This last weekend was my birthday, and I have to say it was one of my most memorable ones, despite the fact that I practically forgot about it until it was upon me. I had a lot of other things on my plate like Isabelle’s red egg and ginger party, and getting ready to go back to work. However, my family didn’t forget, including Isabelle! She slept through the night for the first time, the night before my birthday – almost 9 hours! I woke up on my birthday morning both refreshed and very confused as to why I felt so refreshed.
Lunch at Delfina Pizzeria. I loved the Gricia – guanciale, spring onion, panna, and black pepper. From the look on Snickers’ face, she agreed with how tasty it smelled.
BiRite Creamery after lunch – strawberry balsamic for me, malted vanilla for Mike. Here’s Snickers continuing to beg for a bite. She’s pretty much the world’s fanciest, most gourmet dog.
We had a very San Francisco sort of day: lunch at Delfina Pizzeria, ice cream at BiRite, and then an afternoon of ridiculously lovely weather (maybe that part wasn’t so San Francisco, but we weren’t about to complain). Then in the evening, another parenting milestone: Isabelle’s first time with a babysitter let Mike and me have dinner at Rich Table. We almost felt like a young couple again!
So excited to be able to have oysters again! These are Malpeques with crushed wildflower mignonette.
Rich Table serves up creative, whimsical dishes in a rustic, casual setting – pretty much the epitome of SF dining right now. We had the chef’s tasting menu, which included this fantastic array of small bites. Clockwise from bottom left: Mimolette cheese cracker with chickpea salsa verde; scallop chip with pickled green strawberries and yogurt; the house Douglas fir levain with cultured butter; dried porcini doughnuts with raclette; sardine chips with horseradish (if you look closely you can see a whole sardine embedded in each chip!)
The menu is very seasonal and subject to the chefs’ whims. There was clearly a flower theme for this evening: see this absolutely gorgeous presentation of richilini with sepia, ramps, and black onion oil.
The second pasta dish, of tajarin (a tagliatelle-like pasta) with beeswax confit lamb and dandelion greens.
I love me some perfectly cooked salmon, and this was a fantastic one with some smoked tomatoes and sauce gribiche.
Another contender for prettiest dish: charcoal grilled New York strip steak with chimichurri and flowering greens.
A palate cleanser before dessert: what they dub the “California Creamsicle”, essentially a cucumber granita with yogurt on top.
Dessert! The staff very sweetly put a candle on my dish of mint chocolate cream, milk ice cream, and salted chocolate cookies. Perfect mix of flavors and textures.
With all the excitement of the birthday weekend, it took me a while to get around to making a birthday cake for me. I already had some pretty amazing ice cream and dessert on my day, so cake wasn’t really necessary, but it’s a fun tradition for this blog I like to keep up. Since I had quite a bit of passion fruit puree left over from making Isabelle’s cupcakes I decided to put it to good use. For my birthday cake I combined two of my favorite flavors: passion fruit and mango. This is also a nod to those whipped cream and fresh fruit cakes you see in Chinese bakeries, and that my mom would often get for my birthdays when I was a kid. Even today a mango mousse cake says, “Birthday” to me.
I played around with a few sponge cake recipes I have; I wasn’t entirely happy with the one I made – you can see the texture is a little spongier and coarser than I wanted, so I’ve given my basic standby genoise recipe. You want thinner layers for this cake, since you’re building it in a cake pan. I like to use a pan like this pan
I kept the passion fruit curd because I like its intense, puckery punch – it’s a nice exclamation point after the creamy sweetness of the mango mousse. You can use either fresh fruit or frozen purees for this recipe, although with fresh mango coming available it’d be a shame not to take advantage of them. This light, fluffy, not-too-sweet cake takes me right back to my childhood birthday parties. Maybe in a few years I’ll be making one for Isabelle!
Vanilla Genoise Sponge
- 2/3 cup (133 g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (80 g) cake flour
- 3 tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Passionfruit Curd
- 1/2 cup (125 g) passionfruit puree
- 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-in pieces
Mango Mousse
- 2 teaspoons (4.5 g) gelatin powder
- 1 cup (250 g) mango puree
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 cup (250 g) heavy cream
Topping
- 1/4 cup (58 g) heavy cream
- 4 teaspoons (10 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8" square pan (I like the kind with a removable bottom) and line with a piece of parchment paper.
- Whisk eggs and sugar together in a metal bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until mixture is warm (the eggs will whip up with more volume if they are warm, but you don't want to cook them).
- Pour eggs into bowl of a stand mixer. Whip with whisk attachment on high speed for several minutes until very thick and ribbons of batter fall back into bowl when you lift the whisk up.
- Sift flour over batter and carefully fold in with a rubber spatula.
- Combine butter and vanilla together in a small bowl. Pour a bit of the batter into the butter and stir together. Pour butter back into main batter and fold to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown and springs back when you press it lightly.
- Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes before unmolding. Let finish cooling on wire rack.
For the curd:
- Whisk passionfruit puree, sugar and eggs together in a metal bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water.
- Cook for about 6 minutes, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and coats back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat. Add butter several pieces at a time and stir until fully combined. Pour curd into a container and press piece of plastic wrap against surface. Cover and chill until ready to use.
For the mousse:
- Make the mousse right before you are ready to assemble the cake. Sprinkle gelatin powder evenly over 6 teaspoons (30 g) of water in a small bowl. Let bloom for about 5 minutes until it is a solid mass.
- Combine half of mango puree and sugar in a saucepan. Add gelatin. Cook on medium heat until gelatin is melted and incorporated into puree.
- Pour mixture back into remaining puree and stir to combine. Let cool but don't let the mixture set.
- Whip heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold about a third of the cream into the mango mixture to lighten. Fold in remainder of whipped cream.
To assemble the cake:
- Slice the cake horizontally into two layers. Line an 8" square pan (again, I like one with a removable bottom so it's easier to unmold the cake) with a piece of plastic wrap so that the edges hang over the pan edges (you may need two pieces, one for each direction).
- Place one layer of cake in bottom of pan. Spread a layer of passion fruit curd over the cake layer. Top with second layer of cake.
- Pour mango mousse over top of cake layer and spread evenly. Place in refrigerator to set, about an hour.
For the topping:
- Combine cream, sugar, and sour cream in a mixer bowl. Whip until combined and thick. Pour over top of cake and spread evenly. Chill in refrigerator until set, about half an hour.
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
Happy birthday! Well done on staying slim after the wonderful looking dinner. The cake looks gorgeous, a bit like my favourite vanilla slice.
Awesooooome)
Hi Anita,
Happy Birthday ! Is the passion fruit puree you used from a can or frozen? I’d love to try out this flavor but it is hard to find passion fruit puree.
It seems that you are doing the recipe in a rush (or the baby must be crying…) The last few paragraphs “for the cake” have been switched : )
You don’t need to preheat the oven in” assemble the cake”, right ?
Hi Phoebe,
Thanks for the catch! Actually, I think I just copied and pasted and forgot to take out the preheating line. The rest of the instructions are correct. As for the passion fruit, I used frozen puree since that was what I had, but if you’re lucky enough to find fresh passion fruit there’s no reason you can’t use them instead. I think it would be the same thing with canned passion fruit. Good luck!
Sounds like a lovely birthday weekend and the cake you made sounds awesome!
Happy birthday! It sounds like you had a great day! This cake looks so pretty and professional. The flavors and textures sound lovely too!
Happy Birthday! Looks like it was an incredible weekend, and what’s not to like about passionfruit, mango AND sour cream all in one cake. x
So glad to find your blog, this cake reminds me of my Hong Kong ties. We used to have mango cake for birthdays. I am not a baker, but I am willing to give it a try. How do you make the mango puree? Thanks!
Hi,
You can make mango puree simply by peeling mangoes and pureeing the flesh in a food processor or blender. For this recipe I would estimate you need about 5-6 mangoes. Happy baking!
Sounds lovely, and I think I’ll make it for my birthday cake (in June), too.
One more paragraph swap, in the “For the Cake” section: the bit about adding the butter to the batter currently comes after the cake is baked.
Argh – thanks for the catch! Fixed. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Happy belated Birthday! Hope you had a lovely celebration. The mango passion cake must’ve been delicious. I love passion fruit and mango combination! Keep your fingers crossed for me when I’ll try to persuade my wife to bake it 🙂
Have a lovely day
Lorne
Thanks so much! I do hope you get a chance to try the cake!:)
Really beautiful! I love your blog!
Wow! Everything looks wonderful!
Hi! I came through this blog by chance, saw this amazing cake and couldn’t resist the temptation to try its recipe! I don’t really like passion fruit, so I tried to replace it with bananas instead. The result, an extraordinary and really really delicious combination! I’ll definitely try again another of your recipes! The experience has been amazing!
Mmmmm…. I’m in LOVE! This cake looks … DELICIOUS!! Looking forward to making it.
My nephew and his bride to be saw this and forwarded it to me as I will be making their wedding cake and they thought this looked great. I wonder how long it would hold up out of the refrigerator. We will have to travel for 3 hours prior to the wedding – then appetizers – dinner all before the cake is cut. What do you think?
Hi Carol,
If there is no refrigerator to store the cake at the wedding, I think it would become too soft to cut well or it might even melt. I wouldn’t advise leaving this type of cake out of the refrigerator for more than an hour, 30 minutes max for best texture.
Best,
Anita
Anita,
Thanks for coming on the Find Dining Podcast to talk to us about Rich Table! It was great to have you. Your readers can hear your interview here:
http://tastetrekkers.com/episode-63-rich-table-in-san-francisco/
Thanks again,
Seth Resler
Host, Find Dining Podcast
I’d like to make this cake for my mother in law on this Friday and i only have round pan , what size of round pan that would you like to recommend. Thanks
Hi Wishy,
I think you could use either an 8″ or 9″ round pan, depending on how thick you want the layers. 8″ pan will give you higher cake and thicker layers, 9″ pan a thinner cake. Make sure it’s at least 2″ deep pan. Happy baking!
Thanks, I baked it yesterday with 8″ round pan and I had a little bit left enough for 4″ round pan too. The cake turn out very light and everyone love it specially my mother in law :))
I could not find frozen or canned passion fruit puree. I did find frozen whole passion fruits. Once defrosted I will scoop out the flesh and put them in my Vitamix Blender, but I’m wondering if I should puree with the seeds too or discard the seeds?
Hi Annie,
I would probably strain out the seeds before pureeing them. You can save the seeds and use them as a garnish if you like!
best,
Anita
Hi again! For the vanilla bean paste, can vanilla extract be used instead of the paste? If so, how much of the extract should I use? Thank you!
Hi,
Yes, you can use vanilla extract instead. It’s usually a 1-1 substitution, so you can use 1 teaspoon of the extract. Thanks!
I’m excited to be making this cake soon for a friend. Just curious as to why this and other entrements are lined with plastic wrap first as opposed to parchment or even Crisco. Thanks!
Hi Christine,
Thanks for your comment! I have buttered pans or lined them with parchment/foil for other cakes, but for delicate layered cakes like this one I was taught to use plastic wrap, and it seems to work well. I believe it’s because it sticks the least to the soft mousse or cream layers and makes it easier to unmold – if you used butter or Crisco I think it would still stick, and if you froze it it would simply get stuck to the pan. Another option I’ve used is acetate sheets, which serve the same purpose to prevent sticking to the pan and easy removal from the cake. They work better for rounded molds though, and they’re more expensive than plastic wrap, so plastic wrap works fine here. Good luck and hope it turns out well!
Hi Anita,
Did you puree fresh mango? If yes, what variety of mango did you use?
Thank you.
Hi Stephanie,
I did use fresh mango, but I’m afraid I don’t remember which variety. Basically what was available at the market. I think any variety will work as long they are ripe!
Thank you!!
Hello! I am soooo happy I stumbled across your delectable recipe! I would love to make this for my boyfriend’s birthday but have a question: How long can I let it set in the fridge? I was hoping to make this in the evening, a day in advance, as I have class all day on the day of his birthday…would leaving the cake to set for 24 hours be ok?
Hi Bri,
Thanks for visiting my site! Yes, it should be fine to let it set in the refrigerator for a day – just make sure it’s covered so it doesn’t dry out or absorb odors. When you take it out you can let it sit for about 15 minutes at room temperature to soften up a bit. Good luck!
Hey! I was just wondering around how many passion fruits would I require for the puree and how would I go about making it? Also approximately how many people would this cake serve? Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Hi Tumi,
From what I’ve found one passion fruit will yield a couple tablespoons of usable pulp. So for 1/2 cup of puree you’ll need about 7-8 passion fruits? You’ll get an 8″ square cake which should serve 8-10 people. Good luck!
Thank you so much! 🙂
Hello! I love this recipe as I have passion fruits readily available to me. But I’m not the best baker… The first time I made it I got clump so f flour in my batter… How do I carefully fold without having these clumps? I sifted the flour…
I love it thank youuuu
Hi Javi,
Thanks for your e-mail! These cakes can be tricky and need a delicate hand. Try sifting the flour evenly over the top instead of just in the center. When you fold it in, try to use big strokes to get all the way to the bottom of the bowl, and rotate the bowl as you fold to evenly distribute the flour. It’s better to fold fewer times with bigger, thorough strokes than lots of small ones that might deflate the cake. Practice and good luck!
I am so happy that I’ve found your website, it is amazing and I’m so grateful that you have shared your expertise and wonderful recipes.
I am planning to make my daughter a cake from scratch for her 6th birthday. She loves mangos and she requested that I make her a mango flavored cake. After looking on line, I have found a mango mousse cake which looked nice, but I’m a bit nervous about where to start. The recipes call for a “genoise” which from reading seems to be a dry cake that is able to tolerate the mouse filling and frosting.
The dilemna now is everytime I find a genoise cake recipe on line, reviews read: “too dry”, “the cake deflated in the center” etc. Problems seem to prevail with people who’ve tried making genoise style cakes.
Is there a good genoise cake recipe you can share or do you know of another cake other than genoise which can hold up to the mango mousse filling? Also, do you have other flavor combo suggestions to complement the mango mousse filling, for either the cake, simple syrup, or mousse/frosting? She likes the following flavors: coconut, strawberry, white chocolate, and green tea. But I don’t know if those flavors will do well combined in a mango mousse cake and where the flavors should be (in the batter, syrup, or frosting?) smile emoticon
I truly would appreciate your help and feedback. Thank you so very much for all your hard work in putting this website together, sharing your expertise, and helping homebakers like me make baking at home fun, successful, and most of all yummy creations!
Hi Nowal, thanks for visiting my site and for your kind words! Did you try the genoise recipe in my post? That one has worked fairly well for me. I’m not sure if you’re referring to another recipe from another site when you’re talking about the mango mousse cake. I have several recipes on my site for genoise and mousse fillings. In general genoise are meant to on the drier side because you brush them with a sugar syrup to moisten them. So it’s it done correctly the final product shouldn’t taste dry.
As for flavor combinations, I do tend to try and keep the flavors simple for mousse cakes. If you want to add other flavors, you could flavor the cake, or add a second layer, for example add coconut to the cake, and have a layer of strawberry puree between the cake and mousse. Hope these ideas help!
Thank you so much for your quick response and your help, I really do appreciate it very much. I want to really impress and satisfy my daughter with a wonderful cake. I really like your suggestions and I’m going to start practicing 🙂 Her birthday is in May so I have plenty of time to practice—I just hope by the time her birthday comes around she won’t be “caked out.” Thank you Anita 🙂
Hi! Thanks a lot for this recipe. I baked it for my wife’s birthday and it was a big success!
I’m lucky to live in Taiwan and in this season we can get delicious fresh mangoes and passion fruits, so the flavors were really good.
If you use fresh (or frozen I guess) fruits, I would recommend to purée them in a blender or a food processor, then strain them to remove the seeds (passion fruits) or the fibers (mangoes). It makes the passion curd and the mango mousse even smoother!
The sour cream topping provides a little tartness that goes well with the sweet and sour feeling of the passion curd, good idea!
Thanks again!
Hi Pierre, thank you so much for visiting my site and I’m so glad the cake turned out well for you! So happy your wife enjoyed it. Thanks for the tips as well, hopefully they will benefit other cooks. Thanks again! best, Anita