70ggraham crackersor digestive biscuits of your choice
35gmelted unsalted butter
For the filling:
1egg yolk
65ghoney
150gmascarpone cheese
5glemon juice
10gunflavored gelatin powderor 6 g gelatin sheets/leaves
300gheavy whipping cream
For chocolate honeycomb:
200gwhite chocolate chipsyou can use white or yellow candy melts too
yellow gel food coloringomit if use yellow candy melts
Bubble wrappers
For bees:
white fondantI use store-bought
food coloring
Instructions
Prepare the base:
Process the crackers/biscuits into fine crumbs by using a food processor or manually crush them by putting them in a zipper plastic bag, push all the air out, seal the bag and use a rolling pin to crush them finely. Mix with the melted butter (no longer warm) and mix until the texture resembles a wet sand
I use a 6-inch springform pan about 3 inches high. You can also use a 6-inch cake ring, with a parchment paper at the bottom, on top of a baking sheet
Press the crumb mixture onto the base firmly. Put in the fridge to let it hardened while you prepare the filling
Prepare the filling:
Combine gelatin powder with 50 grams of water. Let it sit for 10 minutes to soften and bloom. If you use gelatin sheets/leaf, do the same. Soak in water for 10 minutes
Put egg yolk, honey, mascarpone cheese, lemon juice in a heat-proof bowl that can sit on top of a saucepan. We are going to set up a double boiler. Fill up the saucepan with about 1-2 inches of water, make sure the bottom of the bowl won't touch the water. Bring the water to a simmer over low-medium heat. Set the bowl on top and keep whisking until the cheese and sugar melts. Add the bloomed gelatin and keep stirring until dissolves. Remove from the heat
Assembling:
Pour heavy whipping cream into a bowl and use a whisk or hand mixer to whip until about 60% thick, which is still a very soft and creamy consistency. It barely holds the peak. Don't whip until stiff. Add the cheese mixture into the whipped cream and whisk to combine
Pour about 400 grams of the cheese mixture into the cake pan and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge
Cut out a bubble wrap, a tiny-bit smaller than 6-inch in diameter. I wash the bubble wrap with a dish soap and wipe it dry before using
Put a drop or two of yellow food coloring into the rest of the cheese mixture. When the white mousse layer has hardened, pour the yellow layer on top. Gently put the cut-out bubble wrap, the texture side facing down, the smooth side facing you. Very gently press it on top of the yellow mousse. Just a gentle touch!
Put this in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight to let the mousse cake firm up
To decorate:
Cut out about 20 inches long of bubble wrap, about 4-5 inches tall. I don't have such a long bubble wrap at the time I made this cake, so I just use the size I have and made two separate honey combs to wrap around the cake. Wash this clean with soapy water and wipe really dry. I recommend doing this the day before you plan to decorate
Put white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and microwave on medium of 50% power for 20-30 seconds and stir in between until melts and smooth. Add the yellow food gel and stir to combine
Place the bubble wrap on a flat surface, the bubble side up. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the bubble wrap and use an offset spatula to spread it across the wrap. You don't want to spread it too thin as it may break easily. If you can see the bubbles after spreading, you spread a bit too thin
Let this sit for about 5 minutes so it won't be flowy and drip anymore but it shouldn't set completely hard too
Try to lift the bubble wrap at the corner and see if it has firm up, no longer dripping but still pliable. If it is, it's ready to be used, if it's still dripping, let it sit for another minute and check again closely. You don't want it to set firm completely then you won't be able to mold the honeycomb around the cake anymore
If there is extra wrap hanging after wrapping it around the cake, just leave it. We can break that into large shards for decorating on top later
Get the cake out from the fridge and gently peel off the bubble wrap you put on top of the cake earlier. Release the springfoam ring and the acetate sheet (if using)
Carefully lift the bubble wrap up and wrap it around the side of the cake. Press it gently so that it sticks to the cake. Put it in the fridge to let the candy melts set firm completely. This shouldn't take long, about 15-20 minutes or less
Carefully peel the bubble wrap off the cake. Any extra broken honeycomb shards can be used as cake toppers too. Keep the cake chilled in the fridge until ready to serve
To serve:
I use ready-made fondant to make the bees and flowers the day before and let them dry overnight
Arrange the bees and flowers on the cake as you wish. The fondant won't survive in the fridge. They will turn soft and sticky. That's why I only put the bees on the cake on the day I plan to serve it
To add more realistic feature to this, I drizzle some honey on the honeycomb just before serving and there you have it :)