If you like strawberries, passion fruit and pistachio – you’re going to love this strawberry cake with pistachio. It’s made of a minty fresh Sable Breton crust. Then topped with passion fruit cream, pistachio cream and delicious sweet strawberries at the top.
This is the kind of dessert you’ll make for special occasions, for people who love fruity desserts (rather than chocolate desserts), and it’s going to make everyone say WOW. These cakes are beautiful, colorful and so delicious.
You can also make this recipe as one large strawberry cake, but I like to prepare it individually so that everyone get their own piece, and you don’t have to cut a whole cake.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Strawberry Cake with Passion fruit and Pistachio Cream
For mint Sablé Breton:
- 75 grams soft butter
- 75 grams sugar
- 1/2 tsp. fine salt
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 5-6 mint leaves (finely chopped)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 100 grams all-purpose flour
- 50 grams ground almonds
- 8 grams baking powder
For passionfruit cream:
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 60 grams sugar
- 40 grams passionfruit juice
- 60 grams soft butter
For pistachio cream:
- 250 ml. milk
- 20 grams pistachio paste
- 70 grams sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 25 grams cornstarch
- 50 grams butter
- 125 ml. heavy cream
Decoration:
- 200- 300 grams fresh strawberries
- 50 grams toasted pistachios (finely chopped)
You will need:
- 30 *9 cm square baking mold
- 2 pastry bags
- 1 cm round piping tip
Mint Sablé Breton:
- Preheat oven to 170c degrees and lightly butter your mold.
- In a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment put butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, lemon zest and mint blend at high speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add egg yolks one at a time, while whisking between additions until assimilated into the mixture.
- Add juice, flour, almonds and baking powder and mix until you get smooth, slightly sticky dough.
- Spread the dough evenly in the mold.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until it is completely golden brown.
- Cool at room temperature.
- Cut into 3*9 cm rectangles and set aside until assembly.
Passion fruit cream:
- In a small saucepan put egg, egg yolk, sugar and passion fruit juice and whisk until blended.
- Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens.
- Remove from heat and add the soft butter. Stir until dissolved and smooth.
- Cool completely in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
- Transfer the cream into a piping bad fitted with 1 cm round piping tip.
Pistachio cream:
- In a small saucepan whisk milk, 35 grams of sugar, pistachio paste and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until simmering point.
- In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and the remaining sugar, add cornstarch and beat into a smooth mixture.
- Pour about 1/3 of hot milk onto the yolk mixture while whisking. Add in the remaining milk and whisk until fully combined.
- Strain and return the mixture into the pot.
- Cook over medium heat, while whisking constantly, until you get a very thick pastry cream.
- Add in the butter and whisk until incorporated.
- Transfer the cream into a flat container and cover the surface with plastic wrap.
- Cool for about 1-2 hours.
Assemble the cakes:
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold into the pistachio cream.
- Transfer the cream into a piping bag fitted with 1 cm round piping tip.
- At the center of each sable Breton rectangle, pipe a streak of passionfruit cream, creating 1 cm margins.
- On the margins, drizzle small droplets of pistachio cream.
- Arrange strawberries in a fan on top of passionfruit cream and decorate with chopped pistachios.
- Keep the desserts in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- You can use raspberries instead of strawberries.
Photo: Natalie Levin