A patisserie of my own....

The baker in me is on a high these days. Have tried my hand at various new cakes, mainly tortes, during the last two weeks and guess what???

No disappointments!! Nearly all of them turned out great....or atleast far better than I had anticipated.

 

Im totally in love with these elegant, light and delicate multi-layered goodnesses these days. Not only do they look great but filled with various different flavours and textures, they also taste incredibly delicious.

Im sharing the recipe for the one I made to take to a friends last week. A multi-layered almond sponge cake with shortcrust pastry base, a peach mousse filling, whipped cream cheese orange frosting and lemon curd drizzle on top. phewwww!!!Yes, its indeed a very detailed cake and on top of it, I completely forgot to recharge the batteries, so there wont be many images today.

Now stop wrinkling your nose, I always describe each step very thoroughly, so youll be fine even without the pictures :p

Multi layered Peach and Almond Torte

Ingredients:

For the shortcrust base

115 g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
50 g sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
half beaten egg
1 tsp water
50 g soft butter


Beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Add in the egg and water and process until everything is well combined. Add in the flour and process just until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until smooth (Dont overwork the dough!). Roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap and line the base of a 26 cm spring form. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the Almond Sponge:

6 whole eggs
pinch of salt
125 g fine granulated sugar
1/2 tsp instant coffee mixed in 3 tbs boiling water
200 g almond powder
1 tsp baking powder

Bake an almond sponge cake using my regular method for baking sponge (Replace the all-purpose flour with almond flour, the procedure remains the same). Pour the mixture into a greased, lined and foil-packed 26 cm baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 30-40 minutes.

Remove from oven, place on the wire rack to cool, remove the linings and allow to cool COMPLETELY.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

For the Peach Mousse:

1 cup canned or soft fresh peaches, cut in small cubes
2 tbs sugar
1 cup orange juice / you may take apple or pineapple as well
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp powdered gelatin
pinch of yellow food colouring, optional

Dissolve gelatin in cold water. Take rest of the ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, allow to cool for a while and stir in the dissolved gelatin. Allow to cool completely.

Slice the sponge cake into two layers with a sharp knife or cake saw.

Take a big flat plate and set your ring mould on it.

Line the bottom with the prepare shortcrust pastry base. Tip: If youre lucky enough to have an adjustable ring mould, tighten it around the base to adjust the size or the liquid mousse will overflow on the sides OR bake a slightly bigger crust (and sponge) and adjust it inside your ring. This will ensure a beautiful layering!

Apply a thin layer of melted fruit jam (or lemon curd as I did) on the short crust base and cover it with a slice of almond sponge. Pour the prepared mousse over it and cover with the other slice of sponge. Press the top lightly, cover the ring with a plate and put in the refrigerator for atleast 3 hrs or until the mousse is set. I usually do this at night and proceed further with it the next morning.

For the Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:

300 g heavy cream
100 g cream cheese
3 tbs San Apart ( Its a quick stabilising agent I use in my desserts here in Germany, see Note below)
zest of  an orange

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the heavy cream and whip until soft peaks start to form. Add in the San Apart or 3 tbs icing sugar as well as the orange zest. Beat again for just a few seconds. Pour 3/4th of this cream over the prepared cake. And allow to set for half an hour.
Note: If you bake a lot, then you must be familiar with the consistency of stabilised whipped cream, just in case you feel adding sugar will not make the brand of your heavy cream hold for longer, try using gelatin or agar agar powder as explained in here.

Heat the side of your ring mould using a hair dryer or hot wet towel and carefully pull it upwards. Decorate the top of the cake with remaining cream and drizzle with lemon curd or jam or decorate with grated chocolate or caramelised peaches or whatever you like.

The torte was seriously great with each component a poem in itself and I was actually pretty proud of my execution as even those who usually never eat cakes took a slice of it at the get together. Who doesnt like to hear others gushing about their hard work :)