Birthday Cake
30 October 2007
Searching for an idea for Simon’s birthday cake I stumbled over a recipe for a mango cream cake in my first ever cookbook which I had got at the age of 12 or so (Mango-Oberstorte, p. 56 in Kochen und Küche – Rezepte über ein ganzes Jahr, volume 5). I admit that a mango cake seems rather like a summer recipe, the more so as this one is served chilled, but I just had to remember how delighted I was by the refined taste of the cake when I first tried it back in the day (loooong time ago).
As usual I did not just copy the recipe from the book but altered it a bit to give it my personal touch. I mainly added some nuts and spices to make cake more suitable for the autumn season (I know, I take really every excuse for adding nuts…). Instead of using cocoa powder for the base of the cake (as suggested in the original recipe) I used hazelnuts, and I added some crushed pistachios to the cream – a wonderful combination with the tender taste of the mango cream.
My intention was actually to first fill only half of the cream into the mould, spread the pistachios on top and then cover with the rest of
the cream so the different layers would be visible when cutting the cake. This did not quite work out as the cream is quite liquid at that time,
and when pouring over the second bit of cream the pistachios just shifted to the side. I hence decided to just mix them into the cream next time
and also to use even more than I did this time, as I really liked this combination.
Mango Cream Cake with Pistachios and Hazelnuts
| for the base of the cake |
| 4 eggs |
| 100g sugar |
| 1 package of vanilla sugar |
| 60g flour |
| 60g grated hazelnuts |
| grated zest of 1 lemon |
| 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder |
| some cinnamon and nutmeg |
| a pinch of salt |
| 60g apricot jam |
for the cream |
| 2 ripe mangos |
| juice of 1 lemon |
| 1 egg yolk |
| 500ml whipping cream |
| 250ml milk |
| 1 package of vanilla sugar |
| 1 vanilla bean |
| 2 full tablespoons of starch |
| 80g pistachios, crushed and roasted |
| a dash of rum |
| 6 leaves of gelatine |
for decoration |
| 40g grated hazelnuts |
| a few pistachios |
| some whipping cream |
Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. For the base of the cake first prepare a mixture of flour, grated hazelnuts, lemon zest, baking powder as well as the spices and the salt. Next whip the 4 eggs together with the sugar and the vanilla sugar over a pot of steaming hot water until foamy. Carefully fold the flour and hazelnut mixture into the foamy eggs. Fill into a greased and floured round baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let it cool down, then take the cake out of the mould, cut it vertically into two slices and spread some jam inbetween. Put the parts together again and place the cake back in the mould. Make sure you use a baking pan that opens to the side as the cream will go on top!
For the cream slowly heat the milk together with the pulp of the vanilla bean (open the vanilla bean along its long side and scratch out the pulp with a knife) and the vanilla sugar. Dissolve the starch in some cold milk and add it to the hot milk once the latter starts boiling. Keep stirring until thick, then turn off the heat and let it cool down; this should result in a kind of vanilla pudding. Press it through a sieve before processing it further.
While you wait for the pudding to cool down peel the mangos and cut the pulp off the stones, then process in a blender until smooth. Mix the puréed mangos with the egg yolk, the lemon juice and the rum (just about a bottle cap full), then fold in the whipped cream and the crushed and slightly roasted pistachios. Soak the gelatine in cold water until soft, then drain it and dissolve it well in very little very hot water. Carefully mingle with the mango cream; make sure mixture is well stirred. Now pour the cream over the baked cake into the baking pan and spread it out evenly.
Keep the cake in the freezer for 4 hours. The cream will get solid and the gelatine should keep it from building crystals. Later pass it on to the fridge and leave it there over night. Before serving cautiously take the cake out of the mould, coat it with grated hazelnuts and sprinkle some of the crushed pistachios on top. For final decoration I used some whipped cream topped with some whole pistachios.
If you do not eat it all at once keep the cake refrigerated. Even in the fridge the cake cannot be kept for too long (a day or so is fine) – but this problem should easily be taken care of… ;-)