Chateau Gateau

Roopa

An obstkuchen is a cake that layers a pie like crust, custard, and fruits. It’s more of a spring/summer cake that uses seasonal fruits and flavours. I definitely want to remake this next summer with locally grown berries!

SWEET PASTE BASE (MUERBETEIG)

INGREDIENTS

• 90 g granulated sugar
• 180 g cold butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 g vanilla extract
• 1 g lemon zest
• 270 g pastry flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the sugar and butter together with a wooden spoon until there are no more butter lumps
2. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest, and vanilla until smooth
3. Add the sifted flour and knead together only until ingredients are well combined (don’t overwork)
4. Roll into a log, wrap in plastic, and place in fridge for 24 hours
5. Remove from fridge and roll the paste out, dock holes with a docker or fork, cut out a circle, and place in a pastry ring on a sheet pan
6. Spread jam on top

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PISTACHIO FILLING

INGREDIENTS

• 100 g icing sugar
• 100 g butter
• 2 eggs
• 100 g almond powder
• 20 g pistachio paste

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream together the butter and sugar
2. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well
3. Mix in the almond powder and pistachio paste
4. Pipe evenly over the sweet paste crusts in the pastry rings
5. Bake at medium temperature until done

Notes:

• The eggs add a lot of liquid and will not emulsify, but adding the almond powder will fix the texture
• This is often used as a base in fruit tarts, and can easily use any other nut instead of almonds

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WHITE WINE ORANGE CREME

INGREDIENTS

• 80 mL orange juice
• 120 mL white wine
• 20 lemon juice
• 50 g sugar
• 20 cornstarch
• 2 egg yolks
• 90 g marzipan
• 20 mL Grand Marnier

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together all of the juice and wine. Put a small amount aside, and heat the rest in a saucepan to boil
2. Mix the juice that was set aside with cornstarch and sugar, and dissolve well. Once dissolved, mix the egg yolks in
3. When the liquid starts to boil, add a little bit to the egg mixture while whisking to temper the eggs
4. Add the tempered mixture back to the saucepan, and whisk vigorously until it is thick and starts to boil again
5. Remove the saucepan from heat, and mix the chunks of marzipan in until smooth
6. Whisk the Grand Marnier into the saucepan
7. When it has cooled, pipe over the baked pistachio-sweet paste crust

Notes:

• If you do not have marzipan, you may use butter instead
• make sure to cut loose your baked sweet paste from the cake ring before adding custard

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FRUITS

Depending on what kinds of fruits you want in this tart, chop them up and fill the pastry rings with fruit.

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LEMON JELLY

INGREDIENTS

• 60 mL lemon juice
• 60 mL passionfruit juice
• 120 mL water
• 3 g fresh ginger
• 60 g sugar
• 5 g agar-agar powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all of the ingredients together in a saucepan and heat over medium heat
2. Once the liquid has come to a boil, brush it over the assembled fruits to create a barrier, and then gradually pour the jelly in
3. Let the jelly solidify

Notes:

• Agar-agar is obtained from red algae and can be used to glue things together very nicely
• Gelatin could not be used in this tart, because pineapple, kiwi, and mango all contain enzymes that break down protein bonds and prevent gelatin from gelling
• If you are using agar strings, they must be bloomed in water like gelatin, and you will use roughly double the amount as the powder; the powder just gets mixed with the liquid before it’s heated
• Agar and gelatin are not interchangeable; agar only works for jelly that has a high liquid content
• Agar has a cleaner mouthfeel than gelatin

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FINAL ASSEMBLY

• Remove the pastry ring from the cake
• Ice the sides with whipping cream or custard
• Add shredded coconut onto the sides of the cake