Tutti Frutti Meringue Cake

Before starting this Tutti Frutti recipe, make sure you have organised all the necessary ingredients.

In the stand mixer recipient, place the sugar and softened butter.

Cut the vanilla pods in half, lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out and add to the saucepan. Mix the ingredients together until homogeneous.

Add the egg yolk and combine again...

... and add the flour.

Make sure you do not work the dough too much. The dough ball should be rather smooth.

On a sheet of greaseproof paper, , draw a circle, using a mousse ring (Ø 22cm) as a guide. Flip the paper onto a baking sheet (the side with the drawn circle facing down). Using a piping bag, pipe the dough...

... forming a big spiral.

Place a tart ring (Ø 22cm) around the dough spiral...

... and bake at 180°C (gas 4) for about 15 minutes.

The base should be slightly golden. If you cook the base until it is brown, it will be too dry.

Take the biscuit out of the oven and remove the tart ring straight away.

Melt the blond glaze in the microwave, without adding any water.

Cover the biscuit with a thin layer of melted glaze. This will make the biscuit more resistant, especially when in contact with the mousse.

Cutting the fruits: Organise all the fruits on your kitchen worktop.

Cut the fruits into small cubes...

... making sure the pieces are even and regular.

Transfer the fruit salad into a tray lined with paper towel. Reserve in the fridge.

For the fromage blanc mousse: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Steep the gelatine sheets in cold water.

In a saucepan, pour the castor sugar and water.

Cook the sugar until it reaches a temperature of 118°C. I recommend using a laser thermometer for this step.

Place the egg yolks in the stand mixer recipient and beat for a short moment...

... and add the cooked sugar, pouring it against the inner side of the bowl to avoid splashes of hot sugar. Mix at low speed.

Increase to maximum speed and beat. The preparation should double in volume and become pale. This preparation is called 'pâte à bombe'.

In the meantime, strain the gelatine sheets. Squeeze them with your hand, extracting as much water as possible...

... and melt them in the microwave for 20 or 30 seconds. Add the melted gelatine to the hot pâte à bombe...

... and beat until cooled down completely.

In a separate recipient, beat the whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream. Reserve in the fridge.

Tip the mascarpone and fromage blanc in a bowl and combine well with a whisk until the preparation has a smooth consistency.

Add the fromage blanc preparation to the pâte à bombe...

... and combine with a whisk, but not excessively for the preparation not to collapse.

Gently incorporate the whipped cream to the preparation (which should be at room temperature)...

... and combine until homogeneous and without lumps.

Assembling the cake: Line the inside of a mousse ring (Ø 24cm) with a strip of acetate. It should be slightly higher than the ring itself (about 5cm).

The acetate strip should be perfectly lined to the inner side of the ring. Use some sticky tape to fix both sides of the acetate strip.

Place the biscuit base at the bottom. The biscuit should be slightly smaller than the mousse ring. Before assembling the cake, you may place a round cake board under the mousse ring for easier handling later.

Pour the mousse on top of the biscuit and fill halfway up.

Spread with a small palette knife to remove any air bubbles.

Add some of the diced fruits to the rest of the mousse preparation.

Incorporate the strained fruits to the mousse. Combine gently in order not to squash the fruits.

Pour the preparation inside the ring up to the rim.

Even the surface with the back of a spoon. The surface does not need to be perfectly even.

Cover with some cling film and refrigerate for at least 3 or 4 hours, until set. Ideally, the cake should be prepared the day before, up to this step.

For the meringue: (to make just before taking the cake out of the fridge)
Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Pour the egg whites in the stand mixer recipient. Add the castor sugar.

Combine well with a whisk.

Whip over a bain-marie until the preparation reaches 57°C.

Place the recipient in the mixer and beat until cooled down completely.

Take the cake out of the fridge and remove the cling film.

Gently remove the mousse ring.

Since it is lined with an acetate sheet, the ring should be easy to remove.

Place the remaining fruits in the centre.

Transfer the meringue preparation into a piping bag. The use of a nozzle is not necessary. Cut the end of the bag to a diameter of roughly 2 or 2.5cm.

Pipe a large round of meringue in the centre...

... then working from the centre outwards, pipe comma shapes...

... next to each other.

Repeat the same operation until the whole surface is covered with meringue.

Using a blowtorch, slightly brown the surface of the meringue.

Cut the leftover fruits into pieces and arrange them in the centre.

Arrange a few pineapple leaves.
Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve. (Serve immediately once out of the fridge.) Enjoy!