I make - Berry mousse cake

Too early for berries? Naa, that's what frozen berries are here for! The cake looks more complicated than it is. The only real work is to make the mousse. It may be steppy but actually quite easy. Oh, it may also require cleaning several bowls afterwards, but I hope you will be so convinced and pleased by the final product that it's worth it.

Berry mousse cake

For berry mousse
- 500g fresh/frozen berries (I used a pack of frozen summery berries which contain blackcurrant, redcurrant, strawberries and raspberries)
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar (adjust to suit your taste/berry acidity)
- 3 sheets of gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water
- 100 g water
- 300 g whipping cream
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (or lemon juice), optional

For base:
- ladyfingers
- cold water

For top:
- strawberry-flavored jello prepared as instructed on the pack

To prepare berry mousse, cook the berries with 1/3 cup of water on the stove. When the pot comes to a boil, turn the heat to low-medium. Add in the sugar, start with 1/3 cup, taste and decide whether it needs more. Stir and squash the berries gently (I used a stick blender to mesh up). After 10 minutes, turn the heat off. I also added some crème de cassis (blackcurrant liquor) to intensity the berry flavor but this is optional. Pass the berries and the juice through a sieve. Strain out the seeds and press the pulp against a wooden spoon. Try to get as much coulis out as possible. Let the coulis cool to room temperature.

In another pot, boil the 100 g water. Squeeze out the water from the gelatine leaves and put them in the pot. Stir to melt the gelatine completely. Once the gelatine has dissolved, turn off the heat and mix in the berry coulis. Stir to fully incorporate both.

In another clean and grease-less bowl, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar (if used) to firm peaks. Keep it in the fridge before using.

In another metal bowl (as big as you can, it is the bowl to mix everything in). Beat the whipping cream to soft peaks. Mix in the cooled and gelatinated berry couli, fold gently and mix two thoroughly. Finally, fold in the egg whites. This is your berry mousse.

Paper line the sides of a 20-cm cake tin with removable base.  Cover the base with water-moistened ladyfingers as much as you can. Pour in the mousse. The cake will need at least four hours to set in the fridge.

To create the mirror top, prepare the strawberry jello as instructued, carefully pour onto the top of mousse cake. Set it for another hour in the fridge.

Decorate the mirror top with a mixture of berries.