Lemon Raspberry Cream Puff Cake

Ingredients

Vanilla Custard

3 egg yolks
100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
⅛ tsp. salt
16 g cornstarch (2 tbsp.)
340 g whole milk (1 ½ c.)
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
184 g unsalted butter room temperature (¾ c. + 1 tbsp.)

Choux Pastry

60 g whole milk (2 oz.)
100 g water (3 ⅓ oz.)
85 g unsalted butter sliced (6 tbsp.)
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. salt
90 g all purpose flour (¾ c.)
150 g egg room temperature (~3 large eggs)
14 g unsalted butter (1 tbsp.)

Lemon Curd & Raspberry Jam

35 g unsalted butter room temperature (2 ½ tbsp.)
1 egg
50 g granulated sugar (¼ c.)
zest of 1 large lemon
50 g freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 ⅔ oz.)
⅛ tsp. salt
120 g raspberry jam* (½ c.)

Instructions

Vanilla Custard

Start by making the vanilla custard. Add the egg yolks, sugar, salt, and cornstarch to a small mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined. Set aside.
Add the milk to a medium-sized saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir occasionally until it comes to a simmer.
While constantly whisking the egg mixture, slowly stream in about half of the hot milk mixture. Then, pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and put it back over medium heat.
Constantly whisk the custard until it thickens, then whisk it for an additional 30 seconds. Remove the custard from the heat and mix in the vanilla bean paste and 14g (1 tbsp.) of butter until the mixture is cohesive and smooth.
Transfer the custard to another bowl and press plastic wrap directly on top of the custard, then place it in the fridge to chill.

Choux Pastry

Preheat the oven to 425℉ / 220℃. Line the bottom and sides of two 7” springform pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Add the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt to a medium-sized saucepan. Set the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to boil.
Once boiling, vigorously mix in the flour until the mixture thickens and clumps up into one cohesive dough. Continue to cook the mixture, continuously mixing, for one more minute.
Remove the dough from the heat and transfer it into a medium sized mixing bowl. Set the dough aside to cool down for 5-10 minutes, until the dough temperature is around 120℉ / 50℃ (or just not too hot to touch.)
While the dough is cooling down, whisk your eggs together in a small bowl.
Once the dough has slightly cooled, slowly beat the whisked eggs into the dough. Have a stand mixer or hand mixer running, and slowly stream in 1/4 of the egg mixture. Beat for ~30 seconds, then beat in another 1/4 of the mixture. Continue until you’ve used up all of the egg, then beat the dough for another minute.
Split the dough between the two lined springform pans. Spread the dough into an even layer. Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to form little swoops to make the top of the dough uneven.
Melt 1 tbsp. of butter and brush it over the pastry.
Bake for 10 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, reduce the heat to 375℉ / 190℃. Bake for another 18-20 minutes, until the top of the pastry is golden brown. Turn off the oven and crack the oven door. Leave the pastry in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove it and let it cool to room temperature.
While the pastry is baking, start on the lemon curd.

Lemon Curd

Cube the butter, then place it into a small mixing bowl. Place a fine mesh sieve over the butter and set it aside.
Add the egg, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt to a medium sized saucpan. Whisk the mixture vigorously until it's smooth.
Place the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens (~3-5 min.)
Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it through the fine mesh sieve over the butter. Mix together the curd and butter until the butter has completely melted, then set the curd in the fridge.

Filling / Assembly

Finish making the vanilla custard. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 2-3 minutes, until it's light and fluffy.
While beating the butter, slowly add in dollops of the custard** until you have used it all up. Beat the mixture for an additional 2 minutes.
Choose the choux pastry that is more flat on top, and slightly press down on it in the springform pan it was baked in.
Top the pastry with ½ of the custard, followed by dollops of all of the lemon curd and raspberry jam. Top it off with the remaining custard, then use a knife to gently swirl the custard, curd, and jam together.
Place the other pastry on top of the fillings, cover the whole thing with plastic wrap, then place it in the fridge to firm up for at least one hour.
Remove the cream puff cake from the fridge, generously dust it with powdered sugar, top it with fresh raspberries (optional), then slice, serve, and enjoy!

Notes

*You could make your own raspberry jam but I figured this recipe is already labor-intensive enough, you can use store-bought jam or preserves!

**If your custard is cold, not room temperature, make sure you bring it to room temperature before beating it into the butter. You can do this by letting it sit out at room temp., or you can microwave it in 10-second intervals, stirring after each, until it's no longer cold.

Nutrition