Strawberry and Mango Mousse Cake

This one is a delayed cake. The birthday was actually September 13, right when Ike went pass Houston but since the whole city was in a chaotic mess, I made her cake one week later. I'm always up for experimenting new cakes, trying out new combinations and I thought that this will be an awesome opportunity to explore. I gave Cess' cake a lot of thought. I was thinking of making a green tea mousse cake with white chocolate cake or a devil's fudge cake with rich chocolate icing. As you can see, I made neither of them.

Humans make plan and God determines the path. My work require me to travel that week and I didn't have enough time to really plan the cake. I came back Friday night and I had another cake due Saturday night and Cess' cake due Sunday morning. To be realistic, I decided to make a cake that I am already familiar with.

This cake is 9"x13" - the second time I make a cake this big. For this, I used 2 layers of sponge cake, a layer of mango mousse, a layer of strawberry mousse, lychees, clear glaze, and lady fingers.

Mango mousse:
2-1/2 cups fresh mango puree
1/4 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cups water
2 packets gelatin

Mix the sugar and the puree in the blender for about 30 seconds to blend together, making sure that the sugar dissolves. Sprinkle the gelatin on the water and leave for 5 minutes until it blooms. Once it blooms, melt it in the microwave for 15 seconds at 50% power. Slowly pour the melted gelatin into the puree mixture while continuously mixing the puree. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the puree mixture.

Strawberry Mousse:
2 cups fresh mango puree
1/4 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cups water
2 packets gelatin

Prepare this the same way as the mango mousse.

To add more complex flavor, I brushed the sponge cakes with some orange simple syrup and I added lychees between the layers. I prefer to use a softer/lighter sponge cake base for mousse cake and for this one, I of course used my mom's recipe. :)

I didn't stay for the cake cutting and missed the experience of seeing people's reaction to my cake. I was a little disappointed about this, but later on a friend called to tell me that the cake was good. :) I was very happy.