberry in a circular motion. Place on a foiled pan and chill. Repeat with the remaining strawberries.
   
3. Use leftover melted chocolate as a base for the chocolate covered strawberries, or simply decorate the cake however you want. Write a message in white chocolate, cover it with chocolate ganache, or leave it simple.

Ashley's Silken Chocolate Mousse Cake

Let me start off by introducing my very best friend, Ashley. This Saturday will be her 18th birthday! SHE'LL BE LEGAL! OMG. So, this post (and recipe) is dedicated to Ashley. She is totally amazing. She's smart, beautiful, and is kind to all children and animals. Makes her sound like a princess, right? WELL SHE IS. She must have been born in the wrong time or something, because somehow I feel as if people should be bowing and saying "your majesty" whenever she walks past. That's how awesome she is.

And despite how frickin' amazing she is, and how talented she is at ballet, she never boasts or acts like she's better than others. That in itself is a great accomplishment, and I only wish I can someday be like her. Ashley is truly a selfless and wonderful person, and I am SO blessed to have a best friend like her. I would never trade her for anyone, because after all, she is the best!

One more thing. We both love to cook. And we both love to cook healthy! It's really wonderful to have a best friend who shares the same interests you do. Therefore, you'll notice an interesting thing about the ingredients list: the mousse is made of tofu! Fits with the theme of the blog, right? And of course Ashley's (and my) love for healthy things.

Happy birthday, Ashley. You're the best :]

Ashley's Chocolate Mousse Cake

Chocolate Mousse

• 1 12-ounce box of silky firm tofu
• 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
• 2 tbs chocolate syrup
• 4 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup sugar
  
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
  
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 1/3 cup milk

Ganache

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbs unsalted butter

Writing

• 2 ounces white chocolate
  
  

1. To make the mousse: Melt the chocolate chips over the stove or in a microwave.
   
2. Place the two blocks of tofu in a blender or food processor, and blend slightly, until no large chunks remain.
3. Pour the chocolate syrup, milk, and vanilla extract on top of the tofu. Alternate the pulse and whip functions on your blender until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and do the same until the mixture has no streaks of tofu or chocolate left. You may need to use a spatula for this.
4. Place the mousse into a container and refrigerate for at least one hour (make the cake during this time).
5. To make the cake: Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixter in a large bowl until it becomes creamy, white, and fluffy (about 10 minutes).
6. Add the eggs and vanilla, continue beating until well mixed. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa together in a separate bowl.
7. Alternate adding the milk and flour into the butter/egg mixture.
8. When completely mixed, pour 2/3 of the batter into an 8-inch cake pan and the remaining 1/2 batter onto a jelly roll pan or whatever else you want to use (to make mini mousse cakes). Or, you can divide the batter however you want, depending on how thick you want the cake/mousse to be.
9. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Bake for 25-27 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
10. When the cake is done baking, let the cake completely cool before you begin working with it (I was in a rush, and I cooled the cake by putting it in the freezer for 15 minutes after letting it cool on the countertop for 10 minutes).
11. To make the ganache: Place the chocolate chips in a large bowl.
12. Heat the butter and heavy whipping cream on medium heat in a saucepan until almost boiling.
13. Immediately pour the hot cream onto the chocolate chips and slowly stir with a whisk. Keep stirring slowly until it is a smooth and shiny chocolate mixture.
14. To make a large mousse cake: Take the 8-inch cake and shave off the mound in the middle, until it is flat on both sides. Don't worry if it isn't perfect, you'll be covering it with mousse anyways. Place into an 8-inch springform pan (I used an 8 1/2 inch springform pan, and it still worked).
15. Spoon about half of the mousse onto the cake, and spread evenly, making sure to fill out any air bubbles in the mousse.
16. Pour the ganache onto the cake, then tilt the springform pan until all sides of the mousse are covered. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before writing on it.
17. To make a mini mousse cake: Take the cooled sheet of cake and use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes. (Two cake-shapes for one mini mousse cake). So, if you want to make 5 mini mousse cakes, you would cut out 10 cake-shapes.
18. Place a cookie cutter on the top 1/3 of a cake-shape (so that the cookie cutter is higher than the actual cake). You will be using the extra space to fill in the mousse. Spoon the mousse and use a spatula to fill in the mousse into the cookie cutter. Then, lift the cookie cutter slowly from the cake-shape and the mousse so that it all remains intact.
19. Place a second cake-shape on top of the mousse. (It will look like an ice cream sandwich, with chocolate mousse in the middle).
20. Spoon the ganache onto the top layer of cake, and then use a mini spatula to spread it around. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before writing on it.
21. To make the writing: Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Using a spatula, push the white chocolate into a plastic sandwich bag with a corner snipped off (or into a piping bag). Hold the bag firmly and slowly squeeze out the chocolate while writing the words onto the ganache.
22. Refrigerate for at least another 15 minutes and then present it to your best friend Ashley. :] Then sing happy birthday at the top of your lungs and dance in a silly manner.

Happy birthday, Ashley~!