Birthday Cake!!

     I've been thinking about making a mousse cake for a while now, and so finally I had the chance since my birthday is this week.  The cake was a wonderful gold cake that was incredibly good.  Basically like a sugar cookie but in cake form.

  The mousse was good, but it was too gelatenous, so I'll find a new recipe for the second time I make this.

  I baked the cakes, 3 layers, though only two survived.  Then I made the pate a choux and put those away to rest until the next day when we would put them on the cake.  The mousse was fun to make, though the gelatin was being obstinante.

Assembly:

   I put some wax paper on the bottom of a springform pan, running it outside of the pan before I locked it.  Then I put down the first layer of cake and then layered some cubed strawberries on top, then put the mousse on top, and then more diced strawberries.  The last layer of cake went on and I put cling wrap and then alluminum foil on top.  It needed to go in the fridge for at least three hours for the mousse, but we ended up putting in overnight because we weren't going to have the cake until the next day.

Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons powdered gelatin or 5 sheets gelatin
• 1/2 pound fresh strawberries, stems removed, plus extra, for garnish
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

If using sheet gelatin, soak the sheets in cold water for 15 minutes.

Puree the strawberries in a food processor. Drain through a fine strainer to eliminate the seeds. Heat the lemon juice and dissolve the powdered gelatin into it. Or, if using sheet gelatin, drain and dissolve the softened sheets into the warm lemon juice.

Blend the lemon juice into the pureed strawberries, add the powdered sugar, and mix thoroughly. Cool the mixture completely until it thickens.

Whip the cream and gently fold into the strawberry mixture. Pour into a lightly buttered mold and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Remove from mold, and garnish with cleaned and sweetened sliced strawberries.

Gold Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter flavored vegetable shortening, 140 grams
• 1 1/4 cup sugar, 300 grams
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted, 300 grams
• 3 teaspoons baking powder, 14 grams
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 egg yolks, beaten, 130 grams
• 3/4 cup milk, 180 grams
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) cake pans with shortening and set aside.

Cream together the shortening and the sugar. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly alternate adding the egg yolks and milk with the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the vanilla and mix well.

Pour into the prepared pans, about 550 grams of batter for each cake. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Pate a Choux 

 -  the recipe is in my blog archive.

Agave Frosting

-  coming soon.