Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

6 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1.2 cups cake flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

For the mousse:

400 g white chocolate

450 ml 35% cream

9 g gelatin

600 g strawberries

For the sponge cake: Place the eggs and sugar in a metal bowl and place in a double boiler. Beat until thickened (the mixture will become thick and light yellow), then another 5 minutes until cool. Combine the flour and salt, sift through a sieve, and add to the egg mixture, stirring gently.

 Stir a few spoonfuls of the mixture into the melted and cooled butter, then carefully fold it into the sponge cake. If you pour all the butter in at once, the sponge cake will collapse under its weight; in our case, it turns out more airy.

Place the mixture in a parchment-lined 24 cm pan and bake in a preheated oven at 165°C (325°F) for 25-30 minutes, testing for doneness with a match. Cool and cut into 2 layers (it's best to trim off the baked top layer).

Mousse: Soak the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Break the white chocolate into pieces and melt in a double boiler. Heat 100 ml of cream until hot (do not boil), dissolve the swollen gelatin in it, and pour it over the white chocolate.

 Stir until smooth and cool to room temperature. Whip the remaining cream until soft peaks form. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions, mixing gently.

Assembly: Line the sides and bottom of a 26 cm springform pan with plastic wrap or parchment paper (grease the sides with a small amount of softened butter and adhere a strip of plastic wrap to it, being careful not to crease or fold).

If you have thick (stiff) plastic wrap, it's best to use that. Place the first cake layer on the bottom of the pan, leaving 1 cm of space between the edge of the pan and the sponge cake.

Select strawberries of similar size and cut them in half (the strawberries must be dry, otherwise they may stain the mousse). Slice the remaining strawberries into thin slices, placing half of them on top of the cake layer. Place the cut halves around the perimeter of the cake, pressing the cut sides firmly against the edge. Fill the strawberry layer with half the chocolate mousse.

Cover with the second layer, arrange the remaining strawberry slices on top, and fill with the other half of the mousse. Smooth out the top. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, then carefully remove the edges of the pan and the plastic wrap. Unlike other mousse cakes, it's best not to freeze this cake to preserve the freshness of the strawberries.

Enjoy!