Firstly I appologise for the photos, not the best but you can see the cake so it'll do this time! I baked this for my boyfriends birthday. It had to be something show stopping and like none of my other cakes. But the recipe I followed was a French youtube video for a one portion dish... So I had to make it up along the way. It's almost like a cheesecake but with mousse. So the outter edges of the cake is an eggy sponge with the centre being all chocolate mousse. With a layer of strawberries and another praline. This takes a lot of time, due to the chilling steps.
Recipe:
Cake:
2 eggs separated. Whisk the whites to form peaks. Mix the yolks with 100g flour, 100g sugar.
Fold in egg whites. Spread thinly and evenly on a baking tray. Bake at 180 celcius for 7-10 minutes.
Using a cake tin (preferably with a removable base) Cut a long strip with height of tin and a base.
Praline:
60g Almond flakes. 100g Sugar. Melt the sugar without water in a saucepan on medium heat. As the edges being to brown turn the heat low and allow all the sugar to melt completely and gain a dark brown colouring. At no point should you stir the sugar, before it has become liquid. Fold in almond flakes and spread onto a well greased baking tray. Or using 2 silicon sheets, use a rolling pin to flatten. Leave to set.
Strawberries:
Cut 6 large strawberries into small even chunks. Add to 20g of caster sugar and simmer in a sauce pan until the excess juice from strawberries has become thick and concentrated.
Mousse:
Using 300ml of whipping or thick cream (UHT will not whip). Beat the cream until thick and add to 200g of melted chocolate. Stir in gently.
Assembly:
Line your cake tin with the sponge. Making sure there are no gaps by gently squeezing the edges together. Using the sauce from the strawberries, brush on the juice evenly to the cake. Next spoon in 1/3 of the mousse mixture. Layer with strawberries (It is important that minimal liquid is added or it will melt the mousse) Leave to set for 20 minutes. Layer with 1/3 more mousse and sprinkle over chipped up almond praline brittle. Leave to set for further 20 minutes. Layer with the remaining mouse and leave to set for 2 hours.
Once chilled and hard, using a hot pallet knife slide over the cake, using the tin as a guide, to gain a flat surface. Refrigerate for further 30 minutes before removing from tin. Dust with dutch press unsweetened cocoa powder using a fine sieve. Decorate with balls of chocolate ganache, hazelnuts, large shards of almond brittle.
Until Next Time xo
