For some time now I haven't had the patience nor desire to cook sophisticated sweets or cakes. I used to be a fan of fast cakes and pies before, but now I'm even worse. Of course, I prefer homemade desserts but they should be cooked quickly, with simple ingredients and as healthy as possible. This quick cake without baking managed to fulfill all our desires - for me, it was easy to make, the children enjoyed it with great pleasure, the adults told me that it was perfect, fresh and light, yet delicious.
For this no-bake cake I combined our favorite fruits (from the freezer, fresh would be even better!) with simple sour cream 20-30% fat and gelatin. As I said, a miracle came out. The cake has a mousse texture, soft and with a whole taste. Another small and important detail - I sweetened it with xylitol, so it was quite dietetic. You can use sugar or any other favorite sweetener - honey, agave syrup, stevia, tagatose, erythritol etc. It goes well with cocoa or carob if you want a chocolate cake, but I like the elegant contrast between the colored fruits and the white cream.
The fruits were frozen according to the method here. I recommend thawing them completely a few hours before using them in the recipe. Here I used plenty of raspberries and some blueberries, currants and sea buckthorns for decor.
If you use fresh fruit or compote, skip this step.
Be sure to reserve 1-2 handfuls of fruit to decorate the cake on top.
Now take a springform pan (26-28 cm) and wrap it on the outside with cling, so that the cream doesn't run out through the cracks at the base.
You can also use a simple pan or even a cake pan - but, to easily remove the cake at the end, line the inside with cling.
Also, to easily remove the cake from the springform, I recommend sprinkling it with some cold water first. I noticed that the jelly doesn't stick to the walls so much if you do this.
In a bowl or a saucepan, combine gelatin with 1 glass of cold water (250ml).
Mix and let it swell for 15-20 minutes.
Then move to a small saucepan and heat until the gelatin flakes are completely dissolved, but don't bring it to the boil!
Set aside for about 20-30 minutes to cool until we prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine the cream, vanilla essence and your favorite sugar or sweetener.
Mix with a whisk and leave for 15-20 minutes until the sweetener is completely dissolved. Notice you don't have to use the mixer, just a whisk or even a spoon.
Add a little gelatin dissolved in water and mix well with a fork.
The cream here shouldn't be very cold (keep at room temperature for at least 1 hour before use), otherwise you risk getting instant jelly - because of the thermal shock, the gelatin will immediately start to thicken.
Now put the fruits in the cream mixture and stir with a spoon, careful not to crush them.
I made a little mistake here, I didn't have the patience to completely thaw the fruit and, because of the thermal shock, the jelly started to thicken immediately. I had to move very fast :)
Transfer the mixture to the prepared springform pan and even out with a spoon.
Arrange the reserved fruits on top, cover the pan with cling film and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.
After this time, remove the plastic wrap, take a knife with a thin blade and pass it carefully along the sides of the pan.
Remove the sides of the springform and look at this beauty.
If you are more skilled, you can move the cake to a nice plate - I used a kind of giant spatula for that. Try with 2 wider knives to transfer it carefully or do the upside-down maneuvers on an intermediate plate (though you might crush the fruit on top here).
But if you don't have the courage, you can just leave it like this on the base of the form:)
Anyway, the cake is pretty firm and can be handled well. You can also garnish it with a few sprigs of mint - for extra color and flavor.
Here is a photo of a section I took quickly before the cake was eaten. It's for you to see how beautiful and appetizing it is.
I didn't feel the need for any other batter, so it's really not worth complicating.
Enjoy!