The birthday girl (the one on the left in the picture below) has been my friend since we were in the second and third grade respectively. I love her to death and I thought an awesome cake would be fitting for her belated birthday present. Obviously from the picture below, she couldn't wait to eat the cake. Can't you detect the beast emerging from her otherwise sweet and lovely self? Even her mouth is open and ready to destroy that cake! This was my first attempt at making a mousse so I was a bit hesitant to present it to her (especially since I hadn't tasted the finished product) but I had faith that all would be well. Things always seem to pan out magically when she's involved.
Once I cut the cake there was no time to explain what it was exactly to her since she was already eating it. But I concluded that I could just do that on this blog. Makes sense right?
The cake itself was a chiffon cake recipe that I adapted a little by changing it to a chocolate chiffon cake. I was generally pleased with the texture and taste of the cake, but there are some things I would want to change the next time I make it. The chocolate flavor in the cake was settle and not overpowering, making it easier to eat more than one slice (to our own demise), but I want to increase the depth in flavor the next time I make it. Perhaps I'll play with different flavor combinations so there will be a little hint of something special left on your tongue after the initial bite. I did brush the cake with a coffee syrup, but it was hard to detect the flavor and it didn't accomplish what I originally wanted it to. I'll definitely keep working on this cake though. The texture is soft enough to easily match it with any type of frosting and it matched very well with the light mousse.
I was very excited about using the mousse as the filling between the two cake layers since I knew that the texture would compliment the cake nicely. The richness of the mousse added just the right amount of punch to bring a smile to your face and the urge to lick the plate and fork clean. What I liked the most about the mousse was the fact that it wasn't overpowering. The only thing I would perhaps try to improve on the next time I make it is the technique. My technique and comfort making all these desserts still isn't where I'd like it to be and I think it's affecting the quality of the final product. Definitely something I will try to fix.
That's it for the first post. Hopefully it wasn't that bad. If it weren't so late, I'd go grab a slice of my cake just because it would feel right to eat some of it after finishing a post about it. Don't you think that would be a fitting way to finish this post instead of just clicking the: PUBLISH POST button?
~Mayumi
