Novice wanting to make strawberry mousse

[toni]

Can anyone help me with a recipe or a recommendation for a book that would tell me how to make a strawberry mousse for a cake filling? I made it a goal to make my daughter a cake with a filling like one you would get at a very good bakery. I do not know if it is a mousse. I would think it has fresh strawberries or bits of fresh strawberries in it, and I remember it being absolutely wonderful when I tasted a cake with a strawberry mousse-like filling about 3 years ago. I'm hoping to surprise my daughter at the end of the month. Could this also be used as a cake topping, too? (Maybe with adjustments?) I made a cake and filling a couple months back and was disappointed in a buttercream topping as it tasted like butter. Any advice or recipe would be so much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[middydd]

Can anyone help me with a recipe or a recommendation for a book that would tell me how to make a strawberry mousse for a cake filling?

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I made the Chocolate Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake from the Hersheys site for Valentines Day. It was very good. And also very easy.

It calls for Hersheys Strawberry syrup but I couldn't find it, so just used the syrup from frozen strawberries.

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/de...word=strawberry

[sanrensho]

Simplest way would be to make a strawberry whipped cream by adding pureed strawberries. Adding gelatin to the whipped cream will give it more stability for storage or building up layers.

Or you could make a strawberry bavarois. (Look for a bavarois recipe and sub with strawberry puree, added to taste.)

EDITED TO CORRECT SPELLING

Edited March 8, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[ludja]

Here is a link to a recipe for a strawberry bavarian: click

One idea would be to use it as a filling between a split sponge cake. Cook the cake in a springform pan. Split the cooled cake in half, place bottom back in springform pan and pour in the bavarian cream. Place other half of cake on top and chill in the fridge to solidify the bavarian. You want a nice thick band of fillling, equal or nearly equal to the cake layer(s) thickness. I would serve it topped with powdered sugar, a few fanned out strawberries on the top center of the cake and serve it with a strained strawberry coulis or sauce. Kirsch would be a nice extra flavoring to add to the strawberry sauce.

I made a raspberry mousse cake like this and it was great. You have the beautiful pale pink band contrasting with the dark red sauce and you also have a nice contrast in berry flavor between the smooth creamy filling and tart/sweet smooth sauce.

Welcome to egullet, toni! Hope you report back here on what you end up trying.

Here is a link to a recipe for the raspberry cake I made. click And there is a photo which will give you an idea of a strawberry version would look like. photo

Edited March 8, 2006 by ludja (log)

[sanrensho]

Yet another option would be to make a strawberry pastry cream lightened with whipped cream.

Of the three options that I mentioned, the strawberry whipped cream can easily be spread as a topping. The bavarois would need to be set in a mold (you could use a springform for this purpose) to use as a topping, either inverted or regular side up. Or you could even mold a bavarois disc separately to place on top.

[middydd]

I also just made a Raspberry Bavarian Cake that could be made with strawberries instead of raspberries.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...36_1319,00.html

Picture:

http://www.godiva.com/recipes/recipe.asp?id=345

[toni]

Middydd, Sanrensho, and ludja: I am beyond appreciative that you all responded with really helpful suggestions and even recipes. I was hoping for just such help as I have been stumped until now. I loved the ideas and am hoping to try out the different cakes and fillings. I'm not sure which one I will try first, but I am so excited. I watch my 2 grandchildren everyday so I've got to try to work in my other love...cooking as best I can. I have copied the recipes. Can you tell me what eau-de-vie de poire is? A liqueur?

Also, do you have a favorite book you recommend that I would find a good recipe for pastry cream in which I would add strawberries to? That sounds like a plan if I just want to spread the fillling between cake layers, doesn't it? Or would the filling ooze out? I don't know how a bakery does it. I've had a cake from a really good bakery that I know wasn't made in a springform pan because it was a sheet cake. I love that you have given me optiions...thank you again so much! And thank you for the welcome to this wonderful forum.

[sanrensho]

Can you tell me what eau-de-vie de poire is?  A liqueur?

Yes, it is a pear brandy, I believe. I have young kids so I usually leave out the liqueur, it won't have a big effect on the recipe.

Also, do you have a favorite book you recommend that I would find a good recipe  for pastry cream in which I would add strawberries to?  That sounds like a plan if I just want to spread the fillling between cake layers, doesn't it?  Or would the filling ooze out?

I don't have a recipe off-hand for pastry cream (all my notes are elsewhere) but you should be able to find one online. Maybe someone here can suggest one. However, you're right, the filling would tend to ooze out a bit unless you created a "dam" with buttercream around the edges.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm currently using Gordon Ramsay's recipe for creme patisserie from Just Desserts. His recipe is not too sweet, which I like.

One book that you should be able to easily find at a library is The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It contains a recipe for "Fruit Cloud Cream," which is stabilized whipped cream w/fruit puree. It also has a bavarian (bavarois) cream recipe which you can adapt by adding fruit puree to taste. I also recommend this book because it has good and detailed (foolproof) buttercream recipes. Many here swear by her Mousseline buttercream, which you could easily adapt to make a strawberry BC by adding puree. It sounds like you did not like the buttercream recipe you tried, but I promise you that this recipe is neither heavy nor does it obviously taste of butter.

There are many options for fruit mousse so I would try a few and see what you like.

Edited March 9, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[sanrensho]

Just to append my comments above, the Gordon Ramsay book Just Desserts might also work for you as it contains a lot of recipes for cremes, parfait, mousse, and bavarois. Not a lot of cake and no buttercream recipes though.

Good luck!

Edited March 9, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[toni]

Just to append my comments above, the Gordon Ramsay book Just Desserts might also work for you as it contains a lot of recipes for cremes, partfait, mousse, and bavarois. Not a lot of cake and no buttercream recipes though.

Good luck!

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Thank you so much... those are my footsteps to go buy Just Desserts.

[pissaladiere]

There is a really good recipe in Baking with Julia for a French strawberry cake. It uses a genoise layered with macerated strawberries and creme fraiche. Not exactly what you're looking for, but absolutely wonderful. We had a fraisier (french strawberry cake) for my daughter's birthday last May while we were staying in France. Strawberries were in season, and it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. I am going to try and recreate it this May. I may try tweaking the Baking with Julia recipe to get more of a pastry cream, rather than creme fraiche. Let us know what you decide on.

[jgarner53]

If you're covering the cake ultimately with frosting (like buttercream), you can pipe a border around the outside edge of your cake layer before adding the filling. The buttercream acts as a dam to keep the filling contained while it sets.

One trick I use is to build a cake in a 3-inch deep cake pan. I pipe the buttercream around the cake layers as high as I want the layer of filling to be, fill, then move on to the next layer. When it's chilled and set, I take put a cardboard round on the top (which will then be the bottom of my cake), invert, and hit the sides gently with a blowtorch to soften the buttercream. The cake pan slides right off, and I have a smooth, even stack of cake ready for icing.