Happy Birthday Kien Min!

This is the first time I am trying out a mousse layer cake.   It is for Kien Min, our good trusty friend who turned 30 on 1st April!  HAPPY BURPDAY! 

I have always love the lightness yet not coy texture of mousse compare to a straight buttercream.   The tricky part of this cake is the gelatine used to set the mousse.  I researched different recipes on the net.   Too little gelatine, your mousse won't set properly, too much, you get a solid piece of rubbery gel.   hmmm....but I love such challenges! 

I thought and thought - what would be the best flavour of the mousse.  My colleague mentioned that how she love the fragrant sweet smell of passion fruit.  That the smell lingers long on her fingers after she had the fruit.. and that settles it!  What better way to flavour your first mousse cake other than the delicious passion fruit.  Thanks CPY for sponsoring the fruits too!

Let's get down to work!

First, get the layer cake done.  This is the most well behaved cake.  All flat and baked just right, not one bit overdried! 

Look how fine the crumbs were.  I can imagine how nice the texture feels in my mouth already!

Next, up the passion fruit mousse.  Somehow the intense yellow of the passion fruit don't quite show through.  The passion fruit puree was mixed into the egg whites first, then incorporated into stiff whipped cream.   For 3 cups of mousse, I experimented with 2 tbsp of gelatine.  Hope this works!

I used a springform pan to hold up all 3 layers of cake alternating with layers of mousse.  It stands tall.  The sides is not smooth.  I do not have enough mousse to fill the sides, unfortunately.

Look how nice it is when the layers are cut.  The sponge cake is delicately soft and moist with the gelatine holds up the mousse rather well!

I would do a few things different next time.  I would probably trim an inch off each cake layers and encased the whole cake in mousse.  I am already excited!