There have been so moments in my life as a chef when I make something so delicious, so memorable for my taste buds that I start to obsess about it – and the apricot cream inside the cake is one of them.
I’ve been working on the new summer menu for the restaurant for the past 2 months and I made an apricot cream to accompany the new a-la-carte dessert. To be creating for a vegan restaurant with fine dining etiquette, I know that my recipes need to be top-notch. So I worked at figuring out how to make a creme patissiere out of apricots, and balance it’s sweet-sour taste with some delicious fatty elements.
And the beauty about this cream is that it works with absolutely any fruit you have on hand; plus, the cake batter is one which can be customized in so many ways too – so this recipe is truly one for a perfect dessert- for you! Here’s some inspiration:
a) strawberry cream with a cake batter mede with a few blended basil leaves in the milk
b) a refreshing lemon cream with cardamom sprinkled ontop of the cake before baking, or
c) a delicious rhubarb cream with star anise infused milk
The possibilities are endless! Making this will be a delicious breeze.
This recipe has 6-8 servings.
Ingredients
Apricot cream
- 200 g apricots, deseeded
- 90 g sugar
- 30 g starch
- 50 ml water
- 15 ml lemon juice
- 1/2 zest of one lemon
- 70 g vegan butter/deorodized coconut oil
Vanilla cake
- 190 g cake flour
- 90 g sugar
- 10 g baking powder
- 60 g neutral oil
- 150 g soy milk
- 1/2 zest of one lemon
- pinch of vanilla
- almond slices to decorate
Method
Almond Cream
- Wash and deseed the apricots.
- Add them to a pot with the sugar, lemon juice, zest and start cooking on medium-low heat, stirring every couple of minutes.
- In a glass or bowl mix your starch with water until there are no lumps. Add the liquid mixture to the pot and combine.
- Stir often with a spatula on the bottom of the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the cream doesn’t feel chalky or floury to taste.
- Take off the heat and emuslify with butter that has been softened, using a whisk or a hand-blender. Cover with sling film to touch the surface of the cream and set aside i the fridge to cool down.
- When the cream is set you should be able to scoop bits out with a spoon.
Vanilla Cake
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.
- In a bowl mix together your dry ingredients.
- Add the oil and soy milk to the bowl and mix- the batter will be quite think, like pancake batter.
- Take a baking dish of around 25 cm diameter and oil it on the bottom and sides.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and level it by shaking the dish on the table left-to-right and up- & -down.
- Start scooping out apricot cream and distribute it onto the cake batter so that every slice has bites of cream.
- Generously sprinkle almond slices onto the batter and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let it cool for a few minutes and enjoy as is or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.