Story goes: I was challenged to make a cream cake with fruit for a special occasion, and was also told chocolate mousse wouldn’t hurt to go along with it.
Well, what better way to incorporate this than a 3-layer cake? And simply layer all those great components together to create a masterpiece. How hard could that be? (Hint: it’s actually easier than it looks)
I decided to use a genoise cake for a slightly firmer, but eggy layer to hold up all the other layers. Genoise cake is a sponge cake and calls for so many eggs – be prepared to crack a dozen eggs! It’s how it gets lift in the cake without other rising agents (like baking soda).
One of my favorite creams is the Chantilly cream. It’s got a nice sweet touch to it without being overly sugary, and holds its stiffness even with all those layers! What an amazing invention.
For the chocolate mousse, I use a recipe a good friend gave to me a while, which is actually a cheat mousse, but oh so easy to make! It’s a variation of the chocolate ganache, so it’s super rich and super yummy. We may have eaten the cake too quickly for me to grab a pic of the inside and show you that chocolate layer…but gonna tell you it was the most delicious giant cake I’ve had – go give it a try the next time you have people over!
And, to go with the light cream and rich mousse, I chose to use strawberries – they don’t get squished and they have a wonderful tart flavor to balance out everything. And they make great decoration on a cake.
Oh and before I forget, this is butter-less! So ya know, extra healthy and all that yummy goodness!
Strawberry Cream Layer Cake
Ingredients
Genoise Cake
- 12 large eggs, separated (12 egg yolks and 8 egg whites)
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1-1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour, sifted
Chantilly Cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 0.1 oz agar agar (algae used as stabilizer)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups heavy cream
Chocolate Mousse
- 1-1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate
- 2 cups heavy cream
Garnish
- 12 oz strawberries, sliced
Instructions
- Chocolate Mousse: Prepare this first since it takes longest to cool. Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Simmer heavy cream on the stove and pour over chocolate. Stir with a spatula until incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Genoise Cake: Prepare 3 cake pans: grease the pans and line with parchment paper for easy cake removal later. See note on pans below.
- Beat the egg yolks on medium-high in a stand mixer with the whisk until it turns a pale yellow and has a light consistency. Slowly add in 1/2 cup sugar. Continue whisking until stiff. Check this every so often until smooth ribbons form when the whisk is lifted from the bowl (turning the mixer on and off a few times). Place into a large mixing bowl. See note on stand mixer below.
- Clean out the stand mixer bowl. This is very important because contaminating egg whites with egg yolks or other ingredients can worsen the consistency of the whisked mixture.
- Similar to the egg yolks, whisk the egg whites until light and slowly pour in the sugar. Keep whisking until medium peaks form. Medium peaks are when you lift the whisk from the egg, peaks start to form, but it may fold over itself gently. Make sure not to over whisk (stiff peaks hold firmly and do not fall on themselves, and over that, the eggs fall apart again and become liquidy). Add vanilla extract and mix until combined. This mixture is called a meringue.
- Turn oven on 400°F, or earlier, depending how fast you complete the next 3 steps.
- Fold flour into egg yolk mixture. The technique is to take a rubber/silicone spatula and take it to the bottom of the bowl, then lift the batter up and over itself. Rotate the bowl as needed. Keep doing this until the flour is incorporated.
- Gently fold the meringue in 3 batches into the flour-egg yolk batter. Fold in 1/3 at a time, using the same technique as before.
- Pour batter into prepared pans and make sure it is all even on top. It helps to tap the pans on the counter to ensure any extra bubbles come out and that it is smooth.
- Bake cake for about 10 minutes (longer if you are making multiple layers in one pan). It is done when the tops are golden and spring to touch. Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes before taking it out to cool on a rack. Make sure to run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake if not using parchment paper. Cut out cake layers, if needed. Cool to room temperature.
- Chantilly Cream: Prepare the stabilizer by heating the water and agar-agar in a pot over the stove. Keep mixing until the agar-agar dissolves. Use a sieve to make sure the result is smooth and no agar-agar lumps remain. Immediately, mix the solution into the sugar to prevent the agar-agar from hardening again. Beat with the heavy cream on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Chill in the fridge.
- Take out the mousse and beat it on medium until light and fluffy.
- Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, the layering process can begin. Place the first layer of cake on the plate or stand. Add 1/3 of the mousse and spread it evenly to create a flat layer. Line slices of strawberries until covering the mousse. Use about 1/4 of the cream and cover the strawberries, filling the gaps. Repeat 2 times more with layers of cake-chocolate-strawberry-cream, cake-chocolate-cream, omitting the final layer of strawberries and saving it for decorating. Using a knife to help, cover the sides of the cake with cream until smooth and well-covered. Garnish the top of the cake with more strawberries. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you have 3-9″ diameter cake pans, great! If not here are some options: with 1 or 2 same-sized pans, rotate baking between the pans you have for 3 layers, but remember to cool the pan before you add more batter to it. Alternatively, if you have a springform pan, bake a giant cake in one go and then cut out 3 layers, but the overall texture might not be as light and fluffy.
- This cake is easiest to make with a stand mixer. However, you can achieve the same results with a hand mixer, or if you don’t have either, then a whisk. I will say from personal experience, it is extremely tiring to hand whisk anything to be stiff. Possible, but be prepared to work your arm muscles!
- Original Genoise cake recipe courtesy of Natasha Pickowicz via Bon Appetit. This is a modified version.
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