Happy First Birthday Cake - Black Currant, Strawberry and Blueberry Mousse Cake

I made this cake for the baby's first birthday party with our family and friends last weekend. The cake turned out pretty good despite the fact that I always struggle with using gelatin. Sometimes I use kanten instead, which is a Japanese/Asian version of gelatin. It's made of seaweed and it's just easier for me to use. It's also 100% natural. My mother claims that it's good for digesting food.

This cake was much fancier than any dessert I have ever made. I chose this cake for a few reasons. First, I wanted to make something with berries - black currant - to be specific. But I couldn't find fresh currant fruits, so I used currant jam instead...  Second, I received an email from one of the best food bloggers in the world, Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille. She complimented on this little blog of mine (!) and gave me some nice feedback on my images from Spain in her email. I was really surprised and quickly realized that she must be a real lovely person like I imagined.

Thanks to the fabulous recipe from Aran, I carefully followed the recipe with unusual amount of patience for me, and I did it. I was so happy that the cake ended up looking pretty great and festive even though I had difficulties with lady fingers. Again, Aran's excellent direction on her recipe guided me through the trouble.

I followed pretty much everything on her recipe except I used black currant jam and blueberry puree for the layers of mousse. I also added whipped cream cheese in them. I'm  a bit sorry that I don't have photos of the mousse inside. It was so chaotic that I couldn't even try.

I'm very pleased that I picked this cake as the first birthday cake for my baby.