TORTA PRINCIPESSA ALLE FRAGOLE

Credits: Vincenzo & Matteo Lonati

Method

Recipe for three donut-shaped ring moulds. In order to make it easy to remove the cake from the mould, use silicone moulds with a diameter of 20 cm (the cake is assembled in the reverse order).

A layer of strawberry cream 

Lemon sponge cake

A layer of lemon cream 

A layer of strawberry cream

Lemon sponge cake 

A thin layer of strawberry jam 

A ring-shaped layer of streusel on the bottom to finish the cake 

Put the cake in the blast chiller to stabilize it, then place it on a rack and put the red icing over all the parts of the cake. Place the white chocolate ring coloured golden yellow on top of the cake with the small strawberry wedges coated with neutral gelatine. Garnish the centre with a sugar decoration of your choice.

Sponge cake

Whip the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and honey with a stand mixer or an electric egg beater. Slowly add the egg yolk followed by the sifted dry ingredients using a spatula. Butter and flour an 18-cm baking pan and pour the mixture into it. Bake for 20-22 minutes at 190°C with the valve closed and 3 minutes at 190°C with the valve open.

Strawberry cream

Mix the ricotta, mascarpone, strawberry puree and sugar for two minutes. Add the gelatine, which should be previously softened in cold water. Once softened, melt it at 60°, add it and mix for a minute inside the mixer. Add the whipped cream and, lastly, the diced strawberries. 

Streusel

Put all the ingredients in a stand mixer and mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated and homogeneously absorbed. Put in the fridge to stabilize. Create a layer of 6-to-7-mm high paste: sift the mixture through a 8x8 mm-large sieve, creating a grainy substance, scattering it evenly across a baking pan. Press it with a piece of cardboard and coat with white sugar. Bake in the ring forms at 160°C to create the ‘donut’, baking to a toasted-hazelnut colour. Cooking time is about 12-14 minutes.

Maraschino–strawberry syrup

Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Let cool, then add the Maraschino liqueur and the filtered strawberry pulp and mix.

Red Icing

Hydrate the gelatine in the water for that purpose. Bring the rest of the water and the sugar and glucose to a boil. Slowly pour the mixture over the cocoa butter, amalgamated with the condensed milk and the food colouring, emulsifying for 2 minutes with a mixer. You can add the gold powder to make it less transparent. Set the icing for at least 12 hours in the fridge, covered by a cellophane sheet. When it’s time to use the icing, bring it to 28-30°C. Add the icing to the cake over a rack.

Cut strawberries to decorate 

Neutral gelatine to coat the strawberries.