With a little bit of cunning, you can place this surprise of a cake on the table and watch the guests brighten up with childish joy, when they see what is inside. Make the cake the day before, so you don’t have to rush it and the flavours can meld together.

DANISH FLAG CAKE WITH BUTTERMILK MOUSSE
12-14 SERVINGS

MOUSSE:
5 SHEETS GELATINE
60 G LEMON JUICE
80 G ICING SUGAR
SEEDS OF 1 VANILLA POD
250 G HEAVY CREAM 38%
300 G BUTTERMILK

Start with the mousse so that it can reach itself before use.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for a minimum of 10 min.

Heat the lemon juice up to the boiling point.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and melt it in the lemon juice. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let the juice cool down to just a bit cooler than your little finger.

Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a knife.

Whisk then cream, vanilla seeds and icing sugar to soft peaks.

Pour the buttermilk into the whipped cream and gently fold it in

Finally, add the lemon gelatine in a thin stream while gently stirring with a rubber spatula.

Fill a piping bag with the mousse and place it in the fridge, while you bake the cake.

LEMON MOON SPONGES:
130 G SUGAR
80 G MARZIPAN, GRATED
150 G VERY SOFT BUTTER
3 M/L EGG
1 TSP. BAKING SODA
1 TSP. BAKING POWDER
1½ TSP. VANILLA SUGAR
150 G FLOUR
100 G LEMON JUICE (ABOUT 3 SMALL ORGANIC LEMONS)
GRATED ZEST OF 3 ORGANIC LEMONS
1 TSP. RED FOOD GEL COLOR

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius.

Line a 20 cm springform with baking paper and brush the bottom and sides with butter.

Whisk sugar, marzipan and butter soft and creamy.

Add the eggs, one at a time and whisk thoroughly between each.

Stir in baking soda, baking powder, vanilla sugar and flour.

Add lemon zest and lemon juice and whisk it well together.

Remove a large teaspoon of batter and mix it with the color in a small bowl, thus avoiding lumps of red color in the rest of the batter. Mix the colored batter back into the uncoloured.

Pour the batter into the spring mold and smooth out the surface.

Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, when you stick in the middle of the cake.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the mould.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE:

Remove the cooled cake from of the mould and cut it the domed top off to make it completely level.

Cut the cake in the middle so you have two layers like an ordinary. birthday cake.

Take a piece of paper and cut two circles of 10 cm and 12 cm in diameter. They are the templates. If you have cake rings in the sizes then use them.

Place the bottom layer on the dish the finished cake is to be served on. First place the 12 cm paper circle at the center of the bottom and cut along the edge. Repeat with the 10 cm circle. Now there should be a groove of approx. 2 cm cake to be removed in between.

Repeat with the top layer on a cutting board.

Place the edge of the spring mould around the bottom layer, preferably with some cut and washed cake plastic, so it is easier to remove the mould again later. Tighten the shape to completely enclose the cake base.

Cut a hole at tip of the bag with the mousse. First pipe the mousse into the groove, so that it is full.

Then pipe an even layer of mousse all over the bottom layer.

Now gently take the outer circle of the top layer and place it close to the sides of the mould on top of the mousse. Don’t panic if the circle breaks, then just put the pieces as close together as possible.

Place the inner circle in the middle and fill the groove with mousse.

The rest of the mousse is distributed over the top and smoothed out with the back of a hot spoon (rinse it under running hot water, then it is easier).

Refridgerate the cake for a couple of hours until the mousse has set completely and it is ready for decoration.

GANACHE:
140 G FINELY CHOPPED WHITE CHOCOLATE
100 G HEAVY CREAM 38%

Heat the cream to the boiling point.

Pour over the finely chopped chocolate and leave for 30 seconds.

Mix it together into a smooth, shiny ganache.

Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature before whipping it to a soft cream.

Remove the mould and plastic around the cake.

Put the cream in a piping bag and decorate the sides of the cake. Refridgerate the cake until it is served.

DECORATION:
250 G FRESH STRAWBERRIES
LEMON BALM
RASPBERRY SYRUP
LIQUOR EGGS, JUST FOR FUN

This is done just before serving.

Wash and cut strawberries out for decoration, the cut side can be brushed with a slightly warmed raspberry syrup so that they do not dry out.

Arrange strawberries, lemon balm and liqueur eggs on the cake.