A few weeks ago we had a family get-together at my parents’ house and of course, I offered to bring dessert! I had seen a picture online of a lemon mousse cake that alternated layers of lemon mousse with lemon sponge cake and was topped with a thin layer of jello. The idea intrigued me. I had previously done a Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Blackberry Filling for my birthday and loved that flavour combination so I wanted to do the same combination as a mousse cake.
After some searching around for ideas, I found a Mango Raspberry Mousse Cake from Home Cooking Adventures that was a great jumping-off point. It featured a pistachio sponge cake that was topped with a layer of pistachios in white chocolate for added crunch then a layer of raspberry mousse, a layer of mango mousse and finally a layer of raspberry jelly. It looked pretty and sounded delicious. I may go back and make that particular flavour combination sometime, but for this occasion, I wanted blackberry and lemon.
Changing the raspberry layers to blackberry was quite easy although I did modify the amount of blackberries and sugar slightly. Instead of the mango mousse, I made my standard Lemon Curd then mixed in some gelatin and added it to whipped cream. For the top jelly layer, I doubled what the original recipe said as some of the feedback on the recipe was that there wasn’t enough to cover the cake. It worked out perfectly!
To finish, I topped the cake with some fresh blackberries, slices of lemon, some pistachios and some meringue kisses.
Pistachios are quite expensive, but the taste is worth it! If you don’t want to use them, you can easily substitute in almonds.
To make this cake you need a cake ring and some acetate to go around the sides while you are building the cake. They can be easily purchased on Amazon.
This light-tasting mousse cake features a layer of pistachio sponge cake, a pistachio crunch layer, a layer of blackberry mousse, a layer of lemon mousse, and a layer of blackberry jelly. Aside from the sponge cake, this is a no-bake dessert. Recipe adapted from Home Cooking Adventures.
Ingredients
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For the Pistachio Sponge Cake
- For the White Chocolate Pistachio Crunch
- For the Blackberry Mousse
- For the Lemon Mousse
- For the Blackberry Jelly
Instructions
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For the Pistachio Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease an 8-inch (20cm) pan, line with parchment paper and flour the bottom and sides of the pan.
- In a large bowl add eggs and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy and reaches the ribbon stage (meaning that when you lift the whisk over the mixture the batter should fall slowly forming a ribbon that will hold its shape for a few minutes), about 5 minutes.
- Gradually fold in ground pistachio, flour, being careful not to overmix and lose the air you have in your eggs.
- Pour the melted butter over the top of your batter and gently fold to combine, being careful not to overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 15-17 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. For the Blackberry Puree
- Prepare blackberry puree so it has time to cool before preparing the blackberry mousse. Place blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and sieve to remove seeds. Set aside while you prepare the gelatin.
- Dissolve gelatin in 2 tbsp cold water and let it swell for about 5 minutes. Add the gelatine to the warm blackberry puree and stir to dissolve. Let the blackberry mixture cool at room temperature while you prepare the rest. For the Lemon Curd
- Prepare lemon curd so it has time to cool before preparing the lemon mousse. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt in a large metal bowl or the top pot of a double boiler.
- Place over a pot filled with one inch of barely simmering water. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thick and similar in texture to a Hollandaise sauce, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
- Dissolve gelatin in 2 tbsp cold water and let it swell for about 5 minutes. Add the gelatine to the warm lemon curd and stir to dissolve. Let the lemon curd cool at room temperature while you prepare the rest. For the Pistachio Crunch
- Place chocolate and cream into a small microwave-safe and cook in the microwave in 10-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the chocolate is melted. When melted stir in the chopped pistachio. To Assemble
- Line an 8-inch/20 cm cake ring with an acetate sheet and place the ring on the serving platter. Add the pistachio cake. Spread chocolate pistachio over the cake and set aside or refrigerate until you prepare the mousse.
- Next prepare the blackberry mousse: Whip the chilled whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Add the cooled blackberry mixture and mix until well combined. Pour over the set white chocolate layer over the cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Next prepare the lemon mousse: Whip the chilled whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Add the cooled lemon curd and mix until well combined. Pour over the set blackberry mousse layer. Refrigerate for 4 hours or freeze for 2 hours to set completely. For the Blackberry Jelly
- Place the blackberries and sugar in a small saucepan and place over medium heat, bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and sieve to remove seeds. Set aside while you prepare the gelatin.
- Dissolve gelatin in 1 tbsp cold water and let it swell for about 5 minutes. Add the gelatine over the warm raspberry sauce and stir to dissolve. Let the raspberry mixture cool at room temperature and pour over the lemon mousse. Let set for 2 hours in the fridge
- To finish, decorate with fresh blackberries, pistachio nuts and lemon slices.
That looks fantastic. Being able to see the layers is very effective, and your mirror glaze topping is perfect!
Thanks!