Vanilla Cake With Rhubarb Mousse and Whipped Cream Frosting

It has been a long time since I’ve posted anything on the blog, I mainly use Instagram and sadly have neglected my little blog. I hope everyone is well! The other day I bought some beautiful rhubarb, I usually roast it and eat with ice cream or make a tart, this time I wanted to do something a little different. A rhubarb mousse sounded great and I thought that making it the filling for a yellow (vanilla cake) would be different and delicious. I wanted the mousse to hold us as a filling and I researched several recipes online. I found one in the NYT that sounded good, it has strawberries in it and Kirsch so I made some changes and made this my own. I omitted the strawberries and Kirsch and added 1/4 c sugar to the whipped cream as rhubarb is quite sour. It is absolutely delicious. I used my go to yellow cake recipe and stabilized whipped cream frosting. The cake is light as a feather, creamy and moist, it’s not overly sweet. This just may be my new favorite cake.

Rhubarb Mousse

1 1/4 lb rhubarb- cleaned and cut into pieces

1 1/4 cup sugar (divided)

1 tbs gelatin

1/4 cup water

2 cups heavy cream

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the rhubarb in a casserole in one layer. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the sugar and mix to combine. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Puree the rhubarb along with the juices (withhold 2 tbs of the syrup if you like to make a soaking syrup for the cake) Place the puree in a container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Add the 1/4 cup water to a saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin on top, stir with a fork and let sit for 10 minutes (you are blooming the gelatin) Heat the gelatin on a very low heat just until its dissolved.

In a large mixing bowl add the rhubarb puree, add the warm gelatin and mix thoroughly. Whip the cream and the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup) to stiff peaks and fold into the rhubarb mixture. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the cake.

Yellow Cake

3 eggs (room temperature) separated

1 1/2 cups sugar – divided

2 1/4 cups cake flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup +1 tbs neutral oil

1 cup whole milk at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 8 inch round cake pans (grease, flour, parchment round).

Beat egg whites until frothy and add 1/2 cup of the sugar a tbs at a time with mixer running until it is stiff and glossy. Set aside.

Sift the flour, remaining 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, milk, egg yolks and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes. Fold in the egg whites and divide into the pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, cake tester should come out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks.

Whipped Cream Frosting

2 cups heavy cream (divided)

2 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp vanilla powder

Add 1/2 cup of the heavy cream to a saucepan, whisk in the cornstarch and powdered sugar until there are no lumps. Cook on medium heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and spoon into a bowl, set aside to cool giving it a stir every few minutes.

Add the 1 1/2 cups (remaining) heavy cream to a mixing bowl or bowl of your stand mixer, add the cooled stabilizer and vanilla and mix until its a spreadable consistency (it will be thick with stiff peaks).

Elderflower Rhubarb Simple syrup

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup Elderflower Liquor

1 cup sugar

2 tbs reserved rhubarb syrup

Place the water, elderflower liquor and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat. Let it cook until all the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Separate about 1/4 cup of the elderflower syrup and add the 2 tbs of rhubarb syrup (you will only need about that much to brush on the cake). Refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembling the Cake

Put bottom layer on cake stand or serving plate, brush some of the syrup on the cake, spoon on some of the mousse and repeat with each layer, NOTE: For the top layer the bottom of cake layer should be facing up.

Refrigerate at least an hour before frosting the cake.