For this creation, you need to bake two cakes: one for the bottom and one for the top, both overlain with meringue (Photo: Maison Moderne

For this creation, you need to bake two cakes: one for the bottom and one for the top, both overlain with meringue (Photo: Maison Moderne

However, an exception is made for June: 23 June is Luxembourg’s national day, and Yvonne Mertzig, a grandmother of seven from Junglinster, has revealed her recipe for a strawberry mousse cake.

“This cake is a lot of work and doesn’t look very fancy, but it is fresh and light—perfect for the early summer," said Yvonne.

For this creation, you need to bake two cakes--one for the bottom and one for the top, both overlain with meringue. In the middle, there is the delicious strawberry mousse.

Strawberry mouse makes a tasty filling
Strawberry mouse makes a tasty filling. Photo: Maison Moderne 

Yvonne (who doesn’t want to divulge her age, but is a proud great-grandmother of four), is no stranger to cooking for big family gatherings, but she has always had a sweet tooth, and her baking skills have become the stuff of legends.

She usually only gives very vague instructions (“You’ll just know when there is enough flour/when the cake is ready/when it needs more gelatine”), but here is the version she was willing to share. 

Strawberry mousse cake

Ingredients

For one cake:

  • 65 g butter
  • 60 g sugar
  • 2 egg yolks (keep egg white for meringue)
  • ½ packet vanilla sugar
  • 75 g flour
  • 1 tbsp milk

 Meringue:

  • 2 egg whites
  • 90 g icing sugar

Strawberry mousse:

  • 400 g strawberries
  • ½ l cream
  • 1½ packet gelatine 

Method

  1. Take a 28 cm cake mould; put baking foil at the bottom.
  2. Preheat oven to 150°C.
  3. Mix ingredients for the cake.
  4. For the meringue: beat egg whites stiff, then add powdered sugar.
  5. Pour the cake mix into the baking mould; pour meringue on top.
  6. Bake approximately 30 minutes. Yvonne’s tip: after a while, turn up to 160°C. When meringue is hard and gets a little colour, the cake is ready.
  7. Repeat steps 1-6 for the second tier.
  8. For the strawberry mousse: put the gelatine in a cup with 6 spoonfuls of water and stir. Leave for 10 minutes until it sets.
  9. Purée the strawberries.
  10. Put the gelatine into a saucepan and heat slowly.
  11. Add the strawberry mix into the saucepan and beat with a whisk. Then put in the fridge to let it harden.
  12. Whip the cream and add it to the strawberry mousse.
  13. Mount the cake: spread the strawberry mousse evenly on the bottom cake, then top it off with the second tier.
  14. Put the entire cake in the fridge for a few hours to let it harden.
Yvonne Mertzig’s strawberry mouse cake is a family favourite
Yvonne Mertzig’s strawberry mouse cake is a family favourite. Photo: Maison Moderne

The tradition is that Yvonne says every time, “This time, the cake didn’t turn out as well as it used to”—to the traditional big protests from the whole family. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to reproduce even this “mediocre” version of Yvonne’s strawberry mousse cake, but give it a try!

Gudden Appetit!