When Mid-Autumn Festival rolls around, that means it’s moon cake season! And while I do love moon cakes, I wanted to make a new interpretation of them, by making petit gateau(mini mousse cakes) with moon motifs! I wanted there to be two, one inspired by a blood moon using dark and red colors, and one inspired by a full moon, using light and yellow-ish colors. For my take on the full moon, my first thought was yuzu. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus that has a pleasant fragrance and aroma to it. I love using it in desserts because it adds acidity to temper down other sweet flavors. Speaking of sweeter flavors, another yellow ingredient that made sense here was banana. I love making banana pudding using super ripe bananas, and that banana pudding would be a great base for a mousse. For a third flavor, I wanted to use an ingredient that was shared in both the blood and full moon, so sesame was the perfect fit. I used black sesame for the blood moon, so white sesame would be my go-to for the full moon, since I wanted to keep the colors of this petit gateau light and bright! What I love about the flavor combination here is that we have acidic from the yuzu, creamy-sweet from the banana, and nutty from the sesame, making for a really balanced petit gateau, which emulated the belle of the Mid-Autumn Festival, being the moon!

There are quite a few components that go into this dessert, but I will say that they are relatively easy to put together. We have a yuzu curd insert, a banana pudding mousse, white sesame microwave sponge, a yuzu mirror glaze, and bruleed banana “stars”. Similar to the blood moon petit gateau, these require a lot of patience. Making sure that the curd insert is frozen solid before pressing into the mousses, and making sure that the mousses are frozen solid before glazing are key. The microwave cakes come together really quickly, especially if you have a stand mixer to whip the egg white with, and I used microwave proof cardboard cupcake liners for my cakes, but any microwave-safe paper cup can work too! Since fresh yuzu is really hard to come by in the States, I substituted some of that with Yuzu Inspiration, which is a yuzu-flavored chocolate form Valrhona. With the banana pudding, I usually use turmeric in my banana pudding to give it a stronger yellow color/remove the ugly gray color of cooked down banana, and that could cause the banana pudding to have an almost mustard-yellow color as a side effect. However, folding the cream into that causes the banana pudding to take on a light yellow color that is very aesthetically pleasing! You can also use yellow food coloring instead of the turmeric, since the turmeric flavor does come through really lightly. With the bruleed bananas, I used a blowtorch on a really low setting to carefully caramelize the sugar, but even just doing star-shaped banana slices without the brulee can work in a pinch if you are serving these cakes right away(otherwise the banana slices will oxidize and turn a gray-brown).

Makes 4 petit gateau:
For the yuzu curd insert:
1oz yuzu juice
1/2 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp cornstarch
1oz Yuzu Inspiration
1 tbsp unsalted butter
a pinch of salt

In a pot, whisk together the yuzu juice, hydrated gelatin powder, and cornstarch. Place on a stove and cook on medium heat until slightly thickened and the gelatin is fully dissolved. Take the pot off heat and stir in the remaining ingredients until they are dissolved as well. Divide the mixture among 4 1-inch silicone disk molds. Freeze these solid, at least 2 hours, before attempting to unmold. Keep frozen for assembly.

For the banana mousse:
1 really ripe banana
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup milk
1oz white chocolate
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff

In a blender, puree all of the ingredients, sans vanilla and cream, until fully combined. Transfer to a pot and stir on medium heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take off heat and stir in the vanilla first, and allow the base to cool down to room temperature. Fold in the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag.

For initial assembly:
Using silicone 3-inch petit gateau molds, pipe 4 molds halfway full. Then press in the disks of frozen yuzu curd, and then fill up the molds with the remaining banana pudding mousse, leveling off the tops to be flat. Freeze these for at least 2 hours before attempting to unmold, keeping them frozen solid so that they will be easier to glaze.

For the tahini microwave cake:
1 egg white
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp tahini paste + 1 tsp water
3 tbsp all-purpose flour

Whip the egg white with sugar to stiff peaks. In another bowl, combine the egg yolk, salt, vanilla ,and tahini, whisking those together until combined. Sift flour into that, and then fold the egg white in to form your batter. Line 3 heatproof paper cups with oil, and poke 2 holes into the bottoms of the cups. Divide the batter amongst the 3 cups. Microwave the cakes for 75 seconds, then allow them to cool upside down for 2 minutes before cutting open the cups. Slice 1 of the cakes into 4 layers and cut out 2-inch rounds from those 4 layers. Tear up the remaining cakes into smaller pieces. Store everything in an airtight container.

For the cake soak:
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp tahini paste
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together in a bowl. Brush the soak onto the 2-inch rounds of cake.

For the bruleed banana stars:
1 relatively unripe banana
granulated sugar

Cut bananas into 1/4-inch thick slices and cut out star shapes from each slice. Over aluminum foil or a silpat, sprinkle sugar on top of each banana and then carefully brulee the sugar using a blowtorch until golden brown.

For the yuzu glaze:
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp yuzu juice
a pinch of salt
1oz Yuzu Inspiration
3oz white chocolate chips

In a pot, heat up the cream with gelatin and salt. Once the cream comes up to a boil, add in the other ingredients, and take off heat, letting everything sit for 2 minutes before stirring until combined. Pass through a sieve to remove any lumps and keep at 90 degrees F for assembly.

To garnish:
Edible star glitter
1g gold luster dust
1g rum or clear alcohol

In a small bowl, mix the luster dust with clear alcohol. On an elevated surface or an icing rack, pour your 90 degree F glaze over the frozen banana pudding mousses, letting the excess drip off the sides for 2-3 minutes before transferring them onto the 2-inch rounds of the cakes. The glaze needs to be solidified for the next step. Using a 1/2-inch and 1/4-inch ring cutter, dip the rounded sides of those cutters into the alcohol-luster dust mixture and press those into tops of your cakes to form golden rings or hoops on the tops of each cake. Sprinkle star glitter onto the sides of each cake. Garnish the tops of the cakes with torn up pieces of the microwave sponge, and your bruleed banana to finish.