Spumoni Mousse Cake

Okay. Calling this cake is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, it’s cake-shaped with stacked layers made for slicing and it’s even frosted, but there’s nary a crumb to speak of.  It’s 100% mousse, in cherry chip and pistachio flavors, surrounded by vanilla whipped cream – my take on spumoni.

The trio of cherry, pistachio and vanilla flavors were the primary inspiration for this cake dessert, but I also find myself preternaturally drawn to this color palette.  Remember these? Yeah. This cake and those mallow cones need to get together and have a party.

Tart server from Leif; Ice cream spoons from Hey YoYo.

Since this cake was inspired by its ice cream counterpart, I decided to try it as a frozen dessert – and it’s delicious as such. I could see this served  at a summertime gathering in place of a typical ice cream cake. After the half-slice I tested as a frozen dessert had sat on the counter and thawed somewhat, I tried it again. It’s just as delicious at room temperature, and much softer with a true airy mousse texture.

I found that using instant pistachio pudding to flavor the top layer created a pretty green hue, and the flavor is easily recognizable. It also has just the right amount of ground pistachios in the mix to keep the mousse texture nice and smooth. If you don’t have access to instant pistachio pudding, you may omit the pudding from the recipe, add a handful of ground pistachios and use pistachio flavoring.

The cherry layer is my favorite because, well, I’m just a cherry lovin’ girl. There’s something so wonderful about getting a bite filled with cherry chips. It tastes like happy.

Spumoni Mousse Cake

[click for printable version]

Yield: one 7 or 8-inch cake; about 12 servings

Source: SprinkleBakes original recipe, icing technique inspired by Sweetapolita

Prep: 1 hour 15 minutes plus 4-5 hours chilling time

Cherry Layer	Pistachio Layer
1/4 oz. package of powdered gelatin	1 tsp. powdered gelatin
2 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice	2 tbsp. cold water
3 egg yolks	1 1/2 tablespoons egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar	1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk or half and half	1/4 cup whole milk or half and half
8 oz. high quality white chocolate, chopped	4 oz. high quality white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp. almond extract or 1/4 tsp. almond oil	3 tablespoons instant pistachio pudding
Few drops of pink food coloring	Drop of green food coloring (if desired)
24 maraschino cherries, chopped into “chips”	–
1 1/2 cups whipping cream	1 cup heavy whipping cream

 For the cherry layer

1. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of two 7 or 8-inch
   spring form pans. Line the bottoms with a parchment paper round. Set aside.
2. Place the 2 tbsp. cherry juice in a medium saucepan and
   sprinkle gelatin over water.  Let stand
   for 1 minute.  Whisk in egg yolks and
   sugar; mix well.  Stir in milk.  Cook over medium heat, whisking
   constantly.  Cook until thickened
   considerably 7-10 minutes. When done, it should be thick enough to coat the
   back of a spoon.   Stir in chopped white
   chocolate and blend with a whisk until chocolate has melted and has an even
   color.  Let cool.
3. When mixture is cooled to just barely warm, whisk in almond
   extract and pink food coloring.  Stir in
   cherry chips.
4. Whip cream until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold whipped cream into the cooled cherry
   mixture until well blended.  Pour into a
   prepared spring-form pan and level the top with a rubber spatula.  Pick up and drop the pan once or twice to
   settle any gaps that may have been created when the mixture was poured.  Place in freezer and freeze until firm.  Wash and dry your saucepan, bowl, spatula,
   whisk and beaters for the next layer.

For the pistachio layer

1. Place the 2 tbsp. water in a medium saucepan and sprinkle
   gelatin over water.  Let stand for 1
   minute.  Whisk in egg yolk and sugar.  Stir in milk. 
   Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Cook until thickened considerably 5-7
   minutes. When done, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.   Stir in chopped white chocolate and blend
   with a whisk until chocolate has melted and has an even color.  Whisk in instant pistachio pudding mix.  Let cool.
2. When mixture is cooled to just barely warm, whisk in a
   drop of green food coloring to intensify the green color, if desired. 
3. Whip cream until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold whipped cream into the cooled pistachio
   mixture until well blended.  Pour into the
   remaining prepared spring-form pan and level the top with a rubber
   spatula.  Pick up and drop the pan once
   or twice to settle any gaps that may have been created when the mixture was
   poured.  Place in freezer and freeze
   until firm.

Vanilla whipped cream and assembly

1 1/2 cups heavy cream  

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. clear vanilla extract

Pink food coloring

12 whole maraschino cherries, rinsed and patted dry

1. Remove pans of mousse from the freezer. Use a dish towel
   soaked in hot water then wrung dry to warm the outside of the spring-form
   collars and then gently unlatch and remove the collars. Turn the cherry layer
   onto a serving platter or cake stand and peel off the parchment round.  Stack the pistachio layer on top of the
   cherry layer and press down until layers are even.  If you have gaps between the layers, use an off-set
   spatula to smooth the two layers together. 
   Peel off parchment circle.
2. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form, and then
   gradually add the sugar. Add in the vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form.  Frost the upper half of the mousse cake white
   whipped cream; avoid frosting the top – we want the pretty green color of the
   pistachio mousse to show.  Tint the
   remaining whipped cream pink and frost the lower portion with the pink whipped cream.
   Use one large spatula to smooth the two colors together on the sides of the
   cake.  Transfer remaining pink whipped
   cream to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.  Pipe 12 pink whipped cream florets on the top
   outer edge of the cake.  Place a cherry
   in the center of each floret.  Store cake
   in the freezer.  Slice into pieces while
   still partially frozen.  Serve frozen or
   let slices come to room temperature – it’s delicious both ways!