Plum Basket Cake
Sponge cake made by the separated-egg method, paired with a plum and milk filling, assembled into a basket-shaped dessert.
Ingredients
Eggs
250g
Cake flour
125g
Sugar (for cake base)
125g
Milk (for filling)
250ml
Vanilla (for filling)
3g
Egg yolks (for filling)
60g
Sugar (for filling)
90g
Gelatin powder (for filling)
5g
Canned plums (for filling)
2 cans
Heavy cream (for filling)
400g
Rum syrup (equal parts rum and honey)
15ml
Instructions
1
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C (top heat). Crack the eggs, separate the yolks from the whites, and set aside.
2
Make the yolk batter
Whisk the egg yolks until broken up. Sift in 1/2 of the cake flour and gently fold with a rubber spatula, then add the remaining cake flour and fold gently until just combined.
3
Beat the egg whites
Beat the egg whites until foamy, then add 1/2 of the sugar and continue beating to soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar and continue beating to stiff peaks.
4
Combine the batter
Fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the yolk batter quickly, then add the remaining egg white mixture and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.
5
Bake the cake base
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe strips and rounds using a piping bag. Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Once fully cooled, gently peel the cake off the parchment paper, measure to the required length, trim off the excess, and set aside.
6
Make the filling
Crush 250g of the plums and set aside. In a saucepan, combine the milk and vanilla and heat over medium heat until boiling, then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Bloom the gelatin powder with water, dissolve it over a double boiler, stir it into the milk mixture, add the whisked egg yolk and sugar mixture, and finally when nearly cooled, fold in the whipped heavy cream.
7
Assembly
Line the bottom of a hollow mold with plastic wrap. Place the cake strips inside, then add a cake round, brush with the rum syrup, pour in the filling halfway, and evenly distribute the plum pieces.
8
Chill to set
Add another cake round, pour in the filling, evenly spread the plum pieces on top, and refrigerate for 3 hours.
9
Decoration
Once set, decorate with plum slices.
