When I started writing this blog I mostly posted recipe that were quick and easy to make. At that time I was smitten with French patisserie and making petit gâteaux were my favourite cakes to make. However, I was not confident enough sharing it on the blog and I felt embarrassed sharing recipes that are time-consuming and takes more time than making a coffee cake for example. But why should I not share recipes that I am so passionate about? I asked this question myself in the past and I came to the conclusion that I should not restrict myself what kind of recipes that I am publishing. I want to share recipes that I create myself or recreate; I am passionate about sharing (classic) Swedish recipes which are not so known, besides Swedish cinnamon buns; I just want share my passion for baking with you. At the same time this blog is my patisserie diary as well. It is a neat diary (in contrast to my handwritten diary) where I can write down and collect my recipes. It is also a way for me to look back. Maybe I won't be interested in baking in a few years and then this blog is memory of my time that I was so passionate about baking.

 
My drawing of the White Chocolate Mousse Cakes
Even though I am very terrible at drawing I make sketches of my cake creations that I have in my head. I often have a very clear idea how I want the cakes to look and to taste like. Sometimes I am able to implement my cake ideas that I envision, sometimes I fail miserably and sometimes it takes a few attempts. The following recipe took me a few attempts until it corresponded my cake idea.
May I present you my latest cake creation which consists of a white chocolate mousse, a raspberry mousse core and a pistachio sponge cake bottom? Just looking at the cake makes me so incredible happy and hungry at the same time. If heaven exists, than this cake is heaven. 

NOTES:

Pistachio paste

I am relatively new at using pistacchio paste. I ordered a little jar of pistachio paste. My first impression of pistchio paste was very dissilusionting. I made two batches of pistachio sponge cake and I was not impressed at all. It tasted very atifical to me. I assumed that it was 100 % pistacchios paste that I ordered but a closer look taught me that I was wrong. Other ingredients, such as vanilla flavouring, was added to the paste. This was probably the reason why I found the pistachio flavouring artifical. I decided to make my own pistachio paste and I cannot tell you what big difference it makes. Make sure that you use a 100 % pistachio paste when purchasing and if you have the possibility (a powerful food processor) make your own paste.

Cake moulds

I used a silicone muffin pan for this recipe (I used the same one for my Passion Fruit Mousse Cake recipe).
The size of each mould is: 7 cm / 2.75 inches in diameter; the height is: 4 cm / 1.5 inches. I used little silicone moulds for the raspberry mousse cores as well. The size of each mould is: 2.5 cm / 1 inch in diameter; the height is 2.5 cm / 1 inch.





 Makes 6 cakes (7 cm / 2.75 inches), *see my notes above

Raspberry Mousse

  • 25 ml / 2 tablespoons milk
  • 15 g egg yolk (medium sized egg)
  • 5 g / 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 35 g raspberry purée
  • 1 g gelatin, soaked or 1/3 teaspoon gelatin powder
  • 35 g / 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • Pour the milk into a small saucepan and bring it almost to a boil. Set aside. 
  • Mix egg yolk and sugar. Slowly pour the milk to the egg yolk mixture and stir. Pour the mixture back to the saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat - whisk continuously - until it starts thickening. Remove from the heat; add the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Add raspberry puree and mix well. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. 
  • In the meantime whisk the heavy cream until creamy. Fold the whipped cream to the raspberry mixture. 
  • Pour the raspberry mousse into six small moulds and freeze the moulds for at least 1 1/2 hours. 

Pistachio Almond Sponge Cake

  • 2 eggs (medium size)
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 45 g / 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 10 g / 1/2 tablespoon pistachio paste
  • 25 g / 4 tablespoons almond flour
  • 20 g / 2 tablespoons pastry flour, sifted
  • Preheat the oven to 190 °C / 375 °F. 
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
  • Add egg, egg yolk and 25 g / 2 tablespoons granulated sugar to a bowl and whisk until fluffy (it takes about 3 to 4 minutes) and doubled in volume.
  • Add pistachio paste, almond flour and pastry flour and mix until all ingredients are well combined. 
  • Whisk egg white and a pinch of salt until it is almost stiff. Add little by little the remaining granulated sugar (20 g / 2 tablespoons) and whisk until the egg white is stiff. 
  • Fold in the egg white into the mixture. 
  • Spread the sponge cake batter onto the baking sheet (25 cm x 25 cm / 10 inches x 10 inches).
  • Bake the sponge cake for 5 to 7 minutes. 
  • Let the sponge cake cool completely. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter. Cut out the circles which are 2 cm / 0.8 inch smaller than the diameter of the moulds. 

White Chocolate Mousse

  • 55 ml / 1/4 cup milk
  • 15 g egg yolk (medium sized egg)
  • 5 g / 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 3 g gelatin sheets, soaked or 1 teaspoon gelatin powder
  • 115 g / 4 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
  • 155 g / 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • Pour the milk into a small saucepan and bring it almost to a boil. Set aside.
  • Mix egg yolk and sugar well. Pour the hot milk to the mixture and stir. Pour the milk mixture back to the saucepan. Over medium heat, stir continuously, until the mixture starts thickening. Immediately remove from the heat. Add the gelatin and mix until the gelatin is completely dissolved. 
  • Place the finely chopped chocolate into a medium sized bowl. Pour the hot milk mixture over the white chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. 
  • Whisk the heavy cream until creamy (not stiff!). 
  • When the chocolate mixture has reached room temperature (otherwise the whipped cream will melt) fold in the whipped cream. 

Assembling

  • 6 fresh raspberries
  • 1 tablespoon raspberry jam (without seeds)
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
  • Fill the moulds half full with the white chocolate mousse. 
  • Unmould the raspberry mousse cores. Gently press the cores into the mousse. Fill the moulds with the rest of the white chocolate mousse. Place the pistachio circle on top of each cake. Gently press the circle into the mousse, so it is the same level as the mousse. 
  • Freeze the cakes for at least 6 hours or overnight. 
  • Take the frozen mousse cakes out of the freezer; unmould the mousse cakes. 
  • Decorate the cakes. Cut the raspberries into halves and place two raspberry halves on each mousse cake. Add a dollop of raspberry jam on top of each raspberry half. Sprinkle each cake with chopped pistachios.