COCONUT AND STRAWBERRY MOUSSE PASTRIES RECIPE

To make these pastries we will use the silikomart pillow 80 silicone mould and the cutter which comes with it.

The cutter has two sides, one smaller and one bigger, to cut an inside and outside parts for the pastries.

Ingredients for the strawberry mousse:

• 300 g strawberry puree or 200 g strawberry puree + 100 g raspberry puree (appx.450 g of fresh berries)
• 150 g heavy cream (min 35%)
• 70 g white sugar
• 4 g gelatin
• 1 tsp of lemon juice

Directions for the strawberry mousse:

1. Chop the fresh strawberries, mix them with some sugar, cover with a plastic film and sent to a fridge for 2 hours. Than drain the strawberries. You don’t have to perform this step with fresh raspberries as they are not as juicy as strawberries.
2. Place the sheets of gelatin in a cold water.
3. Place the berries in a blender and make a puree.
4. Press the strawberry puree through a sieve using the back of a spoon to eliminate the seeds.
5. Place the strawberry puree in a saucepan, add the sugar and heat the puree to 65°C (149°F) stirring continuously, than add the gelatin. Stir well to blend it completely.
6. Let the mixture cool to 30-35°C (86-95°F).
7. Whip the heavy cream into soft peaks.
8. Add the whipped cream, fold it gently, we don’t want the mixture to deflate.
9. Put the mousse in a rectangular baking mould, or a pan (appx. 30*30 cm), with a spatula make an even layer about 2 cm high.
10. Sent to a freezer for 3 hours.
11. When completely firm and frozen, cut with the cutter (smaller side)

Ingredients for the short dough (pate sablee) :

• 50 g sugar powder (confectioners sugar)
• 17 g almond flour (powdered almonds)
• 120 g all purpose flour
• 60 g unsalted butter (cold)
• 1 whole medium egg, cold, slightly beaten
• a small pinch of salt

Directions for the shortbread base (pate sablee):

1. Sift the flour and the almond flour into a mixing or blender bowl, add the sugar powder, the salt and the butter (cold, chopped into cubes)
2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until mixture resembles cornmeal or sand. You can do this using an electric blender or manual pastry blender.
3. Add the egg, mix well until completely blended. Keep mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms an irregular ball.
4. Place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper and work it briefly with the hands to make it pliable. Make a ball and cover it with another sheet of parchment paper. Roll the dough in between the sheets of baking paper to about 3-5 mm thick.
5. Let the dough cool in a fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Shaping and baking the short dough base:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (338°F).
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
• With the cutter cut the bases.
• Line a perforated baking pan with a perforated silicone mat and place the bases on it.
• Bake in the middle position about 15-20 minutes, until golden.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

For the Crunchy layer:

• 60 g. chopped white chocolate
• 20 g. grated coconut
• 30 g. corn flakes
• 20 g. fine chopped toasted almonds

1. Melt the chocolate.
2. Crush the corn flakes.
3. Add the grated coconut, the corn flakes crumbs and the almonds and mix well.
4. Spread the mixture over the plastic surface (a plate, cutting board etc.) make an even layer about 3 mm thick.
5. Let cool a bit, but not until completely firm and cut with the small side of the cutter.
6. Send to a freezer to set completely.

Ingredients for the coconut mousse:

• 130 g coconut cream
• 180 g coconut milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 20 g white sugar
• 150 g white chocolate
• 160 g heavy cream (min.35%)
• 5 g gelatin (2.5 sheets)

Directions for the coconut mousse:

1. Place the sheets of gelatin in a cold water.
2. Whip the egg yolks with the sugar.
3. Combine the coconut cream and the coconut milk in a saucepan, heat the mixture stirring continuously. When the mixture comes to a boil, temper the yolks slowly by beating in the hot cream in a thin steam.
4. Return all to the pan. Cook the mixture to 85°C (185°F) being careful not to exceed this temperature.
5. Squeeze the gelatin sheets and add them to the mixture, mix well.
6. Melt the white chocolate.
7. Add the mixture to the melted chocolate and mix well to let it melt and blend completely.
8. Let the mixture cool down to appx. 35 – 40°C (95- 104°F).
9. Whip the cream into soft peaks.
10. Add the whipped cream, fold it gently, to keep the mixture fluffy.

Assembling the mousse pastries:

1. Put the mousse into a pastry bag with round nozzle or simply cutted corner and pour it into the moulds, fill them to the half.
2. Make some gentle movements with a silicone spatula to ensure that the mousse will spread evenly and the sides of the pastries will be perfect.
3. Place the frozen strawberry mousse filling in the middle of each mould. Press gently.
4. Pour more coconut mousse to cover the filling.
5. Place crunchy layer on the top, press gently, align the surface with some coconut mousse.
6. Place the pate sablee base and press gently, align the borders with some mousse, to make the pastry nice and flat.
7. Sent to a freezer for 3-5 hours.

Ingredients for the white glossy mirror glaze:

• 50 ml water
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g liquid glucose
• 65 g condensed milk
• 100 g white chocolate (fine chopped)
• 6 g gelatin (3 sheets)
• White food coloring (titanium dioxide), whatever color you like, of course, but it should be intense water-soluble coloring in paste.

Directions for the white mirror glaze:

• Combine water, glucose and sugar, in saucepan and heat the mixture to 103°C (217.4°F). It is important to respect the temperature in order to get the desired result, so it is very recommendable to use a thermometer.
• Place condensed milk in a bowl and add the heated sugar mixture, stir well.
• Add the fine chopped white chocolate. Stir well to melt it and blend it completely.
• Squeeze the gelatin sheets and add them to the mixture. Mix well, the gelatin should melt and blend thoroughly. If the mixture has cooled to much you can heat it a bit in a microwave, but be careful.
• Add the coloring.
• Blend the mixture with a hand blender to make it smooth and homogeneous. Immerse a blender carefully and at an angle to avoid pouring air bubbles in the glaze, we need to have as little bubbles as possible, the best of all – none.
• Let the glaze cool to 35-36°C (96.8°F)

Glazing the pastries with the white glossy glaze:

• The glaze mixture is ready to use when the temperature is dropped to 35-36°C (96.8°F). Mix it gently, try not to let any air bubbles in.
• Take the pastries out of the freezer, demold them and place on a wire rack, put a plate or a tray under the wire rack.
• Make sure that there is no ice ot the surface of the pastries, if there is any – swipe it away with a finger.
• Pour the glaze on the top of the each pastry, glaze will flow down, spread evenly and cover the sides as well. If you would like to make the glazing thinner, with a palette knife quickly spread it to the edges of the cake.
• Let the icing set for several minutes, than remove the cake from the rack over a tray. Carefully neaten the bottom edge with the knife.
• Send to a fridge for 4-6 hours to defrost and set.
• Place some fresh strawberries or raspberries on the top to decorate (you can additionally dust the berries with some sugar powder or edible golden dust).
• Add some contrast stripes to decorate the pastries (with melted chocolate or cocoa glaze).

More Pastry Recipes:

Heart-Shaped Mousse Cake

Choux Puffs with Praline Cream