Neapolitan Layer Mousse Cake

Hey everyone!

I’m so excited I did this recipe! I’m feeling like a real baker or more like a real bakery owner (I just see single serving mousse cakes in bakeries that’s why) And it was goooooood! It’s beautiful too, is there a better  color combination for desserts than the Neapolitan one? I really don’t think so! Ok so I won’t hide that it’s quite long to do, it’s not that hard but it takes a lot of time (much more time if you count the dishwashing you will need to do afterward, but hey it’s always like that!). It’s so worth it though! And you will show them to everyone and they will be like “What??!! there is no way you did THAT”! And yes, you did

Neapolitan Layer Mousse Cake
Recipe adapted from Inspiring the Everyday

You will need waxed paper and scotch tape. I took waxed paper because the scoth tape didn’t stick to parchment paper :S

Chocolate Cake
Honestly, I took a boxed cake for this one. But I would suggest you use your most chocolaty cake recipe because it will be much much better with the other two flavors. Bake your cake in a 9 x 13 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling grid and let cool completely. Once cool, use a round cookie cutter and cut as many shapes as you can. My cookie cutter was about 2 and a half inch diameter and I made 9 mousse cakes. I cut the top of some of them because I tough they were either too high or too uneven.

Then you will prepare the mousse collar. Put each cake in a cookie pan line with parchment paper. Wrap a waxed paper collar around the base of each cake, keeping bottom flush with baking sheet. Secure each collar with tape. They will look like that (mine were a bit tall!):

Prepare the vanilla mousse (you will need a quarter of this recipe)

Vanilla Mousse

4 cups heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder (add a little more, I found my mousse a little too soft, it even flatten a little under the weight of the strawberry mousse once the collar removed)
½ cup cool water
½ cup heavy cream, slightly warmed

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cool water and allow to bloom.
Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract.
Beat just before soft peaks form.
Heat the gelatin over simmering water. Wait for it to dissolve.
Remove from heat and warm the remaining cream (slightly warmer than room temperature).
Combine the gelatin and warmed cream.
Pour this mixture over the whipped cream and fold in.
Next, pour vanilla mousse over the cakes and spread evenly.
Chill for an hour to set mousse.
Prepare the strawberry mousse (you will need a quarter of this recipe)

 A vanilla mousse cake only

Strawberry Mousse
3 cups cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 ½ cups strawberry purée
3 ¾ teaspoons gelatin
¾ cup water, cool

Bring strawberry puree to a boil and remove from heat; cool.
Place gelatin over the cool water and allow to bloom.
Meanwhile, beat the cream until soft peaks form as before.
Heat the gelatin over simmering water.
Remove from heat and stir in the warm strawberry puree.
Next fold the gelatin/puree mixture into the whipped cream.
Spread onto the vanilla mousse cake. Chill cake again until set.

Remove each collar and decorate with either chocolate ganache or strawberry puree.