Recipe: Lime Coconut Mousse

Nutting to see here - loving my squirrel bookend

Makes: 1 dome/half-sphere (~8inch in diameter)

Time required: 3 hours in total over 4 sessions

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆

Inspiration:

Reading through Olivier Dupon’s book “The New Patissiers” (my current favourite book) I came across one page which had a really interesting flavour combination – it was a recipe for a chocolate mousse entremet with a lime panna cotta, coconut dacqouise … coated in milk chocolate mousse. I wanted to give the elements of this recipe a try, liking the idea of the tangy-ness of the lime mixed with creaminess of the coconut and the sweetness of the chocolate.

Elements of this cake from centre to outside:

  • lime panna cotta
  • coconut cream
  • dark chocolate mousse
  • coconut dacquoise base
  • coated in dark chocolate velvet spray

Although every element of this cake is very easy and quick to make, it does require preparation to make and freeze each of the layers before moving onto the next

Ingredients:

Lime panna cotta:

  • juice of 2 limes
  • 90ml milk
  • 90ml cream
  • 45g caster sugar
  • 2 gelatin sheets

Coconut mousse:

  • 100ml coconut milk
  • 150ml milk
  • 150ml cream, whipped
  • 1 sheet gelatin

Coconut Dacqouise:

  • 3 egg whites
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 30g coconut flakes
  • 30g almond meal
  • 60g pure icing sugar

Dark Chocolate Mousse:

  • 94g caster sugar
  • 94ml water
  • 1 egg
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 150ml cream
  • 3 gelatin sheets
  • 250g dark chocolate
  • 300ml cream, whipped

Chocolate Velvet spray (I used a pre-made can)

Lime coconut mousse cake 4
Plastic moulds I used to create the dome shape

Instructions:

Lime Panna Cotta:

  1. bring lime, cream and sugar to simmer for 10 minutes
  2. remove from heat and mix in gelatin
  3. pour into dome mould (~3inch in diameter) and freeze for several hours or overnight

Coconut Mousse:

  1. bring coconut milk and milk to simmer
  2. remove from heat and stir in the gelatin
  3. once cool, gently fold in the whipped cream
  4.  pour into a dome mould (~3.5inch in diameter) and then push the lime panna cotta dome into the centre
  5. place into the freezer for several hours or overnight

Coconut Dacquoise:

  1. preheat oven to 180C and line a 8inch baking tin with baking paper
  2. sift together coconut flakes, almond meal and icing sugar
  3. in a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and caster sugar to firm peaks
  4. gently fold the dry ingredients into the meringue
  5. spread onto baking tin and bake for 15-20mins

Dark Chocolate Mousse:

  1. whisk water, sugar, eggs and egg yolks together in a bain-marie
  2. remove form heat and continue to whisk until airy
  3. in a separate pot, bring cream (150ml portion) to boil and stir in the gelatin
  4. pour hot cream over chocolate and stir to combine
  5. gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture
  6. whisk the 300ml portion of cream, then gently fold into the chocolate/egg mixture
  7. pour the mousse into the 8inch dome to around two-thirds full and drop the panna cotta/coconut mousse into the centre
  8. fill the rest of the dome to almost to top, leaving a little space to place the coconut dacquoise on top
  9. place in freezer for several hours or overnight until the dome is frozen

Chocolate velvet coating:

  1. once the dome is frozen, unmould and coat the cake in a chocolate velvet spray
chocolate mousse dome
chocolate mousse dome
Lime coconut mousse cake 2
pre-made chocolate velvet spray
All finished and ready to eat
All finished and ready to eat
Lime coconut mousse cake
Nutting to see here – loving my squirrel bookend

 

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Recipe: Giant Ferrero Rocher Cakes

Giant ferrero rocher dessert

Makes: 6 spheres (~8cm in diameter)

Time required: 3 hours over 3 sessions (~1 hour at a time)

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆

Inspiration:

Inspired by one of my favourite chocolates when I was young – the iconic Ferrero Rocher. It was something that would feature in almost every birthday party or Kris Kringle … a nicely packaged gift under $20. Since moving to Hong Kong, I’ve slowly been adjusting to the Hong Kong supermarkets, but I still get excited every time I see a product in the same packaging that we get back home in Australia – Ferrero Rocher chocolates being one of them!

Elements for the cake from centre to outside of the ball:

  • Inner dome: hazelnut vanilla mousse
  • Inner coating: Nutella and crushed wafer
  • Outer dome: chocolate mousse
  • coated in chocolate and hazelnuts

Although every element of this cake is very easy to make, it does require preparation to make and freeze each of the layers

Ingredients:

Hazelnut Vanilla centre:

  • 150m cream, whipped
  • 100ml milk
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 100g hazelnuts, crushed
  • 1 gelating leaf
  • 2 egg yolks

Nutella and wafer coating:

  • 100g nutella
  • 100g wafers, crushed

Chocolate mousse:

  • 400ml cream, whipped
  • 100g dark chocolate, melted
  • 100ml milk
  • 2 gelatin leaves

Chocolate hazelnut shell:

  • 400g milk chocolate
  • 150g hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Instructions:

Hazelnut Vanilla centre:

  1. whisk together egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale
  2. bring milk and vanilla to a boil
  3. pour half the milk into the egg mixture while whisking then return the egg and milk to the pot and bring to a simmer, while still whisking
  4. remove from heat and stir in the gelatin
  5. once cool, gently fold in the whipped cream and hazelnuts
  6. pour mousse into 12 small dome moulds (~2.5cm in diameter) and set aside in freezer

Nutella and wafer coating:

  1. once the hazelnut and vanilla mousse is frozen, unmould the domes
  2. heat the nutella in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it
  3. working quickly while the mousse is still frozen, spoon the nutella over each dome and dip it into the crushed wafers
  4. immediately return the domes to the freezer
coating the inner domes with nutella and crushed wafer
coating the inner domes with nutella and crushed wafer

Chocolate mousse:

  1. bring milk to a boil and pour over dark chocolate to melt
  2. stir in bloomed gelatin
  3. when slightly cool, fold in the whipped cream
  4. pour the chocolate mousse into large dome moulds (~8cm in diameter) around 3/4 full then place one of the smaller mousse domes in the centre of the larger dome
  5. place the domes in the freezer to set for 5-10mins and when the mousse as slightly set, join the moulds together to create a sphere/ball. Use some leftover mousse to help stick the domes together if needed
fill the outer domes 3/4 full with chocolate mousse
fill the outer domes 3/4 full with chocolate mousse
place the frozen hazelnut vanilla domes in the centre
place the frozen hazelnut vanilla domes in the centre

Chocolate hazelnut shell:

  1. melt the chocolate over a double boiler and stir in the chopped hazelnuts
  2. unmould the mousse balls and roll this in the melted chocolate, covering the whole sphere and return to the freezer immediately to harden the chocolate shell. After several minutes, take the balls out of the freezer and spoon more chocolate over any gaps in the shell
  3. set aside in the fridge for the mousse to thaw before serving
Giant ferrero rocher dessert
Giant ferrero rocher dessert

 

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Recipe: Mango Mousse Cheesecake Entremet

Mango mousse & vanilla cheesecake entremet on a crunchy caramel cookie

Makes: 12 mini dome cakes (6cm in diameter)

Time required: 3 hours in total, over 2 nights

Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

Inspiration:

Inspired by another one of my favourite chocolates – the Mango & Vanilla chocolate from Koko Black back home in Melbourne. Every time I used to visit Koko Black I would buy at least five of these Mango & Vanilla chocolates in addition to several of the Passion flavour (I have also baked a cake inspired by this chocolate with recipe here!) and then try a range of other truffles and chocolates.

img_3460
Trying all the chocolates from Koko Black and Xocolatl in Melbourne

The elements of this cake include:

  • Vanilla cheesecake centre
  • Runny mango jam
  • Mango mousse dome
  • Mango mirror glaze
  • caramel biscuit base

Ingredients:

Vanilla Cheesecake centre:

  • 225g cream cheese
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 100ml thickened cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 lemon

Caramel Biscuit base:

  • 1 pack caramel flavoured biscuits (can use other flavours, e.g. Arnott’s Nice biscuits are a good alternative)
  • 150g melted butter

Mango jam:

  • 200g mango puree
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 2 gelatin leaves

Mango Mousse:

  • 200g mango puree
  • 250ml cream, whipped
  • 200g sugar
  • 3 gelatin leaves

Mango glaze:

  • 200g mango puree
  • 200g sugar
  • 4 gelatin leaves
  • 200ml condensed milk
  • 150g white chocolate

Instructions:

Vanilla Cheesecake centre:

  1. Preheat over at 150C
  2. beat the cream cheese with sugar until smooth
  3. whisk in the egg until well combined
  4. fold in cream, vanilla and lemon until just combined
  5. pour into a 8 x 8 inch square tin (or any other baking tin of similar size)
  6. bake for 20 minutes
  7. once cool, cut out 12 circles, around 2-3cm in diameter

Caramel Biscuit base:

  1. blend the biscuits in a food processor until there are not big lumps
  2. stir in melted butter
  3. spread over a large flat tin (ensure this is spread evenly enough to be able to cut out 12 x 6cm circles for the cake base) and bake at 150C for 10mins
  4. while still warm, cut out the 12 circles and set aside to cool. The 12 circles will be used as the base of the mousse dome, however do not discard the rest of the cookie base as this can be used to decorate the dome

Mango jam:

  1. heat mango puree and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens
  2. while the mixture is still hot, stir in bloomed gelatin and set aside
  3. once cool, place the mixture into a piping bag

Mango Mousse:

  1. heat mango puree and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens
  2. stir in gelatin and set aside to cool
  3. once the mixture is at room temperature, fold in the whipped cream to form the mousse

To Assemble:

  1. gather 12 circle dome moulds, each around 6cm in diameter
  2. fill half of each dome with the mango mousse mixture
  3. carefully pipe around 2 teaspoons of the mango jam on top of the mango mousse (be gentle as we don’t want to jam to sink to the bottom of the mould)
  4. push a piece of vanilla cheesecake into each of the domes on top of the mango jam. We want to push the cheesecake in just far enough that the edges of the cheesecake are surrounded by mango mousse. Add a bit more mousse into the dome if needed
  5. lastly, place a disc of the caramel biscuit onto each of the domes, sitting the biscuit base on top of the mousse
  6. set aside in the freeze for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight to harden

Glazing the cake:

Mango glaze: (make this the following day once the mousse domes are frozen)

  1. un-mould each of the mousse domes and place back in the freezer
  2. place mango and sugar over medium heat until the mixture thickens
  3. remove from heat and add the bloomed gelatin
  4. stir in the condensed milk
  5. while still hot, pour over white chocolate and stir to melt and incorporate the chocolate
  6. when the glaze cools to 35 degrees, pour over the mango mousse domes
  7. crumble the off-cuts from the caramel cookie base and coat around the base of each of the cakes
Mango mousse & vanilla cheesecake entremet on a crunchy caramel cookie
Mango mousse & vanilla cheesecake entremet on a crunchy caramel cookie

 

Instagram: Whatever_It_Bakes