Chestnut mousse cake with sour cherries dipped in caramel - and my new portfolio

I don’t know what the weather is like this summer in your country, but here in Hungary it is so cold sometimes that at some places even the heating is on, and then, two days later, we have the dog days of the summer when no one can exist without air conditioning or water and beach. I prepared this cake on a rainy, cold summer day, but of course when I wanted to post it on my blog, the temperature was again extreme hot.

And if you have a moment please take a look at my new portfilio page. We work a lot with it! But I hope you like it. 

Chestnut mousse cake with sour cherries dipped in caramel

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon sponge cake (based on Sütibox’s recipe):

- 225 g soft butter

- 225 g sugar

- 3 eggs

- 225 g flour

- 2,5 tsp. baking soda

- 1 tbsp. cinnamon

- 150 g sour cream

- pinch of salt

For the walnut praline (based on Praliné Paradicsom’s recipe):

- 200 g walnut

- 160 g sugar

For the chestnut mousse with rum:

- 5 g leaf gelatine

- 200 ml milk

- 2 tbsp. rum

- 750 g sweetened chestnut purée, at room temperature

- 350 g whipping cream

- 2 tbsp. confectioner’s sugar

For the whipped cream:

- 150 ml whipping cream

- 1 flat tbsp. confectioner’s sugar

For decoration:

- cocoa powder

- sugar

- sour cherries

Preparation:

1. For the cinnamon sponge cake mix the butter and the sugar until fluffy, then add the eggs one by one. Sift the flour, baking soda and the cinnamon, mix them well and add to the butter & egg cream. Stir the sour cream and the salt into the dough, as well. Pour the dough into a buttered spring form pan sprinkled with flour and bake it in the oven preheated to 180°C for approximately 25 minutes. Remove the sides and the base of the spring form pan and let the cake cool down to room temperature on a cooling rack. Wash the spring form pan and place back the cake into the pan.

2. For the praline toast the walnuts and spread them on a piece of baking paper. Caramelise the sugar, then stir in the walnuts, and let it cool again on a piece of baking paper. Then blend the caramelised walnuts in a food processor until it has a smooth and paste-like consistency.

3. For the mousse soak the leaf gelatine in cold water for 3-4 minutes. Heat up the milk with the rum, remove it from the stove and dissolve the leaf gelatine in it. Mix the milk and the chestnut purée until creamy. Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar until soft peaks form, and then stir it to the chestnut cream.

4. For the whipped cream whip the cream with the sugar. Put it in the fridge.

5. For the decoration caramelise sugar, dip the sour cherries in it, and let the caramel layer harden on a piece of baking paper.

6. Spread the walnut praline, then the chestnut mousse on the sponge cake. Place the cake in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Finally remove the sides of the spring form pan and decorate the cake with the whipped cream, cocoa powder and the sour cherries dipped in caramel.