Berry Mousse Cakes

I've wanted to try out one of chef Hidemi Sugino's recipes for some time now. I thought maybe I could do his fruit rouges because it seemed somewhat simple and ingredient-wise doable.

The only thing is, I've never been one to hunt down ingredients when I can make do with what I have...

So here is a variation of it!

It was quite time-consuming and left my kitchen a wreck, but do I think it was worth it?
Surprisingly I do.
This kind of dessert is right up my alley. Although next time perhaps a chocolate version would be even more worth it.

Berry Mousse Cakes
Makes 4

Biscuit Joconde

• 50g powdered sugar, sifted
• 50g almond powder, sifted
• 40g egg yolks (about 3)
• 30g egg whites
• 45g cake flour, sifted

French Meringue:

• 100g egg whites
• 60g granulated sugar

Fruit gelee

• 3/4 pouch of powder gelatin (about 5g)
• 150g berry puree (made from frozen berry blend. I used about 1.5 bags for the entire recipe)
• 25g lemon juice
• 25g granulated sugar
• 5g fruit juice (I used blueberry)

Simple Syrup

• 50g water
• 65g granulated sugar

 Fruit Mousse

• 3/4 pouch powder gelatin (about 5g)
• 150g whipping cream
• 150g fruit puree
• 50g granulated sugar
• 25ml water
• 25g egg whites

Glaze:

• Raspberry jelly (or your favorite berry jelly) OR I recommend a flavorless glaze

Directions

Biscuit Joconde:

Preheat oven to 450F.
Line a large (16x11) jelly roll pan with a silpat.

Whisk together the powdered sugar and almond flour. On low speed, beat in the egg yolks and egg whites. Continue to beat on medium speed until the mix is pale yellow and thick. Fold in the cake flour.

In a separate bowl, make the French meringue by beating the egg whites. Once they become foamy, start slowly pouring in the sugar while still beating. Beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Fold the French meringue into the egg mixture. Spread onto the silpat and make the surface as even as possible. Use a clean finger to wipe along the edges of the pan so that there is a gap between the pan sides and the batter.
Bake for 5-6 minutes until the joconde springs back when touched in the middle.

Let it cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a cooling rack with parchment paper on top of it. Flip the joconde onto the parchment paper and then very carefully peel off the silpat. Then let it cool completely.

Once cooled, cut 4 strips out of the joconde as well as 4 base circles to fit your pastry rings. My rings were 10 inches around and 2 inches high, so I cut 10x1 in. strips. For the base circles, I cut them a little larger than needed (then I just squeeze them to fit).

Fruit Gelee:

Using a 9-in. spring form pan, take out the bottom and instead take 2 pieces of aluminum foil to use as the bottom, wrapping it up the outside of the pan. Place this on a baking sheet that can fit into the freezer.

Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the surface of the lemon juice and let it sit to absorb. In a small saucepan, combine half of the puree and the sugar. Heat on low and stir to dissolve. Add the lemon juice and then the fruit juice. Stir the warm mixture until the gelatin is also completely dissolved and remove from heat. Pour into the springform pan and freeze.

Simple Syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Fruit Mousse:

Pour half of your puree into a saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin powder over the surface. Let that sit to absorb.

Meanwhile, in a clean bowl beat your whipped cream until stiff peaks. Place in the fridge until needed.

Now warm the puree that's in the saucepan over low heat. Let the gelatin dissolve and then add the rest of the puree. Set aside.

Combine sugar and water in a clean saucepan and bring to a boil (about 245F) then remove from heat. While it's reaching a boil, start beating your egg whites. Drizzle the hot syrup into the egg whites while still beating. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form, then measure out 60g to use. This is an Italian meringue.

Take your whipped cream out of the fridge and fold it into the puree mixture. Then fold in the Italian meringue.

Assembly:

Place pastry rings on a baking pan. Take your prepared joconde strips and fit them along the bottom sides of the rings. Then place your joconde base circles on the bottom.

Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and pipe a layer of mousse in.

Take out your frozen gelee and use a medium-sized biscuit cutter to cut out circles and place then on top of the mousse.

Fill the rest of the ring with mousse and even out the top.  Freeze overnight.

For the top glaze I used a combination of jams and jellies (raspberry, guava, strawberry...) and added gelatin powder to make it sturdier. I recommend just using a clear glaze if you can find it at the store because I feel like jam overpowers the subtle flavors in the cake.

Once you've applied the glaze, freeze or refrigerate until serving.