Lemon Mousse Cake

Carrie Ann's Note:

I got this dessert recipe from my sister who has a catering business and this is one of her best sellers. It makes a spectacular finale to a special meal.It's a lightly lemon flavoured cake filled and frosted with a tangy lemon mousse and topped with sweetened lemon slices and fresh raspberries.Don't let the length of the recipe intimidate you, the steps can be divided over a couple of day.

• Total Time: 3 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 1 cup sugar
• ¾ cup water
• 2 lemons , very thinly sliced

CAKE

• ¼ cup butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 teaspoons grated fresh lemon rind
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

MOUSSE

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh lemon rind
• 2⁄3; cup lemon juice
• 4 eggs
• 1 package unflavored gelatin
• ¼ cup cold water
• 2 cups whipping cream

Directions:

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar.
2. Add lemons;return just to boil.
3. Pour lemons and syrup into bowl, and let stand at least 2 hours or up to 6 hours.
4. Grease 9" spring form pan; line bottom with parchment or wax paper.
5. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and lemon rind.
7. Combine dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture alternately with milk making 3 additions of flour and 2 of milk.
8. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
9. Cool completely.
10. MOUSSE:.
11. Bring sugar, lemon rind and juice to boil.
12. In a bowl beat eggs; pour in hot lemon mixture and mix well.
13. Pour back into pan and bring to just a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
14. Cook and stir constantly for 5 minutes, or until thickened.
15. Scrape into a bowl.
16. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small saucepan; let stand 5 minutes.
17. Heat over low heat until dissolved; stir into lemon mixture, mixing well.
18. Place plastic wrap on surface of mousse and let cool, stirring once, gently,for 30 minutes or until no longer warm.
19. In another bowl, whip cream and fold into lemon mixture.
20. Refrigerate.
21. Line 10" spring form pan (I use the same pan for baking the cake and assembling) with enough plastic wrap to leave overhang to cover top.
22. Arrange lemon slices over bottom of pan, reserving syrup.
23. Spoon half of mousse over lemons.
24. Cut cake in half and brush cut sides with 3/4 cup reserved lemon syrup.
25. Place one cake layer over mousse, cut side up.
26. Spoon remaining mousse over cake.
27. Place second cake layer over mousse, cut side down, and press to surround cake with mousse.
28. Cover with plastic wrap and place on tray to catch any leaks.
29. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or up to three days.
30. Uncover cake and invert gently onto plate, remove plastic wrap and smooth sides if necessary with metal spatula.
31. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Reviews

[kujonana]

Instead of making the cake, I used lady fingers. I just lined the sides of the spring form pan with ladyfingers soaked with the syrup (You can also skip the syrup portion and use lemoncello if you are in a time crunch). You can choose to put the ladyfingers as a middle section but I omit the layer. Beautiful and light...great after a heavy dinner. Else, mousse light and fluffy

[susanmpete]

This was a delicious lemon dessert! It was time consuming, however, as mentioned in other reviews, it was very well worth it. I tested it out on my husband, he thought the cake was a little dry, although, I did not use the entire 3/4 cup of syrup to brush the cake with. Next time I will be sure to use all of the syrup. This reminded me of a dessert cake that you would find in Europe--something that is not overly sweet. The tang from the lemons is superb! The mousse was sooo good! I will make this again.

[Buster's friend]

This turned out outrageously beautiful & delicious too! Made for 2 lemon-lovers' birthdays. The cake is dense - next time I'll be using buttermilk in stead of regular to see if that gives it a bit more lift - but the taste is great! Lemony perfection in cake encased in the creamiest, dreamiest lemon mousse you have ever tried. Technique works exactly as described. The final inversion reveals a lacy candied lemon top that rivaled any high end bakery. Did I mention how good the mousse is? The cake, though dense provides a nice pop of lemon from the syrup drenching & also provides internal structure to maintain cake integrity. Great cake! Thank you Carrie Ann - this is going into our keeper file! A big birthday hit! Thank you!