Durian Mousse Cake

Many people love durians, myself included. At the restaurant, we have a durian dessert which I had helped created,  using our in house home-made ice cream. I love that and had long wanted to make a durian mousse cake, which would resemble an ice-cream cake of sort, if served frozen.

Opportunity came last week, when I had to prepare a cake as dessert for my brother's housewarming reception for forty over people. As it was buffet style, I did one 10 inch tray and a 7 inch round for two separate group of guests.

Durian Mousse Cake - I finally tried making this in my kitchen, 2 cakes at one go due to the large no. of guests invited by my brother.

The cakes were made thinner than my usual, to be served buffet style and decorated simply with meringue rosettes which was then torched lightly.

The cakes' texture turn out pretty good, but a tad too sweet and the taste a little on the light side. This surprised me as I thought durian should taste stronger than other fruits. As I found out from this attempt, durain may smell really strong, but when it comes to making dessert with them, it would be good to increase its ratio higher for better taste, while amount of sweetness lower, to compensate for the fruit's natural sweetness. Will definitely attempt this again as durian is one of my all time favourite fruit!

Madeleines

These French petit fours were baked as a last minute gift, just before I met an ex-colleague for lunch. Ever since we had arranged to meet 2 weeks before, I knew I wanted to bake her and her family something. Somehow, work and projects got in the way and I didn't really plan ahead.

Most cakes would have to be prepared minimum a day before. However, as I got home from work the night before, I was too tired to do anything. The next morning when I woke up, 3 hours before I was to leave my home to meet K, I was contemplating to give up the idea or to come out with something fast. As I desperately tried to think hard, I suddenly remembered the new silicon madeleines mold I bought. Madeleines shall be it then! They are relatively easy to be prepared and they get baked within 10-15mins.

The recipe from my French chef calls for the batter to be rested in the chiller over night while most other recipes recommends an hour. Here I had only half hour, which is during the time when the oven gets pre-heated while I had my shower! The madelines turned out nice, though looked rather plain looking. Despite the short time I had, I quickly melt down some chocolate, tempered it and coated the edges of every piece from the first batch, while the second batch was still cooling down.

I must say I was very happy with the result, though I had to postpone my appointment by 15mins.

Madelines - they make nice, delicious little gifts. An extra touch of chocolate make the presentation even more special.

As it turned out, I was caught in the rain when I left my home and had to delay my meeting time by a total of 45 minutes. Despite running in the rain with the box of madelines swaying frantically in my hand, the recipients received them in good conditions, to my great relief.

Another thing to note for madelines other than the batter resting time, they tast best when baked on the day itself. To make in advance, cling wrap them airtight after they have cooled down from baking and keep in chillers. Before serving, let defrost completely to room temperature before removing the wrap to prevent condensation collecting on them. They are best served with tea or coffee as the sponge tends to be on the drier side, being a genoise base cake.

Ginkgo Barley Beancurd Dessert

Finally, I had satisfied my craving for this dessert, which I had such a long longing ever since I left my internship at the Chinese restaurant more than a year plus back. Those bought outside just did not make my mark. There are many variations to it's name, depending on which ingredients is listed first, though ginkgo tends to be listed first usually. Perhaps because it is the most expensive and hardest to prepare among the three.

Ginkgo Barley Beancurd Dessert, "白果薏米腐竹糖水". I guess what make's the restaurant version special is the addition of soya milk, which makes the broth richer and more fragrant, the extra oomph, especially for those who love soya like me.

It is actually a very easy dessert, just wash and boil, with the exception of ginkgo nuts, if you are preparing from scratch. It took me almost 4 hours for a half kilo bag, from cracking shells, peeling skin, removing the bitter piths and sugaring them in boiling syrup. As mentioned in my earlier post "Qing Tang", I do not fancy ready bought.



Ginkgo Barley Beancurd Dessert - The way I love it, with lots of ginkgo nuts and a rich fragrant soya broth.


It will be some time away before my craving for this dessert comes again, but I am all prepared for it already, with a stash of sweetened, ready prepared ginkgo nuts in my freezer!

Strawberry Chocolate Mousse Cake

This mousse cake is specially made for one of my aunt who turns 58 this year. I love using strawberries in my cake making and decorating. However, sweet strawberries are not easy to come by. Those available at regular supermarkets may appear red and juicy, but once a bite is taken, the taste is usually disappointing. The gourmet range is a better bet, but not only do they cost a lot more, they are also not readily available. Hence, I like to stock up imported IQF version in my freezer, which make it readily available whenever I need them.

Having said the above, IQF fruits are usually good when making components which uses a puree, or when mixing into your yogurt or ice cream. They are not ideal for decorating as once defrosted, the texture tends to be soft and the fruit tends to weep. The garnishing and decorating still have to depend on fresh ones.

The cake comprised of two layers of chocolate sponge, with strawberry slices and mousse in the centre. The cake is then topped with another layer of mousse, with strawberry slices arranged in a circular pattern on top. Finally, when the mousse is set, a jelly layer is poured on top to embed the strawberries and also to create a nice see through effect.

For personal taste preference, I like to pair this mousse cake with chocolate sponge, rather than vanilla. Like the mango mousse cake in an earlier post, I find some fruits go better with chocolate. These are banana, mango and strawberry.



I simply love the top view of the cake, however, choosing similar sizes and shapes for the strawberries will create some wastage. 



The IQF strawberries gives a nice natural colour to the mousse. 

 


FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011

Addendum:
When I made my aunt's cake, I knew the strawberry wasn't sweet and was more on the sour side. However, I went ahead with it as that was the last box I could get hold of at the supermarket. A week later, I made another exact cake, using the same batch of ingredients, including the strawberries for my brother's house warming.

Yes, I managed to keep the strawberries fresh, despite a week long. All thanks to the new fridge I bought beginning of the year, specially for my baking needs. With right temperature control and careful handling, I had managed to keep most of my ingredients fresh and perishables for longer period. Another factor is that most of our imported fruits are harvested when they are still pretty raw, thus longer shelf life, but unfortunately short in taste.

The mousse, made from the IQF strawberries tasted really good. However, the overall taste of the whole cake was below the notch, due to the sour strawberries slices. I come to conclude, never ever make a cake with strawberries if sweet ones are not available. It really spoils all the effort you've put in, no matter how pretty it looks, or how fragrant it smells.