Passion Fruit Mousse Cake (Vegan)
Passion fruit mousse cake - light, creamy, rich white chocolate passion fruit mousse and tangy passion fruit curd paired with moist, fluffy coconut cake; and it's all vegan!
Servings 10 people
Equipment
- 20 cm/8 in springform cake tin
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
Coconut Cake:
- 180 ml (¾ cup) coconut drinking milk (not tinned coconut milk)
- 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil (I use olive, do not use coconut)
- 110 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 drops concentrated coconut extract (optional)
- 35 g (5 ½ Tablespoons) desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
- 15 g (1 ½ packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
Passion Fruit Mousse:
- 175 g (6 oz) vegan white chocolate finely chopped
- 3 g (1 teaspoon) agar agar powder
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 180 g (¾ cup) seedless passion fruit pulp*
- 250 ml (1 cup) vegan whipping cream cold
- 2 Tablespoons icing (powdered) sugar
To Finish:
- ½ batch vegan passion fruit curd chilled (optional)
Instructions
Coconut Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan/350℉. Line a 20 cm/8 in round cake tin with baking paper.
- Whisk together the coconut milk, oil, sugar, vinegar and vanilla and coconut extracts in a large bowl.180 ml (¾ cup) coconut drinking milk (not tinned coconut milk), 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil (I use olive, do not use coconut), 110 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 8 drops concentrated coconut extract (optional)
- Whisk in the desiccated coconut, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, followed by the plain flour.35 g (5 ½ Tablespoons) desiccated coconut (unsweetened), 15 g (1 ½ packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch), 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), ¼ teaspoon salt, 150 g (1 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- Pour the batter into the lined tin, spread it level and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- Line the sides of a 20 cm/8 in round springform cake tin with acetate or a double layer of baking paper that comes a couple of inches above the top of the tin. Place the cooled cake in the base of the tin.
Passion Fruit Mousse:
- Place the chopped chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl.175 g (6 oz) vegan white chocolate
- Whisk together the agar agar and lime juice in a saucepan. Whisk in the passion fruit pulp.3 g (1 teaspoon) agar agar powder, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, 180 g (¾ cup) seedless passion fruit pulp*
- Bring to a boil while whisking and boil for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Pour the hot mixture over the chopped white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the cream and icing sugar with an electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.250 ml (1 cup) vegan whipping cream, 2 Tablespoons icing (powdered) sugar
- Make sure that the passion fruit mixture has cooled to just barely warm (do not let it cool too much however or the agar will start to set and it will need to be reheated).
- Gently stir ⅓ rd of the cream into the passion fruit mixture with a balloon whisk, then carefully stir in the rest of the cream. There shouldn't be any streaks of cream or passion fruit but be very gentle so as not to knock out the air.
- Spoon the mousse on top of the cake in the tin and spread it level. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until set.
- Give the chilled passion fruit curd a good stir until it is smooth and creamy then spread it over the top of the mousse.½ batch vegan passion fruit curd
- To serve, unclip the springform tin and remove the rim. Place the cake on a serving plate; you can use a cake lifter to transfer it or just leave it on the removeable base of the tin. Gently peel off the acetate/greaseproof paper. If you like, you can use a palette knife or bench scraper to scrape round the mousse to kneaten up the edges.
- Keep the mousse cake in a covered container in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.
Notes
- *If using pulp from a carton (frozen is also fine), make sure that it is 100% passion fruit with no added sugar, I use this one which I order online. If using fresh passion fruit you will need around 13-15 of them; blitz the pulp in a food processor or blender for a few seconds before pressing it through a fine mesh sieve, this helps to separate the juice from the seeds.
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.