I do love eating a piece of a good strawberry tart. One of the tradional danish versions calls for a mazarin cake with a dark chocolate ganache, topped with silken vanilla cream and sweet strawberries. It’s incredibly delicious, tasteful and beautiful to look at. Most of the tart can be made the day before and then decorated kust before it’s devoured by happy and hungry guests.
STRAWBERRY TART
12-16 SERVINGS
MAZARIN CAKE:
200 G GRATED MARZIPAN (THE GOOD STUFF WITH AT LEAST 60% ALMONDS)
175 G SUGAR
200 G SOFTENED BUTTER
3 LARGE EGGS
50 G FLOUR
Prep a 26 cm tinplate tart pan with a loose bottom, by cutting a circle of baking paper to fit the bottom of the pan. This will make it easier to move the finished cake.
(You could also choose to use a 26 cm springform pan, the bottom covered by baking paper.)
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees celsius
Cream marzipan, sukker and butter together with an electrical whisk.
Add the eggs on at a time, the add the flour.
Pour the batter into the pan and place it on a baking sheet with baking paper.
Bake the cake in the middle of your oven for 30-35 min, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, when inserted into the middle of the cake.
Carefully remove the cake from the pan, while it’s still warm, so that the ganache can be spread on top.
GANACHE:
100 G DARK CHOCOLATE
1 TBSP. HEAVY CREAM
While the cake is baking, you can easily make both the ganache and the vanilla custard
Finely chop the chocolate, for which a blender can be used, and melt it together with the cream. Either in the microwave in short burst of time, so as not to burn the chocolate or over a water bath on the stove.
Stir the two into a shimmering ganache.
While the cake is still warm, spread the ganache on top. Put the cake aside, so that everything can cool and set.
VANILLA CUSTARD:
½ VANILLA POD, SEEDS SCRAPED OUT
30 G SUGAR
10 G CORNSTARCH
2 EGG YOLKS
100 ML MILK
100 ML HEAVY CREAM
Whisk vanilla, sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks together with a handheld whisk.
Heat milk, cream and the empty pod i a pot, do not let it boil.
Pour the warn liquid, minus vanilla pod, into the eggs in a thin stream while whisking constantly, so the egg yolks don’t turn into scrambled eggs.
When everything is mixed well together and without lumps, pour the liquid back into the pot and stir while heating it up The custard will begin to thicken, but keep stirring otherwise the cream could burn or curdle.
The now thick cream can be poured into a bowl. Place a piece of cling film on top of the custard, so that the two touch. This will prevent the custard from forming a skin while cooling.
The vanilla custard has to cool completely in the fridge.
DECORATION:
150 ML HEAVY CREAM
500 G STRAWBERRIES
EDIBLE FLOWERS OR LEMON BALM HERBS
Whisk the cream into light peaks and then fold it a little at a time into the cold vanilla custard to make it a cream.
Spread the cream on top of the mazarin cake.
Wash the fresh strawberries and decorate the cake with them, either whole or in slices. If you want to decorate with strawberry slices, then start from the edge and move inwards in circles.
Finally, decorate with edible flowers or lemon balm leaves.
Velbekommen!