Cheat’s Mirror Glaze Mousse Cakes

by Kate | Nov 5, 2021 | 1 comment

A light and fluffy mousse, secret butterscotch filling and a caramel mirror glaze make these little cakes a showstopping dessert for a special occasion. And the best part? They use two cheat’s shortcuts to make them even easier! 

Cheat’s Mirror Glaze Mousse Cakes 

Makes 10

Velvet Mousse:

2 tsp gelatine powder 

80ml First Choice milk

400ml First Choice Vanilla or Butterscotch Velvet, ice cold and well-chilled

Mirror glaze:

300g soft brown sugar

300ml water

40ml cornflour in 80ml water

300g First Choice Long Life Cream

60ml gelatine dissolved in 120ml water

10 digestive biscuits

100g finely chopped pistachios, to decorate

Method:

To make the mousse: Sprinkle the gelatine powder over the cream and allow it to absorb. 

      ☐ 2 tsp gelatine powder 

      ☐ 80ml First Choice milk

Heat the milk gently in the microwave until the gelatine is melted. Allow to cool.  Whip the First Choice Velvet with a stand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. 

      ☐ 400ml First Choice Vanilla or Butterscotch Velvet, ice-cold and well-chilled

Fold in the cooled milk-gelatine mixture. Spoon the mousse into 10 silicone dome moulds (alternatively you can use a silicone muffin tray). Reserve the leftover mousse (we’ll use this to seal the filling inside later). Freeze. 

To make the glaze:

Place the sugar in a saucepan and slowly let it melt and caramelise. Once dark brown, add the water and whisk. Mix the cornflour and water and add to the butterscotch while whisking. 

      ☐ 300g brown sugar

      ☐ 300ml water

      ☐ 40ml cornflour in 80ml water

Remove from heat. Measure out 120ml of sauce and set it aside. To the rest of the sauce, add the cream and soaked gelatine. Strain and set aside to cool to 27 degrees celsius. 

To assemble:  Remove the semi-frozen mousse from the freezer after 1 hour and use a teaspoon measure to scoop out a cavity in the middle of each mousse. Then fill the cavity with the reserved liquid butterscotch sauce. Top with the remaining mousse and a digestive biscuit and freeze until solid – about 2 hours. 

      ☐ 10 digestive biscuits

Unmould the frozen domes and place them on a cooling rack with a baking sheet underneath. Once the mirror glaze has cooled to 27 degrees celsius, pour it over the frozen domes to cover each one completely. Carefully remove the domes from the rack and using your hands gently press the finely chopped pistachios around the edges.

      ☐ 100g finely chopped pistachios, to decorate

 Allow to defrost at room temperature before serving.

Burnt Honey Creme Caramel

by Kate | Feb 15, 2021 | 0 comments

If you thought you loved creme caramel as-is, you haven’t met this burnt honey version. Why should you be burning your honey? It adds a slight bitter edge which adds delicious contrast to the usually-sweet creme caramel. You’ll never make the classic version EVER again!

Creme caramel is one of my favourite classic desserts – there’s just nothing NOT to love about it. Well, except those sickly sweet versions. You’ve heard me harp on about taking your caramel far enough – to the point of it aaaallllmoooost burning? Well, now I’m here to tell you that you should be burning your honey, too. No, I haven’t lost my mind. Try it, it will change your life! 

HOW TO MAKE BURNT HONEY

Place the honey in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 5–6 minutes or until very dark brown and starting to smoke, 160°C. Remove from heat and carefully add 1 tbsp water, swirling to combine. You can now set it aside and use it for whatever your heart desires! 

WHAT TO DO WITH BURNT HONEY

What CAN’T you do with burnt honey, should be the question! The slight bitterness of burnt honey makes it perfect drizzled over ice cream. I’ve tried it in some of my favourite honey-laden recipes (Honey Cornflake Cookies, Honey Pie and Honey blondies) and it just makes everything it touches better. Trust me. 

Burnt Honey Creme Caramel

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

180g burnt honey (recipe above)

5 large eggs

80g burnt honey (recipe above)

140g caster sugar

15ml vanilla extract

1 tsp fine salt

375ml full cream milk

375ml cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees for fan-forced) and make sure the oven rack is positioned on the lower third of the oven.  Lightly grease a 20cm round cake tin or fluted tart tin. Find a deep roasting tray that your tin will fit into and place it in the oven.  Pour the180g burnt honey into the base of the cake tin and set aside.  Combine the eggs, burnt honey, sugar, vanilla extract and fine salt. Gently heat up the milk and cream in a small pot over medium heat until it just starts to boil. Immediately remove from the heat. While whisking, gradually pour the milk/cream mix into the egg mixture. Strain the mixture into a pouring jug and pour it into the prepared mould.  Place the creme caramel in the roasting tray in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the tray to reach halfway up the sides of the tin.  Bake for 25 minutes or until just set with a slight wobble in the middle. It should look like jelly! Allow to cool before refrigerating for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight. When you’re ready to serve, run a thin knife along the edges of the moulds and invert onto a plate. The caramels will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

DOWNLOAD OR PRINT THE RECIPE CARD HERE:

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Roasted Strawberries

by Kate | Feb 4, 2021 | 0 comments

Setting panna cotta in jars helps take away the stress of unmoulding – especially when you’re entertaining! Serve the panna cottas with the roasted strawberries on the side and allow guests to top their own. A sprinkling of shortbread or some crumbled meringues would also be a delicious addition. 

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Roasted Strawberries

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

Roasted Strawberries:

400g ripe strawberries, rinsed and hulled plus extra for garnish

Panna Cotta:

200ml full cream milk

40g The Kate Tin White baking chocolate drops

40g Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

300ml cream

3 (6g) gelatine leaves, soaked 

Mint leaves, for garnishing

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Halve some of the strawberries and leave the rest whole. Place the strawberries on a lined baking tray and roast for 20 minutes or until they are sticky and jammy. Set aside to cool completely. To make the panna cotta, gently heat the milk to just below boiling point, then stir in the white chocolate, sugar and vanilla until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in cream and softened gelatin leaves.   In resealable jars, spoon in 2 tbsp of the roasted strawberries (reserving some for the top) and pour the panna cotta over. Place in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Top the panna cotta with some fresh and roasted strawberries and mint leaves.

DOWNLOAD/PRINT THE RECIPE CARD HERE:

Limoncello Raspberry Mousse Cake ⁠

by Kate | Dec 16, 2020 | 0 comments

With its crown of savoiardi biscuits containing a velvety white chocolate mousse spiked with limoncello and a pretty glistening raspberry jelly on top, this is the festive showstopper your Christmas table needs! 

LIMONCELLO RASPBERRY MOUSSE CAKE

Serves 10-12

Difficulty level: INTERMEDIATE

Time until I can eat it: 3 hours

2  x 200g packets lady fingers or savoiardi biscuits, crushed

150g salted butter, melted

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

240g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate Drops

30g salted butter

310ml milk

3 large egg yolks

35g white sugar

15g cornstarch

2 gelatine leaves or 1 tsp gelatine powder  softened in 45ml water

250ml whipping cream

60ml limoncello or lemon juice

Zest of 2 lemons

RASPBERRY JELLY 

4 (2g) gelatine leaves or 2 tsp gelatine powder soaked in 45 ml water

60ml (¼ cup) water

300g frozen raspberries

55g (¼ cup) castor sugar

pinch of tartaric acid

250g fresh raspberries, to garnish

For the crust, combine the crushed biscuits and 150g melted butter and press ⅔ of the mix into the base of a 20cm springform cake tin. Trim about 1cm off 1 end of the remaining ladyfingers to give them a base. Place them cut side down in the tin, around the cake base. Press the remaining crushed biscuit mix up the sides of the ladyfingers to fill in the gaps (this is to make sure the mousse and jelly don’t seep out). Refrigerate until set.

For the limoncello mousse, place the white chocolate and 30g butter into a large bowl. Place a fine-mesh sieve over the top and set aside. In a saucepan over medium, heat the milk to just below a simmer. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch together. Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the liquid to the saucepan and continue to whisk over medium heat until a thick glossy custard forms.

Remove from the heat and stir in the softened gelatine. Strain the custard mixture over the white chocolate and butter. Whisk together until melted completely. Cool to room temperature. In a stand mixer, whip the cream until soft peak stage. Fold into the cooled chocolate mixture with the limoncello and lemon zest. Pour the mousse over the biscuit base and even the top using a small pallet knife. Return to the fridge to set while you make the jelly.

For the jelly, soak the 4 (2g) gelatine leaves in a bowl of ice water.  In a medium pot over high heat, combine the berries, water, 55g castor sugar and tartaric acid. Leave to cook, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the raspberries have softened. Remove from heat. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine leaves and stir into the hot berry mixture. Stir until the gelatine has melted and is completely combined. Set aside to cool completely. Pour the cooled jelly over the set mousse and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

To serve, unmould the mousse cake carefully and garnish with the fresh raspberries.

DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLE PDF RECIPE CARD HERE: