Thandai Mousse Cake
Celebrate the festival of colours with this delicious fusion dessert.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
1 and ½ cups maida, 1 cup thick dahi, ½ cup vegetable oil, ½ tbsp vanilla essence, ¾ cup sugar, ¼ tsp cardamom powder, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda.
For the mousse:
100ml fresh cream, 100gm chopped white chocolate, 250ml whipping cream, 2 tbsp thandai syrup.
Garnish:
3 tbsp chopped almonds and pistachios, ½ tsp saffron.
Preheat oven to 1800C. Line an 8-inch round cake tin with parchment paper, grease the sides and keep aside. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda. Whisk together oil, sugar, dahi, vanilla essence and cardamom powder. Fold in the dry mixture gradually using a spatula. Do not whisk, beat or over mix. Pour into the lined cake tin and bake for 25 minutes. Your cake is ready if a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes. De-mould and let it cool. Chop white chocolate and place it in a bowl. In a small saucepan, bring fresh cream to a boil on a low flame. Pour into the white chocolate and let it sit. After a few minutes, stir the mixture with a spatula until the chocolate is completely molten into a creamy sauce — ganache. Let it cool completely. Now, beat the heavy cream to form stiff peaks. Add thandai syrup to the ganache and mix well. Fold whipped cream into this mix. Do this gently to avoid deflating the cream. To assemble, place the sponge cake in an 8 inch round springform pan. Top it up with thandai mousse. Tap the pan to even out the layer. Smoothen the top using a spatula. Sprinkle chopped almonds and pistachios, saffron. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours, preferably overnight. Loosen the sides using a knife and de-mould. Serve chilled.
Chef Nilesh Limaye