THE KITCHEN : PISTACHIO KARPATKA BY MARTA BEIMIN
i stumbled across one of marta’s recipes on one of my favourite foody instagram accounts noms du jour (you’re welcome) and fell in love with how visually tempting her bakes looked and how they gave me this comforting, wholesome feel without even having tasted them! i love that marta shares traditional polish recipes alongside her other beautifully created desserts and was thrilled when she proposed the idea of sharing her recipe for a pistachio karpatka, which she described as looking like ‘a giant eclair’. i know, sold immediately! ready to dive in? lets go…
INGREDIENTS CHOUX
125 ml water
63 g salted butter
90 g flour
INGREDIENTS PISTACHIO MOUSSELINE CREAM
800 ml milk
8 egg yolks
80 g cornstarch
75 g sugar
300 g pistachio paste 100%
400 g room temperature butter (very soft)
INGREDIENTS RHUBARB & RASPBERRY COMPOTE
4 stalks of rhubarb
100 g raspberries - frozen or fresh
Vanilla paste
Juice from 1/2 lemon
35 g sugar or more if you prefer it sweeter
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with a small amount of water
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for the choux discs, Preheat oven to 220°C no fan
In a saucepan, combine water, butter and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Add the sifted flour and mix with a spatula continuously on low heat until the dough forms a ball and it doesn’t stick to the sides anymore, then Remove from the heat.
Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use a hand mixer or do this by just using a spatula) and let it cool for about 10 min or until the dough doesn’t burn your finger when touching.
On medium-high speed, add one egg at a time to the dough. Scrape the sides if needed and mix for about 1-2 minutes until it’s smooth, shiny and firm enough to hold it’s shape.
Prepare a round 23cm cake tin by adding baking paper to the bottom. No need to grease the sides. Split the dough into two, transferring the first half to the cake tin. Smooth out in an uneven way with a spoon until the whole bottom is covered. This will make the irregular surface once it’s baked.
Bake for 15 min in 220°C no fan and then in 200°C no fan for 10 min.
Once the choux is ready, transfer it on a cooling rack in a dry environment. Let it cool down before using. Repeat the same steps with the second choux layer.
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for the Pistachio Mousseline Cream First make the pastry cream by whisking egg yolk, sugar and corn flour in a bowl until a homogenous consistency.
In a saucepan, pour milk over low-medium heat until steam starts to appear and tiny bubbles pop up on the surface. Take the milk off the heat and in a low but steady stream continuously whisk the milk into the egg mixture until you have one smooth liquid. Transfer the liquid back to the saucepan and bring to low-medium heat. Whisk continuously until you have a thick pastry cream. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cover the top with clingfilm so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it completely cool down.
Once your pastry cream has cooled down, lightly whisk it in order to get rid of the firm consistency.
In a bowl, whisk the soft butter for about a minute, add one spoon of pastry cream at a time, but in a quick tempo. Once combined, add in the pistachio paste and give it a final mix.
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to make the Rhubarb and raspberry compote, Combine rhubarb, vanilla and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook while stirring occasionally, until water evaporates, this will take about 10 min.
Stir in raspberries and lemon juice and continue cooking for about 3 minutes.
Blend everything till a smooth texture. Pour in the cornstarch + water mixture and continue to stir till thickened then Allow to fully cool down.
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for assembly Use one choux disc as the bottom of your cake.
Take half of the mousseline cream and spread out evenly on the choux. Add dollops of rhubarb and raspberry compote and add the other half of pistachio mousseline. Put the other choux disc on top and place in the fridge for about 30 min - 1 h.
once colled in the fridge, Dust with some powdered sugar on top and enjoy!