There are so many cake ideas floating around my head at the moment. I am loving the burst of creativity. The hardest thing about it, is finding the time to implement all my cake ideas into cakes. And of course sharing the recipes with you on my blog.
Today I want to share with you a petite gâteau that involves strawberry, rhubarb and vanilla flavors. I think, no I know, the flavors are very classic combinations but there are always new ways how to combine the flavors and textures. For my latest cake creation, I made a strawberry rhubarb compote which I filled in baked tartlet shells. I topped the tart shells with a strawberry mousse hemispheres with a vanilla cream surprise in the middle. It takes a little bit of time to prepare these little delicate cakes but it is worth every minute of preparation.
My strawberry rhubarb cakes are a wonderful and delicious way to welcome the summer time.
Happy 1st of June, my dearest readers!



Makes 8 to 10 little cakes ( 7 cm / 2.75 inches)

RHUBARB STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

  • 245 g / 2 1/2 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1 cm / 1/2 inch chunks
  • 190 g / 1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved
  • 15 ml / 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 30 g / 2 1/2 tabelspoons granulated sugar
  • 15 g / 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Place the rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice and granulated sugar in a saucepan. Let it simmer over medium heat; stir occasionally. When the rhubarb is tender, remove the saucepan from the heat.
  • Dissolve the corn starch in a little bit of cold water. Add the dissolved corn starch to the compote and stir well. 
  • Let the compote cool to room temperature, transfer into a jar and keep it in the fridge up to four days. 

VANILLA CREAM

  • 85 g / 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 30 g egg yolks / equals 2 egg yolks of 2 medium sized eggs
  • 25 g / 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 10 g / 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • Pour the milk into a medium sized saucepan. 
  • Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds (use the tip of your knife or the dull side of the knife). 
  • Add the vanilla seeds and the empty vanilla pod to the milk. Bring the milk to a boil and set aside. Remove the empty vanilla pod. 
  • Place the egg yolks and granulated sugar in a bowl and whisk well. Pour the hot vanilla milk to the egg mixture and stir well. Pour the mixture back to the saucepan. Heat the milk over medium heat and let it simmer for one minute until it thickens up. Remove from the heat; stir in the butter and mix well. Pour the vanilla cream through a sieve.
  • Place small hemisphere moulds (3 cm / 1 inch in diameter) on a board. Evenly distribute the vanilla cream into the moulds. Freeze the moulds for at least two hours. 

STRAWBERRY MOUSSE

  • 100 g / 1 /3 cup and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 50 g / 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
  • 150 g / 2/3 cup strawberry purée *
  • 4 sheets gelatin ( 6 g), soaked
  • 200 g / 3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • Pour the heavy cream into a medium sized saucepan and bring it almost to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the white chocolate and mix well until the chocolate is melted. Add the strawberry purée and gelatin and stir until well combined. Pour the strawberry mixture through a sieve into a big bowl. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. 
  • In the meantime, whip the heavy cream until creamy. 
  • Fold the heavy cream into the strawberry mixture. 
  • Unmould the frozen vanilla hemispheres. Assemble two vanilla halves in order to create a sphere. 
  • Place hemisphere moulds (7 cm / 2.75 inches in diameter) on a board. Fill the moulds 2/3 with the strawberry mousse. Gently press a vanilla sphere into the mousse and add more strawberry mousse and level the surface out. 
  • Place the moulds in the freezer for at least 4 hours. 
* I make my own strawberry purée and I add 10 % sugar to the purée. If you use purée without any sugar, you might add a little bit of sugar (about 15 g /1 tablespoon) to the purée.

TART SHELLS

  • My tart shell recipe is here which is a recipe by Cheryl Koh. I have written here a blog post about my tips on making tart shells. 
  • You can make the tart shells in advance. In fact, I always a few tart shells on hand which I keep in an air-tight container. 
  • You need 7 cm / 2.75 inches tart shells. 

GLAZE

  • 55 ml /  1/4 cup water
  • 25 g / 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 55 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons glucose
  • 35 g / 2 tablespoons crème double, alternative heavy cream
  • 50 g / 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
  • 2 2/3 sheets gelatin (4 g), soaked
  • Red food coloring, optional
  • Add water, granulated sugar and glucose in a medium sized saucepan. Bring the mixture almost a boil, remove from the heat. Add the crème double and the white chocolate and mix until well incorporated. Add the gelatin and mix well again. If you want to have a pink glaze , add one or two drops of red food coloring and mix well. Pour the glaze through a sieve. 
  • Pour the glaze into a jar and let it cool to room temperature. Cover the jar with a lid and store it in the fridge. You can keep the glaze in the fridge up to five days. 

ASSEMBLING

  • Pistachios, chopped
  • Fill the tartlet shells with the rhubarb strawberry compote. 
  • Place the glaze into a pot and gently reheat the glaze. When glazing the mousse cakes, the glaze should have the temperature around 35 °C / 95 °F. 
  • Unmould the strawberry vanilla mousse cakes. Place the frozen cakes on a wire rack (place a deep plate under the wire rack in order to catch the excess glaze). Pour the glaze over the frozen mousse cakes. It is important that the cakes are frozen and the glaze is not too hot. 
  • Decorate the lower part of the mousse cakes with chopped pistachios.
  • Carefully place the glazed mousse cakes onto the tartlets. Place each cake on a cake board and let the cakes defrost in the fridge. 
  • Consume the cake on the day of assembling since the tart shells get soft over time. 
  • Bon appetit.