Mango Mousse Cake

This cake was made for my friend's birthday last weekend. What is special about this dog??? This dog is her favourite TVB actor's (Ruco Chan) dog (Boa Boa). She said she wants a mango mousse cake. And I know most of us (adult) do not like too much buttercream or cake with fondant. I decided to order an printed icing sheet to put on top of the cake. This printed icing sheet costs $10 to order. But my friend is so surprised about this cake. She doesn't know there is an icing sheet servie that can print any photos she wants to put on cakes or cup cakes. This icing sheet is 8". And my cake is 10" to serve ~ 20 people. Therefore, I applied buttercream on the rim for decoration as well as to apply the icing sheet to the cake. It is better not to use this icing sheet on whipped cream cake as it will sweat! None of us want to see that happened.

Mango Mousse Cake

Yield: 14 Servings

Cake (10”)
1/2 c Sifted cake flour
1/8 ts Baking powder
1/8 ts Salt
2 lg Eggs, separated (room temp)
1 ts Vanilla extract
1/4 c Sugar, divided

Mousse
2 Envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 c Water
4 lg To 5 ripe mangos (1 lb each)
1 c Confectioners' sugar divided
2 ts Vanilla extract
2 c Heavy cream
1/4 c Sour cream (I did not use sour cream this time, I just add 1/4c more of cream to it)

Make sponge cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter bottom and side of a 10-inch springform cake pan. Line bottom of the pan with a circle of baking parchment or waxed paper. Dust side of the pan with flour and tap out excess.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder & salt. Sift flour mixture onto a piece of waxed paper. In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer set at high speed, beat egg yolks and 2 tb of granulated sugar for 4 to 6 minutes, until batter is pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon. Beat in vanilla.

Beat egg whites at low speed until frothy. Gradually increase speed to high and continue beating soft peaks start to form. One ts at a time, gradually add remaining 2 tb of sugar and continue beating whites until they form stiff, shiny peaks.

Scrape 1/3 of whites on top of beaten egg yolks. Resift 1/3 of flour mixture over whites & fold flour mixture and egg whites into egg yolk mixture, making sure to free any flour that may be clinging to side of the bowl. One-third at a time, gently fold in remaining whites with 1/3 of resifted flour mixture. Do not overfold. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake cake for 8 to 12 minutes, until center springs back when gently touched.Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan & cool completely.

Make the mango mousse:

Put water in a small heatproof cup. Sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand for 5 minutes to soften. Place cup with softened gelatin in a saucepan with enough water to come halfway up side of cup. Heat gelatin mixture in hot, not simmering water.
Stir gelatin mixture frequently for 2 to 3 minutes, until gelatin granules dissolve completely and mixture is clear. Remove pan from heat. Leave cup containing gelatin mixture in hot water to keep gelatin warm until ready to use.

Peel mangos and cut fruit away from pit. Cut fruit into large chunks. Save 1 cup of mango chunks aside for later use. For remaining mango, combine half of mango chunks with 1/2 cup of sugar in bowl of a food processor. Process mangos for 40 to 60 seconds, until pureed.

Transfer pureed mangos to a large saucepan. Repeat with remaining mangos and 1/2 cup of sugar. Cook the mango mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until warm. Remove saucepan from the heat. Add the gelatin mixture and vanilla and whisk until blended. Transfer mango mixture to a large bowl and cool to room temperature.

In a chilled large bowl, beat the heavy cream and sour cream until mixture forms soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream into mango mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Add the saved 1 cup of mango chunks to the mousse mixture. Stir to combine.

Assemble cake:
Divided cake into 2 pieces.
Trim the cake to 9" cake. Place cake in middle of springform pan
Place bottom layer with cake. Pour half of the mango mousse to fill the 1" space between the 10" pan and 9" cake first. Then fill the entire layer. Smooth into even layer.

Place the other half of the cake in middle of pan on top of mango mousse.

Pour the remaining mango cream batter. Also remember to fill the outside 1" rim between the pan and the cake. Then pour the entire layer. Scrap mango mousse over cake layer and smooth it into an even layer.

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Unmold cake: Using a portable blow dryer or damp very hot towel, carefully heat outside of springform pan until edge of mousse melts slightly. Release clamp on side of springform pan and gently lift it up and remove it from around side of the cake. Defrost cake in refrigerator for at least 3 hours, until ready to decorate.