Strawberry Mousse Cake

[Patrick S]

I'd like to make a strawberry mousse cake for Christmas this year. I've seen some recipes I like, but I'm curious if anyone has a recipe they particularly like and would like to share, or just some general advice on fruity mousses and mousse cakes.

Would ladyfingers work well as a base and a border, or should I go the extra trouble to make a sponge cake base? If the latter, what kind of cake would go well?

I'd like to have a pretty strawberry gelee on top, like you see on so many raspberry mousse cakes. Any advice on that?

Will the acidity of the lemon juice, added to the strawberries, mess up the mousse?

Can I freeze the finished mousse cake for a few days, or is this something that should be made the same day it is served?

Any tips, pointers, warnings or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[DiH]

Glad to see this has been bumped up.

I'm also interested in a fruit gelee cake topping... sure hope someone has some advice to offer.

Di

[jgarner53]

You can use ladyfingers, though generally that's referred to as a charlotte russe, and the filling is generally set with gelatin. (There should be an intermediate layer of ladyfingers as well, so it's not all mousse) Of course, you can always make and pipe your own ladyfingers, which would allow you to make circular disks for the bottom and middle layer. It's really no harder than making a genoise, probably even easier, and you could alter the flavor if you wanted (chocolate, add orange zest, etc.)

It sounds like you plan to have some kind of cake border (whether it's ladyfingers or genoise). Could you get your hands on acetate and avoid the cake border, so that the cake is embedded inside (and you see the pretty pink mousse all around and then get the contrast of the topping and sides)? The acetate would help hold it, though you'd be setting it up inside a ring anyway. If you use a cake border, you'd want the cake to stop a little below the top of the ring mold so that you would see, say, a half-inch, of mousse peeking out over the top of the cake, and then the coulis topping.

For the topping, I'd start with a simple syrup set with gelatin (2 cups simple syrup with 5 sheets or 5 tsp. of powdered gelatin) that's just warm (so it's melted), then add a strawberry coulis to that. This will set when chilled, and give you that nice, glossy finish. I wouldn't apply it before freezing (though I couldn't tell you why - just instinct - perhaps it would freeze fine).

Charlottes do freeze well, though I wouldn't freeze them more than a couple of days. I'm not 100% sure about a mousse (assuming that it has eggs in it in addition to the whipped cream). Thaw in the fridge before unmolding.

[Swisskaese]

Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat have a very nice recipe for Strawberry Charlotte in "The Art of Cake".

They say that you can keep the Charlotte in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or before glazing and unmolding freeze for up to 2 weeks, covering the top airtight with plastic wrap. Remove the plastic and vacherin ring and defrost overnight in the refrigerator before glazing.

Glaze:

3/4 tsp unflavoured gelatin

3 tbsp + 1tsp cold water

3 tbsp + 1tsp orange juice, without pulp

3 tbsp + 1tsp superfine or extra fine sugar

Stir the gelatin into the cold water. Heat the juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add the gelatin and stir until it dissolves. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Dip the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water and stir until it begins to thicken slightly, remove and pour a thick coating of the glaze to the top of the cake, spread it over the cake with a soft brush. Let it set in the refrigerator.

[Patrick S]

You can use ladyfingers, though generally that's referred to as a charlotte russe, and the filling is generally set with gelatin. (There should be an intermediate layer of ladyfingers as well, so it's not all mousse) Of course, you can always make and pipe your own ladyfingers, which would allow you to make circular disks for the bottom and middle layer. It's really no harder than making a genoise, probably even easier, and you could alter the flavor if you wanted (chocolate, add orange zest, etc.)

I suppose it's a Charlotte that I want to make then. I made a bunch of ladyfingers the other night, so I got that covered. I made about 4 dozen fingers and used the excess to make a little disc. However, I ate the little disc as soon as it came out of the over, so I'll have to make a couple of 10" discs to fit in the springform pan I'll be using. For whatever reason, I do think I would prefer a border of some kind.

Thanks for the advice on the topping! That sounds simple, and exactly what I'm looking for. Simple syrup+gelatin+strawberry coulis. I guess I could reserve some of the syrup and coulis to brush on the ladyfingers (I'm paranoid they'll be too dry, even though I wrapped and froze them right after I baked them).

[DiH]

Thanks for the advice on the topping! That sounds simple, and exactly what I'm looking for. Simple syrup+gelatin+strawberry coulis.

Yes, thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for too.

Patrick, you're spoiling us -- I'm already anxious to see the picture of your dessert.

Di

[jgarner53]

The ladyfingers shouldn't be too dry. They typically are soft, not crispy, and after being in your freezer, they will probably still be soft.

Please post pictures! I love a good charlotte.

If you have a 9" cake round, put that in the bottom of your springform before you add the fingers. Then you have a base to move onto the serving platter. Even better if you just replace the bottom of your springform with a cake round. Remember that you will need smaller disks than the size of your pan - the ladyfingers will probably eat up about an inch of space around the perimeter.

[Wendy DeBord]

O.k. everyone has their own favorites and opinions, I personally like ladyfingers only as a exterior border and a cake inside for my structure (a genoise soaked). I don't like too much ladyfinger to filling ratio myself.....I like a little more moisture and substance to chew.

I don't have a recipe at my finger tips this moment but can offer some advice. A typical strawberry mousse recipe would be: strawberry puree, sweetened whip cream and gelatin. I do prefer mousses with whipped egg whites too. The better your puree, the better your mousse/bavarian. If your using fresh strawberrys you'll probably need to cook them down to evaporate/intensify the flavor. I use frozen strawberries and puree, strain and use as is. Also the addition of small chunks/bits of berry is a nice texture contrast and I think makes a better strawberry mousse torte.

Yes, you can definately freeze a strawberry mousse charlotte or cake. The berry bits freeze and thaw just fine. You'll need to use gelatin to set your mousse or it will be too soft, even if you made it right before you served it. It needs the gelatin to hold shape. For a glaze I would use my puree and gelatin, no need for simple syrup or additional sugar. As to adding a little lemon juice I don't, because I can taste it usually, but if you like it's o.k. to add.

Good Luck!!

[Patrick S]

Ok, I put together my charlotte tonight. I piped a disc of ladyfinger batter for the base. I only used one disc, but I made it pretty fat. I used two bands of ladyfingers for the border. Next time I will definately mark the parchment so I can keep the fingers exactly the same length.

The ladyfinger batter was the same 'base recipe' version found in the Pierre Herme books: 5 yolks, 6 whites, 270 grams flour, 160 grams sugar. The whites are whipped to a stiff meringue with all but 2T of the sugar. Yolks are whisked with the 2T sugar. Yolk mixture, then flour, folded into whites. Pipe. Dust liberally with powdered sugar. Set out for 15 minutes, dust again lightly, bake at 450F for 8 minutes with door slightly ajar.

The mousse started with 2C strawberry puree+2T lemon juice+1T framboise. Added 1.25C sugar, heated till dissolved into puree. 2 envelopes of gelatin were bloomed with water, then added to the puree. The puree was then cooled to room temp. Whipped 2.5C of cream, then folded puree into cream, then poured into ladyfinger-lined 10" springform. Let that set for an hour or so in the fridge.

For the gelee/glaze, I used about 1C of puree, added about 1T each of lemon juice and framboise. Added to about 0.75C simple syrup (I used the syrup, rather than using puree alone, because I wanted a shinier, glassier look to the top). Added 1 envelope bloomed gelatin. Poured on top of mousse. Unfortunately I lost a little of the glaze down the side of the pan, because I didn't do a good enough job lining with the ladyfingers - I left a tiny gap between two bands. Also, I would have liked to have garnished with some pretty strawberries, but we had 10" of snow and the one grocery I could get to today didnt have any worth buying.

I've tasted all the components, and the taste I am happy with, but I'll have to wait till tomorrow to actually have a slice. Thanks to everyone for the advice!

[lemon curd]

Nicely done Patrick S. The gelee/glaze on top looks gorgeous! I can't tell from the picture how thick the gelee/glaze is. I'm wondering what the best way to cut through it would be? Warm but dry knife?

Edited December 24, 2004 by lemon curd (log)

[Patrick S]

Thanks Lemon Curd. The gelee is pretty thin, actually, maybe 1/4 inch or so. I'm not sure what the best way to cut through this thing is. I suppose I'll try a serrated bread type knife first and see how that does.