I’ve made this cake for a very sad occasion. Our friends’ dad died, and I just wanted to make a special cake to represent him. This flower has a special meaning. If you look closely, you can see that the flower is no longer alive, but it continues to shine bright even if it’s already gone. Death is, for me, just a way for a person to move forward and continue to a much better place. And we will all meet up eventually.
This is a mousse cake. It has coffee inside, caramel with pecans, one thin layer, and mascarpone cheese filling.
I can’t even explain how tasty it is. I found this recipe on YouTube and have used it 5 times by now. I don’t know how I don’t have a picture of the cake slice, though — maybe because the whole cake is gone in seconds. I just need to warn you that you’ll need to be patient when making this cake. You need to go step by step, but trust me — it’s worth it. Also, if you want to cover the cake with mirror glaze you need to freeze it first, for couple of hours.
The cake by itself wasn’t enough, so I’ve made a couple of small mousse cakes to match the main one.
I’ve used the same recipe. The only thing you will need extra for them is the silicone mold. You can find these molds basically everywhere. I bought them on amazon and I’m pretty happy with that purchase. Here’s the link if enyone is interested.
Don’t be discouraged by the long recepie. It’s not as hard as it seems, and it’s worth it. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine:).
Recepie:
Walnut cake
- 2 egg whites
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup walnuts
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
Chocolate layer
- 150g chocolate chip
- 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
Walnut caramel layer
- 1/3 cup sugar (for the caramel)
- 1 tbsp water
- 2/3 cup (70g) walnuts, choped
- 5 tbsp butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp sugar, for mixing with yolks
Mascarpone mousse
- 500g mascarpone cheese
- 2/3 cup powderd sugar
- 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp instant coffe
- 1 tsp vanila
Prepare 8 1/2 inch pan, cover it with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 325°.
WALNUT CAKE:
Beat the egg whites, gradually add the sugar. Mix until stick pick forms. Gently fold in 2/3 cup of walnuts. Add 2 tbsb flour, mix by hand just until combined. Bake for about 25-30min.
CHOCOLATE LAYER:
Melt the chocolate and heavy whipping cream in a small pot over the boiling watter.
Poure it over the chrust and spread evenly. Refrigerate to set.
WALNUT CARAMEL LAYER:
Toast walnuts, stirring consantly. Chop them into small peaces.
In a small bowl combine the egg yolks and sugar. Mix until creamy and light yellow in color.
In a small pan put 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon watter, place over medium-low and heat until sugar dissolves and gets caramel color. Add 5 tablespoons butter, mix until it melts, then add walnuts, mixed egg yolks, pinch of salt. Cook for about 1 minite until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly. Spread the caramel evenly over the hardend chocolate. Refrigerate to set.
MASCARPONE MOUSSE:
Soak gelatine powder in 1/4 cup watter, add 2 tsp instant coffe. Let it swell.
In a medium bowl combine the mascarpone cheese and 2/3 cup powdered sugar, add 1tsp vanila. Disolve gelatin over low heat. Pour it in the mascarpone filling, mix until combined.
Beat heavy whipping cream until stiff pick forms. Gently fold in with mascarpone mixture.
Spread the mousse evenly over the caramel. Freeze over night. The next day you can either cover the cake with mirror glaze, as i did, or you can cover it with chocolate ganache:). The second option is easier and faster.
Enjoy!