Winter Break Part II

Part II of my winter break: Two birthdays in one week

The first one was for a dear family friend. We asked her for her flavor preference: fruity or chocolatey? She answered "fruity", so I set about making a "fruity" cake for her.

The oranges and mangoes were on sale, so we had a stockpile of those. I asked Mom if she wanted anything in particular--and she said, "orange mousse".

Hm. A cake with orange mousse? An idea was forming in my head...how about Orange Mousse cake with Mango compote and Orange cremeux? It's just a variation on the Fruit charlotte recipe we made in the European Cakes class.

I made a chunky puree with the mangoes, heated it (otherwise the enzymes in it will break down the gelatin), and set it with gelatin in 5" diameter glass container. The orange cremeux was frozen in the same manner. I used vanilla chiffon as my base.

Once the orange mousse is made, I poured some into a glass bowl lined with plastic, and layered with the frozen orange cremeux and the mango compote. After I put the chiffon on top, I put it in the fridge to let it set.
The next day, I inverted the whole thing, and everything looked fine...until ten minutes into decorating, the sides begin to bulge out. It was melting! The mousse recipe didn't call for gelatin...but it was meant to be poured into a torte with sides reforced with joconde. But I solved the problem by wrapping the bottom part with a strip of decorative cardboard and taping it. Hey, a lot of Parisian-style pastries come with a strip of pretty acetate wrapped around it, so it won't be a problem, right?
I finished decorating with the white chocolate snowflakes I made the day before. The result...

A billowy mound of snowball! The mousse did turn out a little too soft, but it was incredibly fruity and delicious. I think next time, I'll add gelatin to make it more stable.

The second birthday was for my friend A. I knew her favorite is the red velvet cake...but I didn't want to make her a plain, old-fashioned one. Instead of cream cheese frosting, I decided to make a cream cheese mousseline instead. And how about chocolate ganache with toasted pecans in the layers?? And chocolate decorations???

The cake itself was easy to make. I just baked the cake in 9"x13" pan, and cut out an 8" round from it. I would've used my springform, except it's prone to leaking if the batter is too thin. Haven't decided what to do with the leftover cake pieces...
I brushed coffee syrup on the cakes and layered it with ganche, pecans, and mousseline.

I barely had enough mousseline to cover the cake! Next time, I'll make more...
Now it was time for decorating. The day before, I was battling the temperamental chocolate. I figured I'll just melt it, pipe it, then let it set, right? Nah. It refused to set. I used regular baking chips, but I had to temper it for it to set properly. That took a lot of time and patience, but the decorations finally set.

Tempering involves melting the chocolate, allowing it to cool to a certain temp while constantly agitating it. Once it reaches 85F, it needs to be warmed back up to a workable consistency. At least I got practice with tempering.
I decorated the top with cake crumbs (traditional decorating method for red velvet), the chocolate decor, a single piece of caramel pecan, and a rose candle.

The sides looked a bit naked, so I pressed chocolate lattice onto the sides. Very pretty!

My friend loved it! She said it "had a tragic ending"...which I understand it to mean, "it was devoured hungrily by a bunch of ravenous ladies".