My creative take on a dessert experiment which turned out a real success, it’s a simple vanilla cake, filled with an easy Strawberry mousse. Together, they were the perfect combination.
A slice of this and I am sure you will fall in love!
If you follow me on Instagram, you will know about #pinktoberpinkfood, a friendly community challenge I hosted along with a few other food bloggers. The aim of the challenge was to spread awareness to breast cancer through a language we all dearly love, the language of food.
We got an amazing response through this challenge, with almost 240 post entries who all shared their delicious take on creating a Pink themed food for the cause, and I must admit, I was really inspired by the creativity and effort everyone put in it. Truly beautiful!
This dessert was my contribution to the same initiative and I got an amazing feedback both online as well as offline, since I happened to create this for a family gathering and the guests all loved it.
I am using JoyofBaking’s simple vanilla cake recipe and made the mousse using Strawberry jelly sachets, alternatively if you want to make it with fresh strawberries, check out my Basic strawberry mousse recipe.
I hope you get to try this out and enjoy this delicious Pink delicacy!
RECIPE for Vanilla Cake with Instant Strawberry Mousse:
2
9 inch cakes25
minutes30
minutes1
hourIngredients
- For Vanilla Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated white sugar
Zest of one lemon, finely grated (optional but recommended)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
2/3 cup vegetable oil
- For Soaking Syrup (optional)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- For Instant Strawberry Mousse
85gm strawberry jelly box mix
½ cup water
1/3 cream cheese
½ cup powdered sugar (add more or less, to taste)
1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 180ºC with the oven rack in the center of the oven. Grease two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans.
- In a medium bowl, sift or whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.
- In another small bowl mix the lemon zest into the sugar. This helps in flavouring the sugar and ensuring the zest isn’t clumped together.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the sugar mix with eggs and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy (about a minute).
- Then, with the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions) with the milk and oil (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour mixture. The cake batter is now ready.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the baked cakes cool completely and then create a hollow in the centre by cutting out a circle with a knife leaving a 1inch margin, scoop out the insides while maintaining the base.
- For the syrup, bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let boil for about a minute. Set aside to cool.
- For Strawberry Mousse
- Stir together water and jelly mix in a saucepan on medium flame, until it comes to a boil. Turn off heat and let it cool.
- In a medium-large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar for a minute.
- Add the heavy whipping cream into the bowl and whip it together with the cream cheese until you get firm, soft peaks.
- With mixer on low, pour the jelly mix into the cream and beat again until well-incorporated. Your mousse is now ready!
- For Assembling
- Brush the soaking syrup on the insides of the cake, and then pour the strawberry mousse evenly in both these cakes.
- Add the additional mousse as frosting on top and decorate with strawberries and nuts.
- Let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours and enjoy!
