A proper autumn cake, with notes of good old-fashioned Danish apple trifle. The cake consists of a macaroon base, sponge cake, apple mousse with red currant gelé, caramelized apple pieces and a delicious vanilla cream.
APPLE LAYER CAKE
10-12 SERVINGS
MACAROON BASE:
150 G MARZIPAN, 60% ALMONDS
70 G EGG WHITES
80 G ICING SUGAR
Mix marzipan with icing sugar with your hands and add the egg white a little at a time, it will be very sticky.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Draw a 20 cm circle on a piece of baking paper.
Put the batter in a piping bag and pipe it out onto the baking paper inside the circle.
Bake the base for about 20 min until golden.
Allow the base to cool completely and cut a circle of 18 cm in diameter out.
SPONGE CAKE:
2 EGGS M/L
130 G SUGAR
1 VANILLA POD
160 G FLOUR
1 TSP. BAKING POWDER
130 G WHOLE MILK
30 G BUTTER
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla seeds thick and foamy with an electric whisk for about 5 min
Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and gently fold it into the eggs with a rubber spatula.
Heat milk and butter and add it immediately to the batter.
Pour the batter into a 20 cm spring mould, greased and lined with baking paper on bottom and sides.
Bake the sponge cake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until it is baked through.
Loosen the cake from the mould and let it cool completely before cutting the sponge out to 18 cm in diameter and then cutting it into two layers.
APPLE MOUSSE:
5 SHEETS GELATINE
700 G APPLES, WHOLE WEIGHT
2 ORGANIC LEMON, JUICE AND ZEST
100 G APPLE JUICE
1 VANILLA POD
3 TBSP. SUGAR
300 G HEAVY CREAM
Soak the gelatine in cold water, 5-10 min.
Peel and core the apples and cut them into small pieces.
Put all the ingredients, except the cream, in a saucepan and cook it all tender for 15 minutes.
Blend the apple compote into a fine puree.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and melt it in the puree.
Remove 100 g of apple puree, set it aside in the fridge.
Let the rest of the apple puree cool down, while you whip the cream to soft peaks.
Fold apple puree and whipped cream together.
Put the mousse in a piping bag and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes, till the mousse feels lightly firm, but stil pipeable.
CARAMELLISED APPLES:
3 APPLES
25 G MOLASSES SUGAR
25 G SUGAR
Peel the apples and remove the core.
Cut them into small cubes and put them in a saucepan with the two sugars.
Let it cook under a lid for 5 minutes.
Remove lid and cook for approx. 10 min. till nicely caramelized, but not burned. Keep an eye on it.
Let the apples cool completely.
ASSEMBLY:
SPONGE AND MACAROON BASE
MOUSSE
CARAMELLISED APPLES
APPLE PUREE
RED CURRANT GELÉ
Start by placing the macaroon base on the dish you wish to serve the cake on and tighten an adjustable cake ring around it, lined with cake plastic in the sides.
Spread 3 teaspoons of red currant gelé on the base and then 3 teaspoons apple puree.
Pipe half of the mousse on top, then 1/3 of the caramelized apples.
Place a sponge layer on top and repeat the process, with red currant gelé, apple puree, mousse and caramelized apples.
Spread red currant gelé and apple puree on the last sponge layer.
Place the base on top of the mousse, with the buttered side down and press it lightly into place so that the surface is flat and even.
Place the cake in the fridge for a couple of hours until the mousse has set, preferably overnight.
VANILLA CREAM:
1 SHEETS GELATINE
2 EGGS
45 G SUGAR
20 G CORN FLOUR
1/2 VANILLA POD
200 G WHOLE MILK
150 G HEAVY CREAM
Soak gelatine in cold water for 5-10 minutes
Cut the vanilla pod, lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. Mix the seeds with a little of the sugar and put the vanilla pod in a pan.
Whisk egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar together.
Add cornflour.
Add 50 g of milk and stir it together.
Pour the remaining 150 g of milk into the pan with the vanilla pod and heat it to just below the boiling point.
Pour the warm milk into the egg mixture, in a thin stream as you whisk, and then pour it all back into the pan again.
Heat the cream to a boil at medium heat, while constantly whisking.
When the cream is bubbling and has thickened, continue to cook it while whisking it well for a few minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and remove the vanilla pod.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and melt it in the cream.
Pour the cream into a bowl. Cover the surface of the cream with a piece of cling film and refrigerate until completely cold, at least 3-4 hours.
Whisk the cold vanilla cream well so there are no lumps.
Beat the heavy cream to soft peaks.
Fold the whipped cream into the vanilla cream in two turns and pour the finished cream into a piping bag with a large round piping tip.
DECORATION:
VANILLA CREAM
ALMOND SPLITS
CARAMELLISED APPLES
MINI MERINGUES
VALRHONA CRUNCH PEARLS
Decorate the top of the cake with cream, caramelized apples, almond splits, meringue and crunch pearls.