Strawberry Mousse Chocolate Cake

This is a revised recipe of my strawberry mousse cake. I first made this cake for my mum's birthday and have since made it again for a Christmas family gathering. 

Ingredients

A) 1x 20cm chocolate sponge cake, cut into 2 even layers

B) 300g strawberry, cleaned and hulled
     ¼ cup caster sugar
     1 tablespoon water
     1 teaspoon strawberry essence

C)  300ml cream
     3 tablespoons icing sugar
     ½ teaspoon pink food colouring (optional)

D) 1 tablespoon gelatine powder 
     50ml warm water 

E)  Extra strawberries sliced and cubed (I used approx 1/3cup)

F)  100ml thickened cream

     1 tablespoon icing sugar, extra

G)  Sugar syrup glaze (optional)

H)  6 even sized strawberries, halved for garnish 

Method

1. Set aside 6 even sized strawberries for the garnish on top of the cake.
2. Dice approx. 1/3 cup strawberries and set aside.
3. Clean and hull the remaining strawberries. Add ¼ cup caster sugar and let it sit for 5 minutes. Purée them in a blender together with 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon strawberry essence then put it through a strainer. You should get about 400ml strawberry purée. Discard the strawberry seeds. Reserve 1½ tablespoons of the purée for the swirl effect on top of the cake.
4. In a chilled bowl, whip 300ml cream with 3 tablespoons icing sugar till mousse state.
5. Dissolve 1 tablespoon gelatine in 50ml warm water, whisk with a fork, let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk the gelatine again then strain it into the strawberry purée. Stir until combined. 
6. Fold the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture. Add pink food colouring, if using. Pour into a measuring jug if your bowl doesn't having a pouring lip.
7. Line the inner circumference of a 23cm spring form cake pan with plastic cake tape. Place a slice of the chocolate sponge cake at the base, cut side up and top it with approx. 1 cup of the mousse. Add in the strawberry pieces (leave a 2cm border around the cake). Press the fruits down gently if needed. Top it with some mousse just enough to cover the strawberry pieces.
8. Top it with another layer of chocolate sponge cake and pour the rest of the mousse evenly over on it.
9. Spoon teaspoonfuls of the reserved purée onto the surface of the mousse on desired positions and swirl it with a toothpick to create the swirls. I put a few teaspoons on the middle of the cake and the rest at clock position of 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10.
10. Cover the cake pan with cling wrap (twice). Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
11. Make the sugar syrup, then brush the reserved halved strawberries with sugar syrup. Set aside.
12. Use an electric beater to beat 100ml thickened cream and 1 tablespoon icing sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. 
13. Place the cream in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake. Arrange some glazed strawberries around the cake between the cream rosettes. 
14. Cut the cake into wedges to serve. 

To make sugar syrup:

50ml (1/4 cup) water

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tablespoon unflavoured gelatine powder

1. Pour water, sugar and gelatine powder into a small sauce pan.
2. Stir the ingredients to combine over medium heat until the sugar and gelatine dissolves and the water begins to simmer.
3. Remove the pan from heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Brush the glaze over fruit while slightly warm.

Notes & Tips

• I lined the inner circumference of my spring form cake pan with plastic cake tape.
• You can make your own plastic cake tape using clear acetate sheets bought from an arts & craft store. Start by measuring the height of the cake pan (approx 2.5 inches) and cut a long rectangular strip out of the acetate sheet (length of the strip is the circumference of the cake + 2 cm extra).
• You could also decorate this cake with a patterned white chocolate collar if you wish
• If you can't find acetate sheets, you can use baking paper instead
• I placed my cake into a larger spring form cake pan- approx. 23cm. This way the mousse will cover the whole cake and you don’t need to cream the cake. If you don't have a larger spring form cake pan, you can trim your cake smaller.
• If you notice that you have not completely covered the cake with the mousse, you could do a bit of patchwork by using up the left over cream for the rosettes- add  ¼ tsp pink food coloring to the cream and spread/fill in the spaces and smooth it out using a cake scraper. 
• If you don't have strawberry essence, you could use strawberry flavoured gelatine powder instead
• You'll need approx. 2 punnets of strawberries for this recipe.

Strawberry Mousse

Strawberries are back in season, so time to make a light, fluffy and creamy strawberry mousse for dessert.

Ingredients

2 x 250g punnets strawberries, hulled, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon strawberry essence (optional)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup pure icing sugar
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon gelatine
200ml thickened cream
1-2 drops red food colouring (optional)
3 egg whites

To decorate/serve:
Extra strawberries, halved or quartered (depends how big they are)
100ml thickened cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
a few sprigs mint leaves

Method

1. In a food processor or blender, combine strawberries, strawberry essence, lemon juice and icing sugar and process until smooth. Strain into a large bowl and discard seeds. 
2. Meanwhile, whip the cream until slightly thickened/soft peaks form. Set aside. 
3. Combine water and gelatine in a small heatproof jug. Whisk until gelatine dissolves and liquid becomes clear. Add to strawberry mixture. Stir through well.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of cream to strawberry mixture. Whisk gently until well combined. Fold through remaining cream. Add a few drops red food colouring if desired.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Fold through strawberry mixture until well combined. 
6. Wet moulds with water. Spoon mousse into 6 x ½ cup capacity glasses or ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until set.
7. To decorate the mousse: Use an electric mixer to beat cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. 
8. Place the cream in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle and pipe on top of the mousse. Arrange a strawberry and some mint leaves next to the cream.

White Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Cake

I made this White Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Cake for my mum's birthday recently :) 

You’ll need approx 4 punnets strawberries for this recipe

Ingredients

1 x Chiffon cake base, cut into 2 even layers

Click here for the Chiffon Cake Base recipe

A) 400g strawberry
1 tbsp lemon juice
50g caster sugar

1 tsp strawberry essence
Extra strawberry sliced and cubed (as much as you like- I used approx 100g)
Whole strawberry for garnish (optional)

B) 300ml thickened cream
3 tbsp icing sugar

C) 100g white chocolate
50ml thickened cream

D) 15g gelatine (approx. 1 tbsp)
50ml hot water

E) 100ml thickened cream

1 tbsp icing sugar, extra

Method

1. Clean and hull the strawberries. Add in 50g sugar and let it sit for awhile. Puree them in a blender and put it through the strainer. You should get about 400ml strawberry puree. Stir in 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Reserve 2 tbsp of this puree for the swirl effect.
2. Whip 300ml thickened cream with 3 tbsp icing sugar till mousse state.
3. Melt 100g white chocolate then add into 50ml thickened cream.
4. Dissolve gelatine in hot water, let stand for 5 minutes then stir this into the strawberry puree. 
5. Add melted white chocolate mixture into the strawberry puree.
6. Fold the whipped cream into the strawberry chocolate mixture.
7. Line the cake pan with a slice of the cake base; top it with half the mousse. Add in the strawberry pieces. Press the fruits down gently if needed. Top it with some mousse just enough to cover the strawberry pieces.
8. Top it with another layer of cake and pour the rest of the mousse on it.
9. Spoon teaspoonfuls of the reserved puree onto the surface of the mousse on desired positions and swirl it with a toothpick to create the swirls.
10. Refrigerate for at least 3 - 4 hours.   
11. Use an electric beater to beat cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. 
12. Place the cream in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake. Arrange some strawberries around the cake between the cream rosettes. Cut the cake into wedges to serve. 

Notes & Tips

To create the swirl effect on top of the cake, drop one teaspoon of strawberry puree on the cake surface and swirl the puree with a toothpick. I put 1 teaspoon on the middle of the cake and the rest at clock position of 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10.

*** I lined the inner circumference of my spring form cake pan with plastic cake tape and trimmed my cake to be smaller than the spring form pan. This way the mousse will cover the whole cake and you don’t need to cream the cake but just pipe some rosettes or whatever with some cream and do the rest of the décor on the cake. If you don't have any cake tape, use clear cellophane instead. Moisten one side of the cellophane with some water to help it adhere to the sides of the pan.

Balsamic Strawberries

Ingredients

¼ cup caster sugar 
¼ cup water
2 tsp balsamic vinegar 
1 tsp arrowroot or cornflour
250g strawberries, halved

Method

1. Place the caster sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
2. Combine the arrowroot with 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth, then add to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce is syrupy. Remove from heat and toss in the strawberries.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Ingredients

1 cup milk or dark chocolate melts
1 cup white chocolate melts
2 punnets (500g) strawberries

Equipment
Microwavable bowls x2
Metal spoons
Skewers/toothpicks
Empty egg cartons
Disposable piping bags

Method

1. Melt milk chocolate and white chocolate melts, in separate bowls, one at a time, in a microwave on medium for 30 seconds, stirring after each time until smooth.
2. Line a tray with non-stick baking paper. Thread strawberries onto skewers. Then dip half the strawberries in melted milk chocolate and half in white chocolate. Poke skewers into the egg cartons. When set, remove the strawberries from the skewers and place onto the tray.
3. Place the remaining melted chocolate in separate disposable piping bags. Drizzle the opposite colour chocolate over the strawberries, allow to set and then serve.

Note: Make the same day as serving, otherwise the juice from strawberries will soften chocolate.  

Melting Chocolate
If you don't have a microwave, you can melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Be careful that the base of the bowl does not touch the water. 

Fruit Kebabs/Fruit on Skewers

I had brunch with some women at church on the weekend and thought I'd bring along some fruit. Wanting to deviate from the traditional presentation of fruit as a fruit salad or a fruit platter, I decided to make fruit kebabs. The arrangement of the fruit is simple enough but the presentation makes it look quite elegant. I'm glad that these fruit kebabs were a hit with the ladies :)

The following is more of an idea than a recipe, and can include anything you want to try. Choose a variety of different coloured fruit or whatever is in season at the time. Other fruits for suggestion that are good to use for fruit kebabs include: kiwifruit, oranges and red grapes.

Ingredients

Watermelon
Strawberries
Pineapple
Rockmelon
Honeydew
Bamboo skewers
Melted chocolate, optional

Method

1. Chop up fruit into uniform pieces or of similar bite sized pieces and place into bowls.
2. Thread fruit pieces onto skewers, alternating with different types of fruit.
3. Serve chilled with melted chocolate for dipping or serve on its own.

Chilled Strawberry Cheesecake

I had an abundance of strawberries yesterday after I got given some by my mum. So I decided to use them to make this chilled strawberry cheesecake :)

Strawberries are low in calories and an excellent source of Vitamin C. This chilled cheesecake is very refreshing with a layer of strawberry jelly over the fruits.

Ingredients:
Base:
170g biscuit crumbs
60g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
250g light cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
60g caster sugar (sifted)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon strawberry essence (optional)
200g strawberry purée (strained)
1 tablespoon gelatin powder
3 tablespoons boiling water
200ml thickened cream + 1 tablespoon icing sugar
Vertically sliced strawberries (trimmed to an even size/height to decorate around cake edge)

Topping:
Horizontally sliced strawberries
50g strawberry jelly powder
5g gelatin powder
250ml boiling water

Decoration:
100ml thickened cream
1-2 tablespoons icing sugar, extra
5 small strawberries, halved

Method:

1. Line base of 20cm/8" spring form cake pan with cling wrap or baking paper. Toss biscuit crumbs into melted butter and press firmly onto base of cake pan. Chill in the fridge for use later- approx. 30 minutes.
2. Whip thickened cream with 1 tablespoon icing sugar till about 70% stiff or mousse state. Cover and keep chilled.
3. Dissolve gelatine powder in 3 tablespoons boiling water. Keep warm but not hot for use later.
4. Cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and strawberry essence together till smooth and creamy.
5. Add the warm gelatine solution to strawberry purée and mix well.
6. Add strawberry mixture into cheese mixture and combine till well mixed. Fold in the whipped cream.
7. Place vertically sliced strawberry pieces evenly around cake tin (strawberry tip should be facing up).
8. Pour cheese mixture onto cake base and chill for about 60 minutes or till slightly firm. Top it with a layer of horizontally sliced strawberry pieces. Cover and chill for at least two hours.
9. Dissolve 50g strawberry jelly powder and 10g gelatine powder with 250ml boiling water. Set aside to cool for approx. 15 minutes. When cooled, pour jelly gently onto chilled cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours. 
10. Use an electric beater to beat cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. 
11. Place the cream in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake. Arrange some strawberries around the cake between the cream rosettes. Cut the cake into wedges to serve.

Notes & Tips

You will need approx. 3 punnets of strawberries for this recipe
Best to chill the cheesecake overnight to allow it to set better