Medlar Cream Cake is a modern American recipe for classic sponge-style cake with pastry cream flavoured with medlars. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic American version of: Medlar Cream Cake.
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Here is a classic American recipe making use of medlars.
Ingredients:
For the Medlar Pastry Cream:
520ml whole milk
65g sugar, divided
3 large egg yolks
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp butter
200ml medlar fruit, de-seeded through a sieve, or substitute dark apple or pear butter
For the Cake:
400g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
400g sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
270g plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup medlar pastry cream or regular pastry cream
Method:
To prepare the medlars: Gather about 1l of bletted fruit. Medlar fruit is ripe when completely soft and squishy. We let the medlar blet or ripen on the tree, but you can harvest while firm and ripen in a cool room or fridge. The consistency is like pudding with a cluster of seeds. To get just the flesh with no seeds, push all the interior contents through a medium-sized sieve until you have 200ml.
Place the milk in a heavy-based saucepan with half of the sugar. Heat on medium just until it starts steaming. While the milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks in a metal bowl with the other half of the sugar and the cornstarch. When the milk is hot, remove from the heat and whisk a little at a time into the yolk mixture, until you have added all the milk. Pour back into the saucepan. Turn the heat back to low and stir constantly with a spatula. Watch for the pastry cream to thicken to the point that your stirring spatula will leave an opening to the bottom of the pot and the mixture is thick like a pudding—this will happen fast! Remove from the heat immediately. Stir in the butter until smooth. If you are using the medlar fruit, then add this now by folding into the pastry cream. Set aside in the refrigerator. This can be made up to 2 days in advance, stored in the refrigerator.
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Before beginning, it is very important to be sure that all your ingredients are soft and warm. Ideally, even the temperature in your kitchen should be warm to ensure a soft batter! Prepare a 12-inch cake pan with a parchment circle for the bottom and a thin layer of butter for the sides.
Cream the soft butter with the sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for a few minutes until the mixture is free of lumps and soft and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl down after all the eggs have been added. Add the vanilla extract and mix to incorporate. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a separate bowl with a sieve. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-egg mixture without over-mixing.
Spoon the cake batter into a large tipless pastry bag (or a plastic freezer bag with one corner snipped off). Pipe half of the batter in a tight spiral into the bottom of a 30°Cm diameter springform cake tin. Pipe an extra ring around the inside edge of the pan, building up the sides slightly to create a well in the centre that will prevent the filling from seeping out to the edge. Spread the medlar pastry cream evenly in this well using a small spatula or knife. Pipe the remaining cake batter in a spiral on top, sandwiching the pastry cream in the centre. Use your spatula to move the cake batter over the top, covering the filling as much as possible. It’s okay if a bit of the filling shows through; when it heats in the oven it will spread out more.
Bake for 60 to 90 minutes. Check the cake at 1 hour; if it needs more time, let it continue baking for up to another half hour. It should spring back lightly in the centre when it is done. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes before un-moulding. Dust the top with powdered sugar, then slice and enjoy.
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