Celebration Cakes: Coconut White Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries on Coconut Joconde

What would a party be without a decent cake?

As we started this party week to celebrate 3 years of What's For Lunch, Honey? on a healthy note with a power wholegrain breakfast, we can now indulge in decadence without too much guilt!

It's not only my blog anniversary celebration but it is also Mardi Gras or as we call it in Germany "Karnival". Everyone dresses up and masquerades during the celebrations and the streets are filled with people dressed up in costumes and colorful clothing. Usually Soeren and I enjoy this time and are invited to parties or go watch parades, however, he has been ill this past week. Fighting off a fever and a nasty flu. So, Mardi Gras has kind of flown by without us.

However, to perk up our spirits we still decided to dress up at home and play silly games, which made us laugh till our tummy hurts. Did I ever say how much fun it is to be a mummy? I mean, how else can we simply put the usual outer casing of adulthood aside, dress up and play make believe, stomping through the house without a care in the world. Through Soeren's fantasy world it becomes easy. I love it!

The past week Soeren hardly had much of an appetite, I prepared a lot of soup and several of his favorite dishes but usually after a few bites he wanted to lie down again. Shame that he spent his term break fighting off the flu and fever. The past two days I have kept him away from school and as I was home with him we had plenty of extra time. He certainly felt better when we put on our aprons and took out the baking utensils for one of our favorite baking sessions.

Nothing like a good dessert to perk you up I say! I also know what a sweet tooth most of you have so I thought we all should have good cake to celebrate Mardi Gras, 3 blog years and most of all to celebrate Soeren feeling better.

As I looked through the archives of my hardrive I found these delightful cakes I made using the leftovers of the Opera Cake. I know - how could I?

My hardrive is overflowing with so many exciting recipes I just have not gotten around to sharing them all. But I will - as a matter of fact there will come a time this year when I will be taking a break from cooking and my kitchen, then I know these backup creations will come in handy.

That Opera Cake back in May 2008 was delicious, but what I got out of the leftovers was just pure bliss. I had plenty of the joconde, syrup and white chocolate mousse leftover and decided to create some special individual cakes. Strawberries were at there juiciest and seemed to be the perfect fruity addition to the cakes.

I love making small individual cakes and my guests enjoy them too as they get their own cake and can eat it too - without sharing. These cakes turned out so well that ever since then I have made them a few times on special occasions with a few variations each time. 

Reminder

The Monthly Mingle this month is partying on the beaches of the Caribbean. Come join me for a fun filled time with great food.

All you need to do is cook up a Caribbean dish and bring it along to the mingle. Your dish could win a spectacular prize too.

All details can be found here.

Deadline is March 9th, 2009!

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Recipe: Coconut White Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries on Coconut Joconde

Ingredients
Printable version of recipe here.

For the Coconut Joconde

3 large egg whites, at room temperature 
15g granulated sugar 
150g ground blanched almonds
75g dried shredded coconut
1 cup icing sugar, sifted 
3 large eggs 
35-40g all-purpose flour 
22g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the White Chocolate Mousse

200g Lindt coconut white chocolate
250g + 3 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon coconut liqueur (like Batida de Coco)

For the Coconut Soaking Syrup

125g water
65g granulated syrup
2 tablespoons coconut cream

Additional

250g strawberries, washed, pat dry, hulled and cut into slices
Handful of dried coconut flakes for decoration

Special Equipment: Set of 6 dessert/pastry rings. If you do not have pastry rings then simply use small cans e.g. tuna or soup cans. Recycle them to make your own pastry rings, by cutting out the top and bottom lids and washing them well. They work perfectly for these kind of desserts

Method

For the Coconut Joconde

1. In a small food processor give the shredded coconut and almonds a good whiz, to grid them and to mix them well.  
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C. Line a 31 x 39 cm jelly pan with baking paper and brush with some melted butter.
   
   
3. Using a handheld mixer, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. Set aside.
   
   
4. In a separate clean bowl beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs with the handheld mixer on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.
   
   
5. Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined. Be very careful not to over-mix here.
   
   
6. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Spread out the batter evenly on the jelly pan to cover the entire surface of each pan.
   
   
7. Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven.
   
   
8. Remove from oven and put the pan on a heatproof counter. Run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover the pan with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pan over, and unmold.
   Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cake. Let the cake cool to room temperature.

For the White Chocolate Mousse

1. Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tablespoons of heavy cream in a small saucepan. Stir to ensure that it’s smooth and that the chocolate is melted.
   
   
2. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.
   
   
3. In a clean bowl whip the remaining heavy cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.
   
   
4. Transfer the mousse into a piping bag then refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Coconut Soaking Syrup

1. Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.
   
   
2. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Assembly

1. Using the pastry rings (or your cans) cut out individual circles from the joconde. Depending on the size of your rings, you should get approx. 4-6 cake rounds.
   
   
2. Keeping the pastry rings around each cake round, begin building up your individual desserts. Brush the cake rounds with the soaking syrup to moisten the joconde. You do not want to soak it completely in the syrup, just enough so that it is slightly moist.
   
   
3. Line the edges of the cake ring with the strawberry slices.
   
   
4. Pipe the white chocolate mousse into the cake rings. Using an offset spatula smooth out the top.
   
   
5. Garnish with coconut flakes and any left over strawberries.
   
   
6. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

 

 

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Verdict

Because we love the flavors of coconut and chocolate and the fruity freshness of strawberries, this dessert is a lovely decadent treat. Visually it will definitely get high marks but wait till you sink your teeth into this deliciously moist dessert. The mousse is airy and creamy without being too sweet, paired with the tart and juicy berries it highlights all the aromas very nicely. Finally that puff of fluffy joconde, with tiny bits of coconut, rounds up the entire dessert so perfectly that you'll want to savor each and every bite.

The celebrations continue over at the Daily Tiffin too as we celebrate 3 blog years there as well. Coma on over!

Stay tuned as I share more cake and ice-cream this weekend to wrap up my celebration week on What's For Lunch, Honey?

You might like these party cakes from WFLH:

Perfect Party Cake	Toblerone Tart	Chocolate Crepe Cake

Celebration cakes from around the blogs:

• Blackberry Yellow Cake - Dinner Cakes
• Chocolate Caramel Cake - Zesty Cook
• Devil's Food White Out Cake - Piggy's Cooking Journal

Daily Tiffin Reading Tip:

•  5 Essential Practices for a Successful Diet by guest writer Holly
  
  

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