St. Valentine’s Day: Coup de coeur ~ 草莓花蜜慕斯蛋糕

Happy St. Valentine’s Day, everyone! This is my Valentine’s gram to you =)

This is a remix version of the classic French fraisier or strawberry shortcake! Instead of filling it with crème patisserie, I filled it with honey mousse, something I have been tempted to do since I got myself a copy of Christine Manfield’s Desserts. There isn’t a fraisier recipe in her book but when I saw the recipe for the honey mousse I immediately thought of it as a substitute for the cream filling. It is so much lighter! However, I can’t guarantee that it is skimmer^^ I also used her génoise sponge recipe but made some adjustment to it. The recipes were easy to follow but the end result is marvelous!

Coup de coeur
yields 2 - 6x2in cakes

Almond Génoise Sponge Cake
5 large eggs, separated
150g granulated sugar
80g almond flour
70g all purpose flour, sifted
1tsp vanilla essence
50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 320°F/160°C. Grease a 24cm round cake pan with generously with butter and line it with parchment paper.

Sift together almond flour and flour. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy. Add in the sifted flour mix, vanilla essence, the melted butter; stir until combined after each addition. In another bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form then gently fold it into the cake batter with a spatula, fold until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, tap the pan slightly on the counter to release any air bubbles, bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice it into 10mm thick rounds then stamp it with the heart shaped mousse ring.



Acacia Honey Mousse
320ml whole milk
60g *Miele di Acacia (Acacia Honey)
4 egg yolks
100g granulated sugar
7g gelatine leaves
250ml heavy cream

*Elegant and rich, Acacia honey is called the "moonflower honey" in Italy. It has a clean, light vanilla flavor. It tastes delicious with coffee or tea, also great drizzled over toast, ricotta cheese or shaved hard cheeses.

First, bring a pot of water to boil then reduce to low heat once boiled. Bring the milk and honey to just boil over medium heat; stirring constantly to avoid burning the mixture. Remove the honey milk mixture once reached simmering point. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl then whisk in the honey milk slowly. Place the bowl over the pot of simmering water and stir gently until the mixture thicken into a custard or until it coats the back of a wooden spoon then remove from heat. Stir in the pre-soaked gelatine leaves, stir until completely dissolved. Pass the custard through a fine meshed sieve and place into a bath of icy water to cool. Whisking constantly to keep it aerated as it cools.

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form then fold 1/3 of this into the cooled custard, mix until combined. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream until combined. Spoon the mousse into a piping bag without a tip, set side.

Kirsch Syrup
2tbsp granulated sugar
4tbsp water
2tsp Kirsch (cherry liqueur)

Put sugar and water in a heatproof bowl then place it in the microwave to dissolve the sugar, about 30 seconds. Let cool until adding kirsch to the mixture, stir until combined.

Rose Flavor Chantilly Cream
200ml heavy cream
2tbsp caster sugar
1tsp rose essence

Place the cream, sugar and rose essence in a bowl and whip until semi-stiff peaks form.



Assemble and decorating the cake:
Place the mousse molds on a tray then put a cake base inside each mold then brush a layer of kirsch syrup on top. Arrange the strawberry halves cut side to the side of the mold, pipe the honey mousse in between the strawberries and fill up to about 1/2 of the height of the moulds. Arrange strawberries on cake base until full, pipe more mousse until almost to the top, take another piece of cake, brush a layer of syrup then place it on top with syrup side facing down. Push it down slightly with your palm to take out any air bubbles then place in fridge to set for 1 hour.

Remove from fridge. To unmold the cakes, wrap a hot towel around the mold for 10 second then use your fingers to push the cake upward. With an icing knife in hand, spread the cream onto the cake center, move the knife over the top to get a smooth finish. Decorate with white chocolate ruffles, rose petals and fresh strawberries.

情人節快樂﹗這是阿Vi送你的情人節禮物喔~

這個蛋糕是法式經典草莓蛋糕fraisier的變奏版。由原本奶油餡心(crème patisserie)改成了花蜜慕斯﹐口感清爽許多。不知為啥在翻Christine Manfield的Desserts一書時看到這個食譜馬上就想到用它做為fraisier的餡心。傑諾瓦士海綿蛋糕的食譜也是來自這書﹐不過我加了杏仁粉﹐蛋糕體也變的較濕潤。食譜雖然簡單﹐但是甜點整體味道豐富有層次。蜜糖的濃郁甜味配酸酸的草莓合適的不得了﹐吃了滿嘴的草莓奶香~

草莓花蜜慕斯蛋糕 ~ 法式經典草莓蛋糕變奏版
2個 - 直徑6x2in 心形蛋糕

杏仁傑諾瓦士(海綿)蛋糕 ~直徑24cm/10寸圓形模具1個
將原份量的一半麵粉用杏仁粉代替﹐所以有別於傳統海綿蛋糕﹐口感品嚐起來較濕潤及清爽。

5 個 大的蛋黃
5 個 大的蛋白
150g 砂糖
80g 杏仁粉
70g 麵粉, 篩過
1tsp 香草精
50g 放涼的澄清無鹽奶油

事前準備:
- 將一烤架移到烤箱中格﹐烤箱預熱至320°F/160°C。
- 模具抹上厚厚的奶油﹐再鋪上烘烤紙﹐備用。

將杏仁粉和麵粉混合篩過﹐備用。用電動攪拌器以中速攪打蛋黃和砂糖﹐攪打至富含空氣且顏色變淡為止。加進篩過的杏仁麵粉﹑香草精﹑及放涼的澄清無鹽奶油﹐每加進一樣就要確實拌勻。

在另一大碗裡加進蛋白﹐用電動打蛋器以低速將蛋白打發至起泡出現軟角的程度時﹐將速度加至中速打發至立體為止。小量地將蛋霜拌入麵糊裡﹐用橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻切拌勻﹐會如緞帶般重疊時即可。

輕輕地將麵糊倒進烤模中﹐輕輕敲一下烤模釋放氣泡後﹐放進預熱過的烤模裡﹐烘烤約20分鐘。等烤到焦色恰到好處時﹐週圍會因烤熟而稍稍縮小﹐烤模和蛋糕體間就會出現空隙﹐輕按蛋糕中間時感覺到彈性即烤好。也可以用竹籤插入中央﹐慢慢拔出時不會沾黏﹐就烤好了。從烤箱取出﹐翻轉倒扣脫模﹐擺在網架上整個放涼。將海綿蛋糕橫切成10mm厚片﹐然後用直徑6x2in的心形慕斯模吸切出4片蛋糕片﹐備用。

如果不立刻使用﹐可將蛋糕包好放冰箱存放﹐可以保存3天。使用前靜置回溫即可。



洋槐花蜜慕斯
取自洋槐又名相思樹花之蜜，清澈純淨的色澤，細緻高雅的風味中帶有洋槐花香。

320ml 全脂奶
60g 洋槐(相思)花蜜
4 蛋黃
100g 砂糖
7g 魚膠片
250ml 鮮奶油

事前準備:
- 明膠片用冰水泡軟之後擠掉水分﹐備用。如果用明膠粉﹐將其倒入水裡泡脹後備用。

製作蜜糖蛋黃醬：
先燒開一小鍋的水﹐轉小火。將牛奶跟蜜糖混合裝進小鍋裡，以中火煮至剛沸騰即離火﹐備用﹔要不時地攪拌以免燒焦。

用電動攪拌器以中速攪打蛋黃和砂糖至顏色變淡。將蜜糖奶漿慢慢地注入蛋糊中﹐這時要用打蛋器不斷攪打。放小鍋上隔熱水加熱﹐用打蛋器持續不斷的攪拌至變稠﹐並可以在木匙背劃出清晰的線條時(約10分鐘)﹐蜜糖蛋黃醬就完成了﹐離火。加入泡軟的明膠片，確實拌勻後將蜜糖蛋黃醬過濾﹐再放進冰水浴中﹐並不時的攪拌至完全放涼。

製作花蜜慕斯:
將鮮奶油打發至出現尖角的起泡程度﹐用切拌法(用橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻)將3份1份量的發泡鮮奶油拌入蜜糖蛋黃醬中﹐攪拌乳化後﹐拌入剩餘的鮮奶油﹐確實攪拌勻備用。

櫻桃酒糖漿(塗抹蛋糕用)
4湯匙 清水
2湯匙 砂糖
2茶匙 櫻桃利口酒

清水﹑砂糖裝進小碗裡﹐再放微波爐微波30秒煮沸至砂糖融化為止。放涼後拌入櫻桃利口酒備用。



玫瑰風味香堤麗鮮奶油 – 約1 ½ 杯份量
200ml 鮮奶油
2湯匙 細砂糖
1茶匙 玫瑰精

將鮮奶油﹑玫瑰精﹑和細砂糖放入mixing bowl裡﹐用電動打蛋器先以低速打發鮮奶油至起泡﹐再轉中速攪打至出現尖角的程度。將鮮奶油放冰箱冷藏10分鐘即完成。

組合及裝飾蛋糕:
將一片蛋糕片鋪進慕斯圈中﹐在表面用刷子塗上櫻桃酒糖漿﹐然後將切掉蒂頭﹑對半縱切的草莓原著模型邊緣排列。將慕斯倒進擠袋裡﹐剪去一角﹐先擠些慕斯填滿草莓間的空隙﹐然後由外往中心整體填滿慕斯至半滿。將去蒂的草莓排列填滿整個模型﹐然後再擠進慕斯填滿。在另一片蛋糕片的表面塗上櫻桃酒糖漿﹐塗面朝下疊蓋在慕斯上﹐輕壓使其確實貼黏著﹐放入冰箱冷卻凝固60分鐘。

取出蛋糕﹐將蛋糕脫模﹐以溫毛巾圍著模型溫熱10秒後﹐用手指將慕斯往上推出脫模。用抹刀將玫瑰香堤麗鮮奶油平均的塗抹在蛋糕的正上方。在蛋糕上方的一角擺放白巧克力裝飾﹐再擺放滿滿的玫瑰花瓣及草莓即可。