Ingredients
Directions
Mousse cake, called ''entremet in French'', can be made using individual or large cake ring or silicone mold. Though, the height of this lemon mousse cake shall not be taller than 2-inch/5 cm. *This cake is finished using madeleines. However, feel free to sub madeleines for lemon or orange pound cake, ladyfingers, viennois biscuit or dacquoise... Madeleine halves can be moisturized with simple syrup flavored with lemon juice or Limoncillo.
Make 2 days ahead.
Yields one 8X2.5-inch/20X5 cm cake. Since this cake is built upside down, seal bottom cake with plastic wrap and tight it up all around the ring (moisturize the ring edges with a sponge; it helps plastic to adhere). Line ring with acetate cake collar; it's optional but it will hold your filling and make removal easy. Also, cake collar extends the height of the cake whenever needed.
Soak gelatin in cold water to soften and drain. Seal bottom tart ring (about an inch/2.5 cm smaller in diameter than the cake) with a tight piece of plastic wrap as you did for the cake ring and place onto a flat tray. Meanwhile, mix sugar with apple pectin. In a small saucepan, heat up strawberries and purée and let cool to ≈104ºF/40ºC. Add and stir sugar-pectin to the puree, bring to boil and add remaining chopped strawberries – cook for a minutes and add the soften gelatin. Add a few drops of rose water if desired. Fill the prepared ring and freeze for at least 3 hours until hardened.
This cake can be glazed with this lemon glaze or neutral glaze. Soak gelatin in cold water and drain. Bring to a boil, water, corn syrup and sugar. Add condensed milk – remove from the heat and add the soften gelatin, then the chopped white chocolate. Mix using an immersion blender (keep nozzle down to prevent excessive air bubbles to form). Pass glaze through a sieve and refrigerate glaze overnight. Do not use glaze right away; it has to rest first.
This lemon mousse is based on lemon curd in which whipped cream is added. In a saucepan, gather zest, lemon juice, sugar and eggs. Bring to a boil whisking constantly – remove from the heat and let stand for 5 mins and add cold butter. Transfer lemon curd to a narrow container and smooth out using an immersion blender; set aside.
Transfer lemon curd to a large pastry bowl, (use it all). Soak gelatin sheets in cold water to soften and drain. Heat up lemon juice (40g) with the soften gelatin until just melted – do not boil; set aside. Whip heavy cream to medium-firm peaks; set aside. Check out the lemon curd temp and set it to 86ºF/30ºC. Add the melted gelatin-lemon juice mixture to the lemon curd; whisk well. Then incorporate whipped cream.
Fill prepared cake ring half the way full and place the frozen strawberry insert in the center. Top with remaining lemon mousse almost to the top.
Cut madeleine lengthwise. Arrange madeleine tops all around and fill remaining small gaps with madeleine pieces. To even out the surface, cover finished cake with a piece of plastic and a flat tray. Press down gently and freeze cake overnight or for up to 3 months (well wrapped).
Quickly run a hair dryer around the edges of the frozen cake ring. Remove the ring and the acetate collar. Keep cake in the freezer until ready. Rewarm glaze to 85/86ºF38/40ºC. Place frozen cake onto a baking tray lined with plastic wrap and a cooling rack. Glaze cake from the edges to the center and immediately run a large offset spatula on the surface of the cake to remove excess glaze. After a few minutes, run a warm spatula underneath the cake and transfer it to a serving flat tray. Decorate with madeleine bottoms (at this juncture and if desired, the flat side of madeleine can be moisturized with simple syrup flavored with lemon juice or Limoncello. With a microplane, zest some lime. Leave cake in the fridge to thaw completely before eating. Enjoy!
