Lemon Zebra Mousse with Strawberries.

I call it the Lemon zebra mousse with grand marnier strawberries.

My final examination in the Patisserie course is due next week. And the topic is: design you own cake. The ingredient list is short. No chocolate, only cocoa powder to use. The possible flavours are strawberry, lemon, 3 kinds of alcohol, pistachio paste and vanilla. Thus, also very possible that more than 1 person will make your cake.

Well, that was my first thought. The second thought was, how do I stand out? That was at the beginning of Superior patisserie. After that, I went through a sort of unhappy, down phase, where I lost myself amidst the crowd, I let myself be affected by what others think, by what others say. Basically, I lost my focus. I had a few ideas for my cake, bounced them around for some time, then discarding them one by one.

Then recently, something I did without thinking, I poured my confusion, my unease onto paper. All of a sudden I felt much better, lighter. I had direction again. The concept came easily, and from there, many little inspirations hopped into my head. Hmmm, it all starts to feel good again.

My cake is a very simple cake. Vanilla, chocolate genoise sponge, lemon mousse and strawberries. I want it really light and bubbly. haha. Stella says my cake feels like little children running and jumping for joy. I really like the zebra mousse. And I hope many people will like it too. I mean if you don't really like what you've made, how can you expect other people to enjoy it as well. So yeah, I really really like it. :)

We gave our cakes out to a variety of people to try. Our neighbours, R, N and their Japanese friend. Our classmates at French class with the majority of them Australian except for one English. The verdict was both of us did very well. They all liked both immensely but I got the majority of the votes. (haha, actually all but one) Which made me exceptionally happy~ This exercise made me very aware of consumers' taste and preference and how very important it is. And also very glad that we share the same taste.

The cake, as you can see in the pictures, is not finished. The last decorative touch is just too lazy on my part to execute. haha. Imagine very fine cake crumb, dark and light (the colours of my genoise), sifted alternately onto the cake to give a circular leaf motif design. So you see the dark, light and white colours contrasting. The last piping of "Happy Birthday" on the cake in clear glaze. (Not too sure about that, have to work that out.)

Comments please! :D The more the merrier. Thanks! It means great help.

End.