The decoration for this Passionfruit Strawberry pastry is inspired by the incredible pastry chef Frank Haasnoot, and I think it is such a fun way to finish this colourful gâteau.
Passionfruit Strawberry Recipe
Makes 24
Passionfruit cake
Ingredients:
90g melted butter
75g sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
30g canola or other flavourless oil
30g passionfruit juice
75g flour (gluten free, if desired)
¾ tsp baking powder
Brownie tin (16 x 26cm, and 3.5cm deep), lined with baking paper and spray – Anything roughly the same dimensions will work.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C and line the tin. Whisk the butter and sugar together until well combined, followed by the egg and egg yolk. Whisk in the oil and passionfruit juice, then whisk in the flour and baking powder until you have a smooth batter. Pour into the lined tin and smooth out with a palette knife. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the cake is just set to the touch. Allow to cool before making the strawberry mousse.
Strawberry Puree
250g fresh or defrosted frozen strawberries.
Blend the fruit with a blender until smooth. Then strain the blended fruit through a sieve to remove any seeds or large chunks. Store the purée in the fridge and use within a week. Any leftover purée is great for making fancy cocktails, stirring through yoghurt, or can be turned into a quick jam for toast.
I always weigh my purées after making them, as often a significant amount of weight can be lost when straining out the pulp to create a seedless purée. The amount specified in the recipe is always for the puréed weight, not the weight of the fruit before blending.
Passionfruit Puree
150g passionfruit pulp
Follow same instructions as Strawberry Puree.
Strawberry mousse
Ingredients:
1½ sheets gelatine
120g strawberry puree
20g sugar
120g cream
Method:
Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water until soft. Drain and place in a small pot with 20g of the strawberry purée and all of the sugar. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the gelatine has melted. Pour this mixture into the remaining purée and stir to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature while you whip the cream to medium peaks. Fold the cream into the strawberry base until just combined. Pour over the cake immediately and level off with a palette knife. Freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight before making the passionfruit crémeux.
Passionfruit crémeux
Ingredients:
½ sheet gelatine
50g passionfruit purée
50g sugar
1 egg
50g butter
Method:
Soak the gelatine sheet in cold water until soft. Drain and set aside. Whisk the passionfruit purée, sugar and egg together in a small pot. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and whisk in the gelatine. Allow to cool to 45°C and blend the butter in using a stick blender. Use as directed in the recipe.
Pour over the frozen strawberry mousse, level off with a palette knife and freeze overnight, or until solid.
Portioning
Portion the gateau into 24 pieces that are 7 x 2cm rectangles. Store in the freezer and defrost before finishing. Follow the Portioning Instructions.
Chocolate plaques
300g white chocolate, coloured yellow
A4 sheets of acetate
Colouring chocolate
300g white chocolate, coloured yellow
Colouring chocolate is a bit more tricky than it sounds. As chocolate will seize with even a drop of liquid, you Can’t use the normal food colouring you’d find at the supermarket. Chocolate- specific colouring is fat soluble, and mostly comes in powdered form. You can purchase it at specialty cake shops. Powdered colouring tends to be quite expensive; however, you don’t need a lot as it is quite powerful. Natural alternatives include freeze- dried fruit powders and colourful spices, such as turmeric or saffron. When colouring chocolate make sure you pass the powder through a small sieve or tea strainer first, as this will help it dissolve better. I also like to use a stick blender for larger amounts, or a little handheld milk frother for smaller amounts. This helps blend the colouring into the melted chocolate and makes the pigment stronger. The amount of colour you need will vary greatly depending on what brand and type of colouring you use, which is why amounts of colouring are not specified in these recipes. Start with a small drop or pinch, and add more colouring as desired.
Temper the chocolate following the instructions here.
Making flat decorations out of the tempered yellow chocolate
Start by lightly spraying some spray oil onto your bench, then laying an A4 sheet of acetate down on top of the oil. Wipe the top of your sheet with a clean, dry paper towel, which will remove any air bubbles from underneath. It will also prevent any fingerprints from being transferred from your sheet to the chocolate, and stop the sheet itself from moving around while you’re spreading the chocolate. I like to work with the sheet in a landscape position, spreading from left to right.
Pour half of your chocolate down the left side of your sheet (first image, below) and use a large palette knife to scrape it in one smooth motion to the other side (second and third images, below), or you may want to work right to left if you’re left-handed. Unless your palette knife is huge, you’ll only be able to spread about half the chocolate at once. So I spread the top half of my pour first, and then go back and spread the bottom half. You want to get the chocolate as thin and even as you can — about 1mm — with only a few quick strokes. The more you manipulate it, the more you’ll damage the decoration sheet. Going over the edges of the sheet with the chocolate means you’ll get a nice, even layer on the sheet itself, and it’ll also mean you can get as many decorations out of your sheet as possible.
Before you can start cutting your chocolate, you need to let it set slightly. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this can take a few seconds or up to one minute. Your chocolate needs to be slightly soft, but firm enough that you can touch it without leaving an obvious indent. If it’s too soft it won’t cut properly and you won’t be able to get your decorations off in nice, clean- edged pieces. If you wait too long, however, it will set and you won’t be able to cut it.
Use a large knife to cut 6cm wide strips the length of the acetate sheet. Use a toothpick to drag a wave pattern through the middle of the 6cm strips. Use the knife to then cut these into 7cm long pieces. Repeat with the remaining chocolate on a second sheet of acetate. Allow to set fully (pressed flat) before removing from the acetate. To press it flat, place a sheet of baking paper on top, and then a baking tray or chopping board on top of that. As chocolate sets, it contracts. Weighing it down will stop the chocolate from contracting into an uneven curl.
To finish
Chocolate plaques
Black sesame seeds
Press a wavy chocolate plaque into both long sides of the gâteaux. Sprinkle the top with a few black sesame seeds and serve.
This recipe extract is from Patisserie Made Simple: The Art of Petits Gâteaux by Maxine Sheckter, available April in NZ and AUS. Photography by Amber-Jayne Bain.
