Pumpkin Mousse Cake

The last cake I made was in spring and with the autumn here, I am eager to try my hands on it again. Not that I have any preference to which type of baked goods but making a cake is more of a feat to me and I don't have many people to share an 8 inch round cake and Curry is more of a buttery tart and pie person and of course Missy E wishes she can eat all the cakes in the world but overeating one is never a good idea.

I am a big fan of all type squash and I grew up with it when my mum would fry it soft but not mushy with the dried shrimps and garlic. The most similar type of squash in taste and texture that I get here is the butternut squash and I cook it the same way. However, Curry is the opposite who thinks pumpkins and squash are a bit mushy for his palate and I think most men do too. I would love to bake a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving but first I have to make him practise eating this pumpkin mousse cake first!

As I have no idea on how to really cut up a whole pumpkin and wouldn't want to do it, I used canned pumpkin for this mousse cake. Straight out from the can, it tasted like a pumpkin, earthy and heavy but not sweet. For 1 cup of this mashed pumpkin, I added 1/2 cup of sugar. As I am a die hard fan of all things mini and cute, I used a mini heart shaped pan which has 12 sections with detachable bottoms, which is a must for mousse cakes. I guess I would have to use the whole can of pumpkin if I was to make a usual size cake. But for a start, I will do it small. Alot of work but worth it.

For the base, I made an ordinary genoise cake. Perhaps this is the first time I got to beat the eggs to triple the volume with the KitchenAid mixer, the sponge really baked beautifully. Initially I wanted to put some red streaks coloring into the sponge cake itself to reflect the autumn color but I forgot about it once the batter was already in the oven. The addition of jellied lingonberry jam was an afterthought and luckily, it turned out nice. As the mini pans were small, approximately 3 inches each if not less, it was quite difficult to estimate on how much batter should I scoop into each. I filled each to 1/2 full and true that the beating of the eggs was very successful this time, the sponge cake rose high and mighty during the baking! So I had to do the extra work of releasing each and every one to cut the sizes to 1/2 as to make space for the pumpkin mousse which is to fill the top part.

I added some gelatin to the red jam and spread a thin layer on each of the sponge cake. The Pumpkin mousse was made by first cooking the mashed pumpkin with the sugar till dissolved and gelatin was added immediately and the mixture left to cool to room temperature. I omitted the addition of the usual nutmeg as I don't like the smell it gives to pumpkin pies. I whipped up 1 cup of heavy cream and slowly folded it into the pumpkin mixture. With a zip lock bag, I piped the pumpkin mousse into the 12 sections of sponge cake and tap the pan to release any air pockets and the mousse levels itself without the need of further manual spreading. Then, I just let them stabilize and set in the refrigerator for 2 hours. This cake can be served cold straight out of the refrigerator and the mousse will be firmer then. If served at room temperature, you will feel the creaminess of the pumpkin mousse and the sponge base is softer. I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top before serving. Perhaps there was no eggs added to the mousse, it is not custardy smooth on the appearance. But that is pumpkin and squash to me, wild and rugged from the fields and robust in taste on the plate. Curry had one and so far, no comment yet but at least he gobbled one up less than 30 seconds. Pumpkin pie.... I will have a chance!