Jesus Christ this week was hard! I kinda brought it on myself though, choosing to do an entremet. It was a massive mountain to climb trying to pull this off, and I can't describe how ecstatic I was getting it out of the tin yesterday to find that it had set, because it so easily could have gone the other way. I was even more surprised to see that it was the cake of choice for the Showstopper Challenge on the Bake Off yesterday, which gave me a huge sense of achievement.
I want to apologise for not being as vigilant in photographing the baking process this week. I would get so caught up in the complication of this behemoth of a cake, that i'd do two steps of the recipe without even realizing, or having taken a photo, but hopefully you get the gist if you want to give it a go yourself.
I don't want to take all the credit for this recipe. I need to thank Pastry Workshop Blog for the flavour inspiration and method as well. I found with this cake, no matter what recipe you follow, you're going to have to make your own changes. When working with temperamental consistencies such as mousse, ganache and glaze, you'll end up doing whatever you can to make it set, regardless of what the recipe says.
Pastry Workshop got the flavour combination on point! The sharp lemon mousse combats the sweetness of the mango mousse and white chocolate glaze, and you get a really subtle hint of lime from the ganache. You can't quite put your finger on it at first, but you know it's there.
I am dead chuffed with this, and urge any of you to give it a go. It's time consuming and you'll pull out most of your hair making it, but the result is well worth it!
Ingredients
Poppy Seed Sponge
6 egg whites
A pinch of salt
150g sugar
100g poppy seeds
50g shredded coconut
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Lemon Curd
5 egg yolks
215g sugar
100g butter
15g lemon zest
90ml lemon juice
Mango Mousse
350g mango puree
100g sugar
45ml water
2 egg whites
6g gelatine (plus 30 ml cold water)
250ml double cream, whipped
Lime Infused White Chocolate Ganache
150g white chocolate, chopped
100ml double cream
20g butter
zest from 1 lime
Lemon Mousse
80ml lemon juice
Zest from 1 lemon
Half of your lemon curd
7g gelatine (plus35ml cold water)
2 egg whites
100g sugar
45ml water
280ml double cream, whipped
White Chocolate Glaze
300g white chocolate, chopped
300ml double cream
3g gelatine (plus 15ml cold water)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they're stiff. Gradually stir in the sugar, mixing until the whites are nice and shiny.
3. Stir in the vanilla extract
4. In a separate bowl, mix the poppy seeds, coconut, flour and baking powder together, and then fold this into the egg whites.
5.Spoon the batter into a round cake tin (I used 23cm to start with, but after baking it shrunk from the sides, so to make the stacking compact, I moved it over to a smaller one). Place into the oven for 30-40 minutes or until lightly risen and golden brown.
6. When the cake's done, let it cool down in the pan then remove and cut the cake in half lengthways to get two equal sheets of cake.
7. Place one sheet of cake back in the cake ring you're going to use for the stacking process, and put the other half to one side.
8. For the curd, combine the egg yolks, sugar, butter, lemon juice and lemon zest in a bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of hot water and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until melted, thick and creamy. It might take around 20 minutes so be patient.
9. When the curd is done, strain it through a sieve and then split the curd into two equal portions. You will use half in the lemon mousse, and the other half for decoration.
10. Place aside to cool down completely.
11. Combine the gelatin for the mango mousse and the assigned amount of water in a small bowl and let it bloom for ten minutes.
12. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook the syrup until it begin to thicken - about 5 minutes.
13. Whilst the syrup cooks, whip the egg whites until stiff. Begin pouring the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites, mixing all the time (preferable with an electric whisk). Mix until glossy.
14. Reheat the gelatin for a few seconds and stir it into the mango puree then combine the puree with the egg whites.
15. Whip the double cream then fold it into the egg whites. Then pour the mousse into the cake ring on top of the first layer of poppy seed sponge.
16. Place back into the fridge and allow for the mousse to set. I allowed 2 hours.
17. For the lime infused white chocolate ganache, bring the heavy cream to the boil.
18. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime zest. Let the mixture infuse until it's completely chilled.
19. Strain through a sieve and then bring back to boiling point.
20. Remove from the heat and stir in the white chocolate.
21. Mix until melted and smooth and then stir in the butter.
22. When the ganache is at room temperature, pour it over the mango mousse and put straight back into the fridge to set.
23. When the ganache is set, place the second layer of poppy seed sponge on top and put the cake back into the fridge.
24. For the lemon mousse, mix the gelatin and water in a small bowl and allow to bloom for ten minutes.
25. Combine the lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan and bring to boiling point. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool, then strain through a sieve.
26. Warm up the lemon curd and add to the juice and zest. Set aside.
27. Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook the syrup for 5 minutes until thickened.
28. Whip the egg whites until stiff and then gradually add the hot sugar syrup, mixing well with an electric whisk until stiff and shiny.
29. Stir in the melted gelatin then add the lemon curd.
30. Whip the double cream.
31. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature then fold in the whipped cream.
32. Pour the mousse on top of the ganache and put back into the fridge. From this point, it's up to you how long you leave it in the fridge for. 2 hours will be enough for the mousse to have set, but I wanted to leave it in for as long as possible before adding the glaze, so I left it overnight. If it's your first time making this, overnight is best, just to make sure.
33. For the glaze, combine the gelatin and water and let it bloom for ten minutes.
34. Pour the cream into the saucepan and bring it to boiling point.
35. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth.
36. Add the gelatin and mix well.
37. Allow the glaze to come to room temperature then pour over the cake.
Oh my, these look INCREDIBLE! Definitely jotting this recipe down! xx Sophie/ www.prettyandpolished.co.uk
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