The Tropezienne (Sugar and Spice)

By draingal

Ingredients

• For the filling:
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 5 large eggs, beaten lightly
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
• sifted confectioner's sugar for garnish

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9" springform pan.
In food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter and process the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. With the machine running add eggs in a stream and process until just combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes or until center comes out clean. Loosely cover top of the cake with a sheet of foil if it begins to brown too quickly.
Let the cake cool in pan for 5 minutes, then untold and let cool completely on a rack.
To make the filling:
In a saucepan set over moderate heat, scald the milk and cream.
In a bowl, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and yolks. Add the milk mixture in a stream, whisking and whisk until smooth.
Return milk mixture to the pan and cook it, whisking, over moderate heat until thickened. Whisk in the vanilla. Strain the custard through a sieve into a bowl, cover with plastic, placing it directly on the custard surface and let cool. Chill for 2 hours or until cold. Whisk the chilled custard and fold in the whipped cream.
Split the cake in half horizontally and fill it with cream. Dust the top of the cake with the confectioner's sugar.