Dried Fruit and Nut Cake with Lemon Cream

To prepare the dried fruit and nut cake with lemon cream, start with the pastry cream: pour the milk into a small saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring almost to a boil 1. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks, the sugar and the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod in a bowl 2, then whisk the mixture until smooth 3.

Add the sifted rice starch 4 and mix again, then slowly pour in the hot milk through a fine sieve 5 and whisk 6.

Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk 7, until the cream is thick and velvety, after about 8–10 minutes 8. Transfer it to a shallow, wide container, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and let it cool completely 9.

To make the crunchy bases, put the dried fruit in a food processor 10 and pulse several times until you obtain a coarse crumble. Transfer it to a bowl 11 and add the almond butter 12.

Then add the honey and the glucose 13. Stir with a spoon until you obtain a homogeneous but still slightly grainy mixture 14. Divide the dough into two rings 7.1 in (18 cm) placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper 15, spread it inside and compact it with the back of a spoon.

You should obtain two even discs 16. Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F (180°C) for about 20 minutes, then remove the bases from the oven when they are nicely golden 17. Let them cool slightly, gently unmold them and allow them to cool completely. When the cream is well chilled, grate the lemon zest directly into it 18.

Fold it in with a spatula until evenly distributed 19. Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a smooth 12 mm tip and pipe many close-together dollops onto one of the crunchy bases 20, until it is completely covered 21.

Gently place the second base on top of the cream 22, then finish the decoration by piping a ring of cream dollops in the center and garnishing with a few apricot slices 23, fresh mint leaves and, if desired, additional grated lemon zest. The dried fruit and lemon cream cake is ready 34.