Mango curd mousse and strawberry cake

You know I love lemons - and I love lemon curd even more. Since I have discovered how to make this  goodie, I've made especially cake recipes containing it maybe a dozen times. For my birthday brunch I made an incredible lemon curd mousse cake (found at epicurious) I really fell in love with. I remembered you could make curd from other fruits too, for example mangos. So why don't make a mango curd mousse cake and pimp it with some strawberry flavour? For a nice look I placed the berries around the edge and slices on top and covered the whole thing with a mango jelly for more mango flavour. I didn't like the looks of the finished cake because some of the jelly was leaking out the springform pan, so make sure to seal everything tight with clingfilm. Next time I'll do better.

Strawberry season is approaching, so I may try a strawberry curd mousse cake soon ...

Mango curd mousse and strawberry cake
adapted from epicurious

Mango Curd

• one large ripe mango (makes about 250 g puree)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons mango juice
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 large egg yolks
• 80 g butter, cut into cubes

Peel the mango and puree the flesh into a food processor. Mix the sugar and the cornstarch in a large saucepan. Gradually add the lemon juice and mango juice whisking until all cornstarch dissolves. Add mango puree and egg yolks, than the butter. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens and boils, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Chill until cold (can be made 1 week ahead). Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd and keep chilled.

  
Cookie crust

• 100 g graham cracker crumbs 
• 50 g oatmeal cookie cracker crumbs
• 80 g butter, melted
  

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 8-inch-diameter springform pan (I used my square one) with nonstick spray. Blend cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press onto bottom of pan. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool.

Mango curd mousse

• one batch mango curd (see above)
• 4 sheets of gelatin
• 4 large egg whites
• 100 g sugar
• 275 ml chilled whipping cream
  

Remove the curd from the refridgerator, place in a large bowl (and by large I mean large) and let come to room temperature. Pour 5 tablespoons water into a small bowl together with your gelatine sheets - they should be completely covered. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place 1/4 of your curd into a separate bowl or small saucepan. Heat on your stove  or into the microwave oven (225 W) slowly until very warm. Remove excessive water from the gelatine sheets (by squeezing them) and dissolve into the warm curd. Gradually whisk gelatin-curd mixture into curd in the other bowl.
Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are thick and glossy. Fold whites into curd mixture. Using same beaters, beat cream in another medium bowl until peaks form. Fold into egg white-curd mixture (at this point you'll know why I recommeded a large bowl).

  
Mango jelly topping

• 400 ml mango juice
• 5 sheets of gelatine

Prepare the gelatine as described above. Heat the juice until very warm. Add gelatine and whisk until completely dissolved. Before pouring ot top of the cake, let cool a little bit (to rom temperature) or your mousse will be melting.

Assembling

• 500 g strawberries

Cut strawberries into halves. Reserve a handful for the decoration of the top and cut into slices. Cover the sides of your springform pan with clingfilm - if possible remove the crust and cover the bottom too to prevent eventual leaking. Place the halved berries with the plain side headed to the outside around the edge of the pan. Pour the mousse over the crust and strawberries. Arrange the remaining slices on top of the cake - it the mousse is too soft, let cool into the refridgerator for an hour. Before adding the jelly topping, the cake should have been cooled for at least 2 to 4 hours.