Chantilly Cake

To prepare the Chantilly cake, first make the pastry cream: pour the milk and the heavy cream into a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with the blade of a knife and set them aside. Add the emptied pod to the milk and cream 1 and bring to just below boiling, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks 2 and the sugar in a bowl 3.

Flavor with the scraped vanilla seeds 4, then whisk briefly 5. Add the sifted cornstarch 6.

Continue whisking 7 until you obtain a smooth, lump-free mixture. When the milk starts to boil, pour it over the yolk mixture through a sieve to hold back the vanilla pod 8. Immediately whisk to combine everything 9.

Return the mixture to the pan 10 and cook over moderate heat, stirring continuously with a whisk until the cream thickens and comes to a boil 11. Transfer the cream to a baking dish or a wide bowl, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface 12 and let it cool first at room temperature and then in the refrigerator for at least 2–3 hours.

Now prepare the sponge cake: pour the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer together with the sugar and a pinch of salt 13. Beat the mixture with the whisk for about 15–20 minutes 14, until it is pale, voluminous and foamy. Sift the flour and the potato starch directly into the bowl 15.

Fold the dry ingredients in using a spatula or a hand whisk with gentle motions from the bottom upward to avoid deflating the mixture 16. When you have a homogeneous batter, pour it into a 9-inch pan that has been buttered and lined with parchment paper 17. Smooth the surface gently with a spatula. Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 347°F for about 30–35 minutes. Do the toothpick test, then remove the sponge cake from the oven 18 and let it cool slightly. Remove it from the pan and transfer it to a rack until completely cool.

To prepare the soaking syrup, pour the water 19 and the sugar into a small saucepan 20. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool completely. At this point add the maraschino 21 and mix well.

When the pastry cream is cold, you can whip the cream that will be used for decoration and prepare the Italian Chantilly cream. Pour the heavy cream into a bowl, add the powdered sugar 22 and whip with the beaters 23 until you obtain a firm and stable consistency 34.

Stir the pastry cream again to make it creamy, then transfer a portion to a bowl 25, keeping about 350 g for the final decoration of the cake (about 12.3 oz or 1 1/2 cups). Add 200 g of whipped cream to the bowl 26 (about 7 oz or roughly 3/4 cup) and fold from the bottom up with a spatula so as not to deflate the mixture. In this way you will obtain the Italian Chantilly cream, also known as diplomat cream 27.
Now transfer the 3 creams into 3 pastry bags: for the pastry cream and the Italian Chantilly use one with a smooth 1 cm tip (about 3/8 inch), while for the remaining whipped cream use one with a fluted tip of about 6–7 mm (about 1/4 inch).

Now all that remains is to assemble the dessert: using a serrated knife remove the top dome of the sponge cake to level it, then cut out 3 discs of equal thickness 28 29. Place the first disc on a serving plate and soak it with the syrup using a pastry brush 30 or a spoon.

With the pastry bag pipe a ring of whipped cream along the outer edge of the disc 31. Pour half of the Italian Chantilly cream into the center 32 and place the second sponge cake disc already soaked on one side on top 33.

Soak the other side as well 34 and make another ring of whipped cream along the edge. Fill the center with the remaining Italian Chantilly cream and finally place the last disc. Brush this one with the syrup as well 36.

Cover the entire surface of the cake, including the sides, with whipped cream, helping yourself with a spatula 37 38. With the remaining cream pipe rosettes along the upper edge of the cake 39.

Also using the pastry bag, pipe small dollops of cream to create parallel stripes, leaving about 1/2–3/4 inch between them 40. Then make small rosettes around. Fill the spaces between the cream stripes with small dollops of pastry cream 41. Let the Chantilly cake rest in the refrigerator for at least 2–3 hours before serving 42.