Recipes Discovered – Recipes

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

Sponge Cake:

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (115 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (85 grams) all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Pastry Cream:

• 2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Sponge Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Grease and line the bottom of an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper.
Beat the eggs and sugar on high speed for about five minutes, or until they are thick, fluffy and light colored (when you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in a slow ribbon). At this point beat in the vanilla extract. Sift 1/2 of the flour over the batter and gently fold through with a rubber spatula or whisk. Sift the remaining flour over the batter and fold in. Whisk about 1/2 cup of the batter into the melted butter (to lighten it) and then gently fold the butter mixture back into the rest of the batter. Pour immediately into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until springy to the touch. (A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Run a spatula or sharp knife around the inside of the pan and then invert the cake onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper.

Pastry Cream: In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Add the cornstarch to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside. Meanwhile in a saucepan bring the milk to boiling over medium heat. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.) Remove from heat and add slowly to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.)
Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, continue to whisk constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Let the cream cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Chocolate Glaze: Place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Set aside. Bring the cream just to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a 3-5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Set aside for a few minutes until it has thickened to pouring consistency.

To assemble: With a serrated knife slice the cake in half horizontally. Remove the top half and set it aside. Place the bottom half on your serving plate, cut side up. Pour or spoon the pastry cream onto the cake, spreading to make an even layer. Place the top half of the cake (cut side down) onto the filling.Pour the glaze onto the center of the cake and carefully spread the glaze, with an offset spatula, to the edges of the cake. Refrigerate a few hours before serving to allow the glaze to set and flavors to mingle.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

I used a 9-inch cake pan and baked the cake for 20 minutes. It worked fine, but I had to be careful when cutting the cake in half, since it wasn’t quite as tall as it should have been.

My adaptation of many recipes.