Red Velvet Cake on a Snowy Day

Valentine's day is coming so I thought it's a great time to bake this lovely red velvet cake.

I've bookmarked this recipe (for who knows how long...) when I'd first seen it from Dear Pig's blog (chinese).

She baked the cake & simply garnished it with red rose petals.

It looks so perfect & I couldn't think a better way to decorate the cake.

To be honest, decorate a cake with frosting is what I'll always avoid if I can.

That was one of the reason why I hadn't made this when I saw it the first time.

Last week, I finally made it & tried my best with the frosting, it wasn't too bad after all :)

Indoor shoots on red background.

Soon after I made this cake, snow had finally arrived in England.

I had been waiting the snow as I feel the winter without snow is not like winter.

It snowed all night & there're inches of snow when I waked up the next morning.

Put on some warm clothes, took my camera & I walked out the door & stunned by the beautiful scenes.

When I got back home, I thought it'd be a great idea to take the cake out & took some photos.

It did look amazing in the snow!

Blackberry & White Chocolate Mousse

The mousse was very easy to make, I almost always have the ingredients in hands.

It just happened that I had some white chocolate & blackberries, not very usual as I always stock dark chocolate & raspberry.

Anyway, I whipped them up in the morning, piped in a silicon mould & freeze.

Later, I popped them out & simply arranged with some rose syrup & blueberry jam I made sometimes ago.

It turned out to be gorgeous :)

Asian Pear & Oolong Mousse Cake

This lovely mousse cake is when East meets West.

The subtle, sweet & fragrant oolong mousse with crispy Asian pears coupled with the chewy & moist pecan brownie.

When it melts in the mouth, I can feel the delicacy & sweetness, gradually overtaken by the rich & nutty chocolate brownie.

I've chosen to use Asian pear over William pear.

William pear usually go tender after poaching, but I wanted crunchy bits in the mousse & Asian pear retains its crisp texture.

Plus, Asian pear is very juicy with a delicate & refreshing fragrant.

It is one of my favourite fruit.

Oolong tea varies in taste & the tea I used is originated from China which is sweet & fruity.

The taste of oolong tea is vital so I would recommend to get the best oolong tea you can get hold of.

I really like it, especially the mousse & I'll definitely make it again :)

You can also make a 'West meets West' version, simply replacing the oolong tea with black tea like earl grey, Asian pear with William pear.