Lemon-Strawberry Parfaits

I try on holidays to get pictures of the entire meal. But on Easter this year I neglected that due to drinking too much and forgetting. What do I mean by drinking too much? I had half a glass of wine and a margarita. I have no tolerance. Before I had the little amount of alcohol that proved to be excessive for my body, I had made a very messy looking parfait. I figured out a strategy to get them to look nice once I was already done, so that was ineffective. But regardless, I remembered to take a picture of the parfaits because I made them in the morning.

Despite being sloppy, they tasted delicious. I’ve never made curd before and the microwave method definitely proved easy. I probably could have left a few of the lemons out, because the dish was super lemony, but it was yummy after a festive Easter dinner. I also cheated and didn’t make the pound cake from scratch, but sometimes it’s just necessary to cheat. With all the other preparations we had to do for dinner (for our lamb, for the couscous, the crab cakes, and the veggies) baking a pound cake would have made the whole process more hectic.

Lemon-Strawberry Parfaits
(source)

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of 3 lemons
1/2 cup butter, melted
sliced pound cake
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. In a microwave bowl whisk together the sugar and eggs. Then whisk in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Place in a microwave and heat for one minute on high heat. Remove and whisk. Return to microwave for another minute. Remove and whisk. Continue until the mixture sticks to the back of a spoon. This takes about 4 minutes. Press the mixture through a sieve into a bowl.

2. Using a biscuit cutter, cut the pound cake into 8 circles.

3. Beat the heavy cream with the 2 tbsp of sugar until you have whipped cream.

4. Start layering the ingredients in a cup. Start with the pound cake. On top of the pound cake layer the lemon curd. Then layer the strawberries. Then layer the whipped cream. Repeat.

* serves 4
* shared with Wednesday Whatsits, Cast Party Wednesday, & Catch A Glimpse Party

Strawberry Mint Chocolate Layered Mousse Cakes

Every month I try to participate in the baking challenge at BakeBakeBake at Livejournal. This month’s challenge theme was LAYERS. After racking my brain and surfing the web, I decided to make a layered mousse cake. After several days of contemplating flavors, I decided to make a chocolate cake topped with white chocolate mint mousse and strawberry mousse. They’re kind of messy looking, but being I’ve never worked with mousse in this capacity before and I was having a damned hard time getting the tubes made of wax paper to be straight and cylindrical, I am very proud of how these came out.

They tasted delicious.
It took me a total of three days to finish, but it was worth it.

Strawberry Mint Chocolate Layered Mousse Cakes

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/2 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE MINT MOUSSE
9 oz white chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg white
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

FOR THE STRAWBERRY MOUSSE
3/4 cup heavy cream
6 tbsp strawberry puree
1 tsp gelatin
3 tbsp cool water

Directions

FOR THE CAKE

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Place 3 ramekins on a baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Stir flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Beat in a stand mixer until well combined.

3. Divide the batter equally between the 3 ramekins.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cake is cooked all the way through. Allow to cool before preparation.

 FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE MINT MOUSSE

1. In a double boiler melt the white chocolate chips. Stir gently occasionally. Once melted, set aside and allow to cool.

2. In the bowl of the stand mixer whip together the cream, egg white, and peppermint extract until you have created soft peaks.

3. Gently fold the cream into the melted white chocolate.

FOR THE STRAWBERRY MOUSSE

1. Bring the strawberry puree to a boil. Remove from heat and cool.

2. In a small bowl fill with the cool water. Top with the gelatin. Allow the gelatin to bloom.

3. Meanwhile, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form.

4. Heat the gelatin over simmering water. Remove from heat and stir into the strawberry puree.

5. Fold the strawberry mixture into the cream.

TO PREPARE THE CAKES

1. Once your cakes have cooled and have been removed from the ramekins, wrap them in wax paper to create a tube. (I should have taken a picture of this step, but I didn’t. Here’s a picture from Sugar For The Brain to demonstrate.)

2. In a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off, divide the white chocolate peppermint mousse between the three cakes, squeezing the mousse into the wax paper tubes. Smooth and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.

3. In a pastry bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off, divide the strawberry mousse between the three cakes, squeezing the mousse into the wax paper tubes. Smooth and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.

* serves 3
* Besides BakeBakeBake, I’m sharing this recipe with The Recipe Box