Poppy Seeds Grapefruit Torte

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/poppy-seed-grapefruit-torte

It's F's big 40 birthday today.  Last year on this same day was the first time I really baked a cake.  One of my major strength and later turns out to be also my weakness is that I certainly do like to think big.  "How hard can it be?" I tend to believe I can achieve it all as long as I try, and things will eventually come together.  Well, not so true in baking, I found.  So of course, the cake I baked for F's birthday last year was a disaster.  

Then I took the Baking Arts course at GB and it absolutely changed my life.  It turned me into one-who-would-give-up-the-lunch-break-and-go-home-to-bake-as-long-as-there-is-45-minutes kind of person.  It also turned me into a cake-stand and baking pan collector.  I say "collector" because, to me, the thrill is to go out and buy these things... not so much to use them. I have also become a smart coupon-clipping grocery shopper because I have to stock up on butter, sugar and whipping cream and all those wonderful things from time to time.  

I chose this recipe because well, I have all the ingredients at home.  I think the white chocolate mousse would go very well with the tanginess of the grapefruits.  My first time making chocolate mousse, I found it a bit hard to handle in terms of frosting the cake and pipping the rosettes.  I tried piping waves on top of the cake but the mousse just didn't spread that well.  The mousse tastes really good, though.  It's rich and creamy but not too sweet.  The cake layer is light and spongy, topped with the refreshing grapefruit segments and white chocolate mousse.  

Everyone agrees that this is a much better cake than the one we had last year!