Let Them Eat Cake

Sunday was my mom's sixtieth birthday. She decided to have a little party. Because two of her friends also have birthdays around this time, she opted for a joint celebration. That meant that I got to make three cakes. I made the vegan chocolate cupcakes in the cake form (it turned out delicious but a bit difficult to handle), Rachael Ray's Tequila Lime Cupcakes in the cake form (also delicious, but you'll need a double recipe of the frosting and should double the tequila and add extra lime juice), and the show-stopping White Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Mousse Filling and Light White Chocolate Buttercream.

Make the cake first. I used the recipe from White Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Layer Cake in The Encyclopedia of Chocolate, by Christine McFadden and Christine France.

As it's cooling, make the buttercream. (http://comfortablydomestic.com/2011/06/28/white-chocolate-buttercream/) Set it aside and make the mousse.

I based my recipe on one from the Cook from the Hip blog. I did make a few changes, so the recipe is here:

1 12-oz bag of frozen raspberries, completely thawed (leave it in the fridge overnight)
about 3/4 c. sugar (you can use more if the berries aren't sweetened or less if they are)
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1 packet unflavored vegetarian gelatin substitute (I used Natural Desserts Jel Dessert Unflavored)

Start by pushing the raspberries through a food mill or strainer to get rid of the seeds and extract the flesh. Put the juice and flesh from the berries into a small saucepan with sugar to taste. Heat until bubbling. Let cool a bit. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Whisk the jel into the warm raspberry mixture. (Whisky fast or it will clump.) Gently fold the raspberry mixture into the cream a bit at a time. (Maybe four additions total.)

Frost each layer of the cake with a bit of the buttercream. Frost three layers with the raspberry cream. Refrigerate until the mousse is fairly solid. Stack the layers one on top of the other. Pipe remaining buttercream around the top edge of the cake, then decorate with raspberries.