Orange Mousse Cake: A Step-by-Step Recipe

First, you need to thoroughly wash and dry 3 large oranges to make approximately 500 ml of freshly squeezed juice.

First, we remove the zest (the bright orange layer of the peel) from the oranges. This zest is essential for our orange mousse to infuse the most vibrant citrus flavor.

Pour the orange juice into a saucepan and add all the zest, 120 grams of sugar, and 30 grams of butter. Bring to a boil and let steep for about 5 minutes.

Remove the zest by straining it through a sieve.

Pour the purified concentrated juice back into the pan and add the butter, leaving about 100 ml in the bowl to make it easier to mix the yolks.

Add 3 egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of starch to a small amount of juice and whisk thoroughly until smooth. Add a little more juice if needed.

Pour the prepared egg base into a saucepan with the main mass of orange juice.

Place the mixture over low heat and simmer, but do not bring it to a boil. The starch-based mixture thickens very quickly.

Cover the prepared orange base with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. It's important that all ingredients remain at the same temperature, so remove the cream from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature ahead of time.

Soak the gelatin in cold water and let it swell.

Whip 600 ml of heavy cream and 120 grams of sugar. At this stage, it's important not to overwhip the cream, but to achieve a fluffy, airy consistency.

When the cream has whipped to the desired consistency, add the orange base to the mixture, continuing to beat at minimum speed with the mixer.

As a result, you should get an airy, creamy, orange-flavored mixture similar to the one in the photo.

All that's left to do is gel the cream. To do this, we press the swollen gelatin sheets, heat them in the microwave in short bursts until they liquefy, and then add them to the cream, immediately mixing them in with a spatula.