Pear, vanilla & tonka bean cake
26 March 2021
Prep time : 1 hour + 15 minutes cooking
For a 18cm cake :
Sponge cake :
100g all eggs (2 medium eggs)
60g sugar
60g flour
½ tonka bean
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and grated tonka bean for several minutes (at least 10 to 15), until you have a whitened, very puffy mixture that makes a ribbon.
Sift the flour and add it with a maryse. Mix as little as possible to obtain a homogeneous but still puffy mixture.
Pour into a mold or circle of 18cm in diameter and bake in the oven preheated to 180 ° C for about 15 minutes (check according to the oven).
Punching syrup :
100g sugar
75g water
5g vanilla flavouring
Bring the water and sugar to a boil. When the sugar is completely dissolved, add the vanilla flavoring (and a little grated tonka bean if you like), then set aside.
Mousseline cream :
235g whole milk
½ tonka bean
1 vanilla bean
55g egg yolks (about 3 yolks)
80g sugar
35g cornstarch
25g butter (1)
100g butter (2) taken out of the refrigerator several hours in advance
Pastry cream :
Bring the milk to a boil with the grated tonka bean and vanilla seeds.
In parallel, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch.
Pour half of the hot milk over the previous mixture, mixing well, then pour it back into the pan.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until cream thickens.
Remove from the heat, add the butter (1) and stir well, then pour the cream into a container (as large as possible if you are in a hurry), put a plastic wrap on it and put it in the refrigerator until it is room temperature (it should not be too cold when you add the butter).
Mousseline cream :
When the pastry cream is at room temperature, whip it to smooth it out, then add the softened butter little by little (it must be very soft to incorporate properly), whisking constantly.
Continue to whip until you have an airy, fluffy and smooth mousseline cream.
If the temperatures were not right and you still see pieces of butter, or your mousseline is not smooth, don't panic, it can be made up. In this case, take a blowtorch and heat the edges of the bowl while continuing to whip, the cream will smooth out as you go along (if you don't have a blowtorch, put the bowl on a hot water bath for a few seconds, then whip, and repeat until you have a good result). Then go on to the assembly.
Assembly :
5 pears (to be adjusted according to their size, it is necessary to be able to go around the circle with the half pears)
1 lemon
Cut the sponge cake in half, and soak both parts with a brush and the punching syrup.
Place your circle on the serving dish, then place rhodoid inside. Place pear halves (which you will have lightly lemoned first to prevent them from oxidizing) cut out as shown in the photos all around the edge.
Re-cut the sponge cake to the correct diameter, and place it in the circle.
Put a little mousseline cream on the sponge cake and on the edges to cover the pears, then put 160g of pears cut in small pieces on top (by reusing the scraps of pears from the edge).
Cover with mousseline cream, then the second sponge cake.
Finish with a small amount of cream and smooth the top.
Put the cake in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
Finishing :
140g liquid cream
25g powdered sugar
1 pear
Tonka bean
Vanilla powder
Unmold the cake (if you do not intend to eat it immediately, do not remove the rhodoid).
Whip the liquid cream with the powdered sugar until you get a firm whipped cream.
Cut a pear in half and in thin slices, arrange them on the cake. Then, pipe the whipped cream on top of the cake, and decorate with a little grated tonka bean and vanilla powder. And there you have it, your pear cake is ready, enjoy it!
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