A little Monday treat
This was from New Year’s Eve 2017, a symphony of sour and sweet, consisting of a biscuit base, lemon mousse and mirror glaze, decorated with lemon pearls.
LEMON SYMPHONY
6 SERVINGS.
LEMON MOUSSE:
1½ SHEETS OF GELATIN LEAVES
50 G LEMON JUICE
125 G DOUBLE CREAM
SEEDS OF ½ VANILLA POD
15 G PAST. EGG WHITES
30 G PAST. EGG YOLKS
50 G ICING SUGAR
Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for 10 minutes.
Heat the lemon juice and melt the gelatin therein.
Pour the lemon juice into a bowl, let it cool down to 37 degrees celsius.
Whip the cream and vanilla seed to soft peaks. Do not whip too much, otherwise there can be lumps of whipped cream in the lemon mousse.
Whisk egg whites, yolks and icing sugar light and creamy.
Add 1/3 of the egg cream to the cooled lemon juice and mix them with a rubber spatula.
Pour the lemon mixture into the rest of the egg cream and fold it in without knocking too much air out.
Fold the whipped cream into the lemon cream a little at a time with the spatula.
Fill the lemon mousse into 6 rectangular silicone shapes, 3x8cm, and place them in the freezer with cling film over it, until the mousse is frozen. Preferably overnight.
BISCUIT BASE:
65 G ICING SUGAR
SEEDS OF ½ VANILLA POD
115 G SOFTENED BUTTER
150 G FLOUR
25G CHOPPED DARK CHOCOLATE
Mix vanilla and flour in a bowl.
Add flour.
Knead in the butter.
Add the chocolate and shape the dough to a ball without over kneading it as the chocolate otherwise melts.
Roll the dough flat to a thickness of 3-4 mm. Wrap it in cling film and put the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Bake the base on a baking sheet lined with baking paper in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the surface is golden brown and it feels firm.
Allow the base to cool completely, before cutting it into 3×8 cm rectangles.
GLAZE:
6 SHEETS OF GELATIN LEAVES
150 G SUGAR
90 G WATER
150 G GLUCOSE SYRUP
100 G CONDENSED MILK
150 G WHITE CHOCOLATE
GOLDEN YELLOW FOOD COLOUR
Soak the gelatin in ice cold water for 10 minutes.
Add sugar, water and glucose syrup to a saucepan and cook until the sugar dissolves.
Take the saucepan off the heat and stir the soaked gelatin (excess water squeezed out) and condensed milk into the mixture.
Chop the white chocolate finely and put it in a bowl. Pour the hot sugar syrup over and stir very carefully with a spatula, while the chocolate melts. Carefully, so that air bubbles do not form in the glaze.
Pour the glaze into a tall glass and add colour.
Slowly put a handheld blender, held at an angle, into the glaze and blend for a couple of minutes. As much as possible, keep the blender still, so that no air enters the glaze.
Let the glaze cool down until it is approx. 35 degrees celsius.
ASSEMBLY :
Remove the frozen mousse from the freezer. Gently push them out of the moulds.
Put them on a rack with a baking tray underneath, place a piece of baking paper or cling film on the bottom to catch excess glaze.
Pour the glaze over the frozen cakes in calm movements till everything is covered.
Leave the mousses for a couple of minutes, then trim the bottom edge with a sharp knife, so they get a nice finish.
Gently move the cakes with a cake spatula and place them on the cut biscuits bases.
Place the cakes in the fridge and let the mousse thaw for a couple of hours, before arranging them on the serving plates.
DECORATION:
EDIBLE SILVER DUST
LEMON PEARLS
Dip a brush in a little silver dust and flick it over the cake.
Finally decorate with lemon pearls.