{Photograph} by Erica Maclean.
Make the mousse. Purée the cherries with the sugar, then add the cherry liquid or cognac and convey to a simmer in a small saucepan. Take away from the warmth and permit to chill. Whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar collectively in a saucepan over low warmth, stirring repeatedly (your objective is to mood the eggs and forestall them from curdling). When the egg combination is heat and has begun to look creamy, whisk in about 1/4 cup of the cherry purée and warmth by way of. It ought to thicken barely.
In the meantime, bloom the gelatin: Add two packets to 40 ml of cool water. The powder will broaden and develop into gelatinous. Whisk the bloomed gelatin into the egg-and-cherries combination, then add the remainder of the puréed cherries and blend completely. Enable the entire combination to chill to room temperature. Don’t beneath any circumstances add the combination to the whipped cream (subsequent step) earlier than it’s fully cool.
As soon as the egg-cherries-and-gelatin combination has cooled (or if you are ready for it to chill), whip the cream into stiff peaks. Gently fold the combination into the whipped cream, being cautious to not knock the air out of the cream. Pour the mousse right into a greased, parchment-lined springform pan and switch to the fridge to set. The mousse could set in only a few hours, however I like to recommend doing this step the evening earlier than you need to serve the cake, to keep away from nervousness.
{Photograph} by Erica Maclean.
Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. The batter is sort of stiff and the cake layer can be skinny, so don’t fear an excessive amount of about lining the perimeters. You do, nevertheless, want to decide on a baking sheet that has extra floor space than the springform pan you used for the mousse, as you’ll reduce out the cake to the exact dimension you want after it’s baked.
Add the egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of an electrical mixer and beat till they type gentle peaks. Add the powdered sugar and proceed to beat till the meringue kinds stiff, shiny peaks. Put aside, and in a separate bowl beat the entire eggs and sugar till gentle and fluffy, then add the butter, orange blossom water, and orange zest and blend completely. Gently fold within the almond meal and flour, after which fold this combination gently into your meringue. As with the mousse, watch out to not knock the air out of your batter as you’re folding. This cake has no chemical rising agent—it depends on the air trapped in your meringue to make it gentle and fluffy.
Utilizing a spatula, unfold your cake batter out onto your ready baking sheet. You can also make it as thick or as skinny as you want; I unfold it about one inch thick. You don’t want to unfold all of it the way in which to the perimeters of the pan. Bake for fifteen to twenty minutes, or till the highest turns golden brown and the cake is agency and springy to the contact. Enable it to chill fully.
To assemble the cake, take your springform pan with the set mousse and place it on high of the almond cake and hint the define of the pan. Trim your cake on this form: it ought to match properly into the highest of your pan. Subsequent, unfold the remainder of the cherry purée on high of the set mousse. Put together a baking dish filled with heat water giant sufficient to carry your pan—an inch or two of water can be sufficient; don’t flood your cake. Place the sponge cake layer on high of the mousse pan, and place the pan within the warm-water tub for thirty seconds. Then place baking sheet on high of the pan and punctiliously flip it. Working slowly, take away the perimeters of your springform pan after which the highest, being cautious to not tear or dent the mousse layer. The mousse ought to maintain its form. Put within the freezer for thirty minutes or in a single day.
{Photograph} by Erica Maclean.
Make the mirror glaze. Bloom the gelatin: Combine the gelatin and chilly water and put aside till the gelatin expands. In the meantime, whisk collectively the condensed milk, water, and sugar in a small pot. Carry to a simmer over medium-high warmth, then whisk within the bloomed gelatin till it’s totally dissolved and no clumps stay. (I counsel utilizing an immersion blender for this step, however watch out to maintain it totally submerged, so that you don’t introduce bubbles into the glaze.)
Place the white chocolate in a mixing bowl, then pour the new gelatin combination by way of a sieve over the chocolate. The chocolate ought to soften fully. Combine with an immersion blender, and add pink meals coloring till you’ve a vivid, shiny pink. Switch to a vessel that pours simply and permit to chill to 94°F, monitoring the temperature carefully. The mirror glaze will set accurately if poured between 90 and 94°F. Whether it is too scorching or too chilly, you’ll not obtain the specified impact.
If you are ready for the glaze to chill, put together the mousse cake for glazing. Take away it from the freezer, and utilizing an offset spatula, switch it to a cake stand or cooling rack set over a baking sheet (the glaze can be messy—you need to catch any drips). When the glaze reaches 94°F, slowly pour it over your cake, beginning on the middle. The glaze ought to pool and drip down the perimeters. Proceed to pour till you’ve used all of the glaze, taking care to coat the entire cake evenly. The glaze ought to set inside one or two minutes. As soon as it has set, use the spatula to fastidiously switch the cake to a serving platter.
Garnish. I sliced my cherries in half and organized them on the cake with the pits nonetheless in, to appear to be damaged hearts. Lower small items of comb honey to go in between them, and garnish with a couple of pink flowers.
{Photograph} by Erica Maclean.
Valerie Stivers is a author primarily based in New York. Learn earlier installments of Eat Your Phrases.
