Spotlight on Chocolate: Strawberry Carousel

Instructions

• Hot Milk Sponge Cake
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round pan with parchment or wax paper.
• Heat milk with butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Reduce heat to low and keep hot, but do not simmer.
• Sift flour with baking powder twice. Return to sifter and set aside. (*Note:* You can use a fine metal sieve instead of a standard sifter.)
• In a large heatproof bowl, use a hand-held whisk to combine sugar, whole eggs, and egg yolks. Set bowl over or in a pan of barely simmering water. Heat mixture, whisking occasionally, until lukewarm to the touch. Transfer bowl to electric mixer and beat at high speed until mixture has cooled, tripled in volume, and has the consistency of thick whipped cream. Sift one-third of the flour mixture over the batter and fold in gently by hand, using the largest rubber spatula you have.
• Fold in half of remaining flour; then fold in remainder of flour.
• Pour the hot milk and butter into the batter and fold well, scraping the bottom each time and bringing the batter up the sides of the bowl until you can no longer see traces of liquid. Turn batter into prepared pan.
• Bake until cake is browned, starts to shrink from the sides of the pan, and springs back when lightly pressed, about 20–30 minutes. Cool cake in the pan on a rack. When cool, run a small knife around the edges to release before unmolding.
• Unmolded sponge cake can be wrapped well and refrigerated for 1 to 2 days or frozen for 3 months before using.
• White Chocolate Mousse with Kirsch
• Place chocolate, kirsch, and 2 tablespoons water in a medium-size heatproof bowl. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a wide skillet. Turn heat off and wait 30 seconds. Set bowl of chocolate in the pan of hot water. Stir chocolate mixture constantly until melted and smooth. (Or melt chocolate and coffee in a microwave on low [30%] for about 2 minutes. Stir until smooth and completely melted.) Remove chocolate from heat and let cool until a small dab on your upper lip feels slightly cool, about 85°F.
• Whip cream until soft peaks form—not too stiff. Fold carefully into cooled white chocolate mixture; the mousse should seem very soft.
• Strawberry Carousel
• Horizontally cut one even layer, ¾-inch thick, from the sponge cake. (Wrap and freeze remainder of cake for another use.) Place cake layer in the bottom of an 8x3-inch springform pan or a dessert ring with an 8-inch round corrugated cake circle. (I use an 8x3-inch round cake pan with a removable bottom.)
• Choose about 10 large berries of equal height. Cut them in half vertically. Arrange them with pointed ends up, fitting cut sides snugly against the inside circumference of the pan. Cut additional berries, if necessary, to completely line the sides of the pan. Leave remaining berries whole and arrange them, pointed ends up, close together all over top of the cake in the pan. Berries must be at least ⅛ inch shorter than the sides of the pan. (If necessary, trim bottoms of any berries that are too tall.)
• Immediately pour white chocolate mousse over berries. Spread the mousse, pushing it into all spaces between berries and making sure that it is in contact with the sides of pan between cut berries. Use a broad or offset spatula to smooth the top of the mousse so it is even with the pan edges. If desired, ripple surface of mousse with a serrated bread knife. Refrigerate in a covered container until set, at least 4 hours,. Dessert may be completed to this point up to 24 hours before serving. Refrigerate in a covered container.
• To unmold and serve, warm pan or dessert circle briefly with a well wrung-out, hot, wet towel. For springform pan, remove sides carefully; smooth sides of dessert with a warm, dry metal spatula if necessary. For dessert ring, lift ring sides upward. (For a pan with removable bottom, push up on the bottom until free of the rest of the pan.)
• Simmer strained apricot preserves in a very small saucepan for 1–2 minutes to create a glaze. Using a pastry brush, carefully glaze only the sides of the sponge cake and cut surfaces of strawberries; avoid brushing glaze on the mousse. Press minced pistachios against the very lowest edge of the cake layer. Refrigerate in a covered container until serving time.