Raspberry Mousse Cake with Cardamom Cake Base and Italian Meringue
A delightful dessert featuring a fragrant cardamom-spiced cake base topped with a silky raspberry mousse. Finished with a beautifully piped Italian meringue that’s lightly torched for a perfect finish.
Equipment
- 22 cm (8.5-inch) springform pan
- Mixing Bowls
- Electric mixer or stand mixer
- Whisk
- Sieve (for straining raspberry purée)
- Spatula
- Piping bag (for meringue)
- Brûlée torch (for toasting meringue)
- Offset spatula (optional, for smoothing mousse or meringue)
- Saucepan (for sugar syrup)
- Thermometer (for sugar syrup, to reach 121°C)
- Plastic acetate cake collar (for neat mousse edges, optional)
Ingredients
Cardamom Cake Base:
- 150 g unsalted butter, melted180 g
- 2 eggs
- 180 g granulated sugar
- 150 g grated almond paste
- 30 g almond flour
- 25 g cornstarch
- 30 g potato starch
- 25 g rice flour
- 6 g salt
- 10 g ground cardamom
- 10 g vanilla sugar
- 0.5 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
Raspberry Mousse:
- 150-200 g 150–200 g raspberry purée (from blended and strained frozen raspberries)
- 450 ml 450 ml heavy cream
- 100 g 100 g granulated suga
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 3 3 gelatin sheets (or 2 tsp gelatin powder)
Decorate (optional):
- 1 pack fresh raspberries
Instructions
Bake Cake Base:
- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease a 22 cm (8.5-inch) springform pan.
- Whisk eggs and sugar, add salt, cardamom, and vanilla sugar.
- Stir in grated almond paste.
- Mix almond flour, cornstarch, potato starch, and rice flour (plus xanthan gum if using). Fold into the egg mixture.
- Stir in melted butter. Pour into pan and bake for 16–20 minutes. Cool completely.
Prepare Mousse:
- Soak gelatin sheets in cold water for about 5 minutes (or bloom gelatin powder in water).
- Heat raspberry purée with sugar and vanilla sugar until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
- Squeeze out gelatin sheets and stir into warm raspberry purée until fully dissolved (or stir in gelatin powder).
- Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
- Whip cream to soft peaks and fold into the raspberry purée. Pour mousse over cooled cake base.
- Freeze overnight (at least 12 hours).
Make Meringue:
- Heat sugar and water until the mixture reaches 121°C (250°F).
- Whip egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly pour hot sugar syrup into egg whites while whipping.
- Continue to whip until meringue is cool and firm, about 5–10 minutes.
Assemble & Serve:
- After freezing, pipe or spread Italian meringue over the mousse.
- Lightly torch the meringue until golden brown.
- Decorate with fresh raspberries, if desired.
- Allow cake to thaw in the refrigerator for 5–6 hours before serving.