Say hello to my Marvellous Pandan and Matcha Mousse Cakes! This pandan-coconut-strawberry cake is one of my favourite things to make if I am craving that beautiful pandan flavour. The combination of the coconut with the unique, aromatic flavour of pandan is so wonderful and tropical tasting!
How to Make This Pandan Mousse
Just blend together silken tofu (don’t let the word tofu stop you! you won’t taste it at all, but it makes the texture so beautifully silky, light, airy and fluffy), a bit of coconut cream, lime juice, pandan juice, matcha powder, sweetener (I decided to use xylitol because creams sweetened with xylitol don’t tend to color very much), and agar powder for a little extra thickness. It is a great healthy treat packed with nutrients. If you haven’t yet, please give silken tofu a try. You won’t be disappointed.
It used silken tofu and coconut cream to provide body and creaminess. It’s important to use a good quality, organic coconut cream in this recipe. You can actually replace the coconut cream with thick coconut milk (not a lower fat variety) if you want it to be lighter. I like it a little thicker so stick to coconut cream.
This marvellous Pandan and Matcha Mousse Cake recipe combines the unique, aromatic flavour of pandan with matcha, lime, strawberry and coconut. Incredibly smooth, creamy, and luxurious. Click To Tweet
What is Pandan?
In Southeast Asia, pandan leaves are quite common plants in any household. Pandan leaves are the “vanilla” of many Asian cultures. Pandan is usually sold as an extract, paste or powder. There are the little bottles of pandan extract available in the market, but store-bought ones are very artificial – contains chemical food coloring which is a shame because pandan leaves already has a luscious dark green tone. Nothing beats making them freshly! You can usually buy it fresh from most Asian groceries or Pandan powder online.
What’s the difference between Pandan Juice and Extract?
Pandan juice is the result of blending pandan leaves with water. Pandan extract is the concentrated sediment that sinks to the bottom after 10 to 20 hours. When is separates, discard the water on top. It is a much thicker version. To use juice or extract depends on what you are making. For things that are more sensitive to precise moisture content, like cakes, you should use the extract. A few drops of the extract is good enough to flavor and color the cake without messing up the moisture to dry ingredients ratio. For recipes that permit more water like jelly, mousse, pudding then you will be using the juice.
Here’s how to make your own Pandan Juice
I used fresh pandan leaves, frozen pandan leaves are fine to use as well. Always make sure you wash the leaves properly before using.
Ingredients:
5 fresh pandan leaves (thawed if frozen), washed
1/3 cup filtered water
Directions:
Cut the leaves in short pieces using a pair of scissors or a sharp knife. Put them in a high-speed blender add in the water. Blend until the pandan leaves have shredded as fine as possible. Pour leaves and pandan juices into a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Use the back of a spoon to extract out all juices. Discard the leaves. Now you have your freshly extracted pandan juice! This is how it looks on the first day.
Keep the extract in a sealed bottle. It will last in the refrigerator for one week. Do not freeze.
You can use the exact same steps above to make pandan extract. Store the pandan juice in an airtight jar. Leave it in the refrigerator for a day or two to allow the chlorophyll to sink to the bottom. You will find the juice segregated into a few layers. That thick green layer at the very bottom is the concentrated pandan extract. No need to buy that artificial stuff!
You’ll get a light green liquid which you can still use to make a pandan-based drink, and a dark green sludge at the bottom which is the pandan extract. The less water you use, the more concentrated the colour and flavour of your pandan juice.
What is Agar Agar?
Agar agar is made of algae that can jell liquid substance at room temperature. Agar agar is high in fiber, and super low in calorie. It is also a perfect substitute for the animal-based gelatin. I prefer using powdered agar agar the best because it’s the easiest to use among all. If you don’t have powdered agar agar, here’s what you can do to substitute:
In general: 1 tsp (2 gr) powdered agar agar = 1 tbsp (4 gr) agar agar flakes
Tip for using Agar Agar
If it’s also your first-time using agar agar powder, my best tip for you is to:
➦ Never dissolve Agar Agar powder or flakes in hot liquid. They will clump and there’s the end of it. Make sure you stir to dissolve the Agar before cooking.
➦ Let the mixture comes to gentle boil. Always ensure the agar liquid comes to a boil. So many times, people have failed at using this powder because the liquid doesn’t come to a boil, causing the liquid to stay in a liquid format. Never over boil your agar liquid. One minute is enough.
➦ Work quickly with it. Agar solidifies liquids fast, so the trick is keeping this liquid a liquid is by keeping on very low heat, so it doesn’t solidify.
- For the base
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- pinch Pink Himalayan salt
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoon coconut milk
- 1+ ½ tablespoon coconut nectar
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- For the Strawberry Compote
- 12 frozen strawberries, thawed at room temperature
- 2 - 3 tablespoon strawberry water, from the thawed strawberries
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon coconut nectar
- For the Pandan Mousse
- 1 package (300 grams) GMO free and organic silken tofu, drained
- 3 tablespoon coconut cream
- 3+ ½ tablespoon powdered xylitol
- juice of a half lime
- ¼ cup pandan juice
- 1 teaspoon matcha powder
- 1 teaspoon agar agar powder
- For the base - combine all the ingredients in a food processor, process until it starts to clump together.
- For the Starwberry Compote - in a rectangular dish mix together sliced strawberries with strawberry water, vanilla and coconut nectar. Dehydrate at 115°F for 4 hours.
- For the Pandan Mousse - add pandan juice and agar powder in a small sauce pan, whisk the mixture together and bring it to boil. Place everything (starting with the tofu) in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- To assemble - Start with a coconut base layer in the bottom of your jars. Then add a layer of strawberry compote, topped with the pandan mousse. Decorate with fresh strawberries. Enjoy!
THINKING OF TRYING THIS RECIPE?
As always, I absolutely would love to see and hear your feedback.
Nothing makes me happier than to see recreations of my recipes made all around the world. Take a picture and share it on Instagram, be sure to tag me #deviliciouslyraw ⭒✰I can’t wait to see your amazing creations✰⭒
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