It seems like I found some spare time to post some recipes I made a while ago. It is very hot in Berlin today and I am to lazy to get out of the flat and start sweating. There are 28° in the flat now, even Kitty (my cat) is looking for some cool spots where to sleep… seems like she likes the closet.
About a month ago I have been asked to bake 2 pies, one for the “Italian breakfast” at work and one for my boss. My boss hates cinnamon so i could have baked him some Swedish cinnamon rolls but in the end I thought that the easiest thing to do was bake the same pie twice .
Strawberry and cream “crema pasticciera” pie is a sort tradition in my family, when spring comes we bake this pie because is fresh, light and not too sweet, perfect as dessert after a Sundays lunch. Is very easy to bake this pie; but it requires some time because you will have to bake the crust and cook the cream and let it cool down overnight.
So my suggestion is that you start baking the crust and while this one is baking in the oven you can start to cook the cream.
I used a 26 cm baking pan and half later milk for the cream.
For the cream:
- 175 gr. sugar
- 40 gr. flour
- 500 ml. milk
- 3 egg yolks
- lemon zest
Put in a pot the egg yolks and the sugar and stir them together till the colour is less yellow and you see little bubbles. Add some milk, not all just a little 150 millilitres, now add the flour using a sieve. Stir and all the rest of milk, the lemon zest and put the pot on the stove. Keep staring till the cream start to boil and become more dense. To make sure that the cream will be thick enough and will not drain out while you are cutting the cake you can add one or 2 gelatine leaves. Now let the cream cool down and remove the zest. You should now have a nice smooth yellow mixture, if it is not very smooth it does not really matter, as you won´t notice it while eating the pie 🙂
The crust:
- 250 gr. flour
- 125 gr. butter
- 100 gr. sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- a pinch of baking powder ( will keep the dough a little softer)
- a pinch of salt
Make a little mountain with sugar and flour, in the middle of the mountain create a little hole, like a little volcano, and add the egg yellows. With the help of the fork scramble the eggs and slowly start to add four from the “volcano” . Add the soft butter, the baking powder and the salt and work the dough till you get a ball. Let the dough ball rest for 1h. in the fridge.
Roll the dough with a pin till is 3-5 millimetres high. Oil the baking pan and spread out the dough, the side should be approximately 4-5 cm. Before put it in the oven cover it with a foil of oiled back oven paper and some beans/rice above, this will help to give a nice shape to the crust. Cook it at 180° for 30 min.
PREPARATION
Once the crust and the cream are cold you can start to build the pie. Pour the cream on the crust and cover it with your favourite fruits. I used strawberries.
dolce fede 