Coffee & caramel mousse cake

Recipe below makes about 4 mini cakes using oval cake rings,
adapted from Le goût authentique retrouvé by Hidemi Sugino
(note: methodology below was inferred since I don't read Japanese, so feel free to modify any step you deem appropriate)

Décor:

18g dark chocolate
6g vegetable oil
5 to 6 tsp mirror gel



1. Biscuit joconde sans beurre au café:
Combine almond flour, icing sugar and instant coffee. Beat in egg yolks and whites one at a time till mixture till completely emulsified and pales. Make french meringue till soft peaks form (do not over beat till stiff peaks). Fold a bit of the meringue into almond batter. Fold in cake flour, then remaining meringue. Spread batter into parchment lined 25 x 20cm cake pan and bake at 230C for 4 to 5 minutes. Once cooled, cut out 8 pieces of joconde with oval cake rings.

2. Mousse au café:
To make crème anglaise au café, bring milk & coffee to boil, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Whisk egg yolk with sugar till pale yellow. Whisking constantly, pour half of the hot milk into egg mixture to temper it. Pour tempered mixture back into remaining milk. Cook, stirring constantly until cream coats back of metal spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clean stable line. Remove cream from heat and pour it through a sieve into mixing bowl set over an ice-water bath. Cover cooled cream with plastic film and refridgerate until chilled.
Soak gelatin sheets in cold water till it blooms. Melt gelatin over bain marie and add to crème anglaise au café, mixing well. Fold in whipped cream. Fold in cognac.

3. Sirop d'imbibage: Mix all 3 ingredients together and set aside.

4. Mousse au caramel:

For the crème caramel, bring creme fraiche & vanilla bean to a boil. Remove pod. Boil sugar & glucose till it starts to turn dark amber. Take if off the heat, pour in cream immediately, whisking continuously till it is well incorporated. Cool over ice water.
For the pâté à bombe, place sirop à 30°B in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Beat yolks slightly in mixer bowl to break them up. Increase the speed to medium high and slowly pour the hot syrup over the yolks.
Dissolve the gelatin over bain marie and add it to the pate a bombe. Continue to whisk until the mass is completely cold and airy. Fold in whipped cream, fold in Cognac.

5. Décor: Melt dark chocolate over bain marie. Add vegetable oil and mix well.

6. Assembly:
Ensure cake rings are well covered at the base with cling wrap. Pour mousse au café into cake ring till slightly less than half way. Place 1 piece of joconde into each cake ring on top of the mousse au café. Leave to set in refridgerator. Once set, brush half of the sirop d'imbibage on the first layer of joconde. Pour mousse au caramel on top of the joconde till just slightly short of the top of cake ring. Place second layer of joconde on top of the mousse au caramel. Brush remaining sirop d'imbibage on the second layer of joconde. Wrap top of cake rings with cling wrap and leave to set in refridgerator. Once set, flip over cake rings so that the mousse au café is at the top. Brush top with dark chocolate decor and leave to set for a few minutes. Pour mirror gel over the top, smoothing out with a spatula. Remove from cake ring.