Monday's Meal

This recipe was shared with me from Joyce, a very talented member of the quilting guild/bee I belong to. I'm sharing it with just as I received in my email (Joyce said it was okay to share). It's a twofer. You can either make a lemon cake or a chocolate cake, you decide. I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions about how to make it, let me know and I'll ask Joyce.

Cakes:
Lemon/chocolate cake mix
Lemon/chocolate instant pudding mix (smaller size)
4 eggs
Combine cake mix and pudding mix. Follow directions on package adding your water and oil but using 4 eggs instead. Bake in a half sheet pan, or 2 rounds if you want a round cake. Cut cake in half and then slice horizontally, half making your 4 layers. Spread a layer of filling of your choice between each layer and use topping of your choice. At the Relief Society’s “An Intimate Evening” dinner the lemon cake had 4 layers of cake with seedless raspberry jam mixed with a little raspberry coulis between each layer and was topped with lemon curd mousse; the chocolate cake had three layers of cake with one layer of chocolate mousse and one layer of the raspberry jam & coulis mix and had chocolate ganache poured over top and garnished with fresh raspberry, chocolate hearts, squirts of lemon curd and raspberry coulis on the plates under the cake.

Fillings/Toppings:
Lemon Curd Mousse
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Mousse
Seedless Raspberry jam
Raspberry Coulis


Lemon Curd
4 oz butter (1 stick)
3 lemons (zest & juice—about ½ c.)
4 eggs
1 ¾ c granulated sugar
In top of double boiler melt butter. Add sugar, lemon juice & zest, stir to combine. Beat eggs until very smooth. Slowly add to lemon mixture with whisk. Cook slowly, stirring constantly until mixture thickens – about 15 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into container(s), cool, refrigerate. Can be used for pies, tarts, cakes or just spread on toast like jam.

Raspberry Coulis
12 oz. or about 2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
½ c fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup simple syrup
1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice
½ Tablespoon cornstarch
Make a simple syrup by putting ½ c sugar and ½ c water in a saucepan, bring to boil for about 3 minutes. Add fruit and lemon juice. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Dissolve cornstarch in about 2 tsp of cold water and add to fruit mixture. Cook about 3 minutes more or until thickened, stirring frequently. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard seeds. Cool, refrigerate.

Lemon Mousse
Heavy whipping cream, whipped until very stiff. Gently fold in a small of amount of lemon curd. Add more lemon curd according to your taste of how lemony you want your mousse to be. Gently folding each amount into whipped cream until you’re satisfied with taste. Refrigerate to set.

Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy whipping cream, brought to simmer. Add about 2 cups chocolate chips, whisk to blend until chocolate is melted and mixture is thickened and shiny. This can be made thinner by using more cream.

Chocolate Mousse
Heavy whipping cream, whipped until very stiff. Gently fold in a small amount of ganache. Add more chocolate ganache according to your taste of how chocolatey you want your mousse to be. Gently folding each amount into whipped cream until you’re satisfied with taste. Refrigerate to set.