Yield: 8-16 servings
Ingredients
Pastry Cream
- 5.33 ounces (160 ml) whole milk
- 1/6 vanilla bean or 1/6 teaspoon (1 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (12 g) cornstarch
- 1/3 cup (38 g) granulated sugar
- Dash of salt
- 1/2 an egg
- 1/2 ounce unsalted butter
Cake
- 12 ounces (340 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 12 ounces (340 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 eggs, at room temperature
- 10 ounces (285 g) cake flour
- 1/2 tablespoon (6 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark rum
- 8 ounces (228 g) pastry cream
- 1 ounces (28 g) thinly slices almonds
- Confectioners sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Place milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer.
- Keeping an eye on the milk, whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Gradually add the eggs and mix until smooth.
- Slowly add about one-third of the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking rapidly. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining milk.
- Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Stir in the vanilla extract. Stir in the butter continuing to stir until it is completely incorporated. Pour the custard into a bowl and cover.
- Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter mixture in three steps.
- Grease the inside of a 10 inch (25 cm) cake pan. Place the batter in a pastry bag with a No. 5 (10-mm) plain tip. Pipe the batter in a spiral over the bottom of the prepared cake pan, starting in the center. Pipe an additional ring of batter on top of the ring against the inside perimeter of the pan.
- Stir the rum into the pastry cream. Spread the pastry cream evenly within the frames made by the batter so that the pastry cream does not touch the sides of the pan. Pipe the reaming batter in a spiral on the top of the pastry cream. Use a small spatula to spread the batter to the edge of the pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 50 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan. Remove the cake from the pan and dust with powdered sugar.