GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — A Minnesota pastry chef is hoping to be crowned one of the best in America when she competes in an upcoming Food Network program.
Jai Xiong, owner and executive pastry chef at Amour Patisserie, will be among the 12 contestants competing on "Spring Baking Championship." Over the course of 10 episodes, Xiong and her fellow chefs will be challenged with spring-themed competitions involving flowers, weddings and garden parties.
Xiong stopped by KARE 11 Saturday to talk about the show and share her recipe for a Strawberry Garden Torte, a light cake with a mascarpone filling that can be paired with any kind of summer fruit.
"Spring Baking Championship" premieres on Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m. CT on Food Network and Discovery+.
Here is the recipe!
Strawberry Garden Torte
Cake Ingredients:
- 6 ea Egg yolks
- 20g Sugar
- 40g Corn syrup
- 6 ea Egg whites
- 120g Sugar
- 120g Cake flour
- 40g Milk, room temp
- 55g Grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Mascarpone Mousse Ingredients:
- 1 lb Heavy cream
- 2.75 oz Sugar
- 3 oz Mascarpone
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1-2 cups of fresh strawberries, sliced or diced
***Note: Use any fruits/fillings you would like. The recipe is versatile to pair up with any flavor.
Directions
-Preheat oven to 300 degree Fahrenheit.
-In a kitchenaid mixing bowl, whisk egg whites on low speed until foamy and is no longer liquid.
-Turn speed to medium and slowly add in 120g of sugar. Whisk to soft/medium peak. Transfer egg whites into a separate bowl.
-In the same kitchenaid bowl, combine yolks, 20g sugar and corn syrup. Whisk to ribbon stage.
-Gently fold in 2/3 of egg whites to yolk batter.
-Sift in cake flour to yolk batter and gently fold until just combine.
-Fold in the rest of the egg whites.
-Combine milk, oil, and extract in a bowl and temper with a little bit of the batter. Mix well to combine.
-Pour mixture into the rest of the batter and gently fold until just combine.
-Spray and line a 1/4 sheet pan with parchment paper, including the sides.
-Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out evenly. Gently tap out the air bubbles on the counter.
-Bake for 22-25 minutes.
-While cake is baking, prepare the mousse. Combine all the ingredients into a KitchenAid mixing bowl and whisk until thickened and soft peaks form.
-Refrigerate the mousse until ready to use.
-Slice or dice up the strawberries.
-When the cake is cooled, cut cake in half and layer with 1-2 cup of mousse, strawberries and then a thin layer of mousse again.
-Place the other half of the cake on top and spread another 1-2 cup of mousse and smooth it out.
-Decorate the top with more mousse and strawberries or place the cake into the fridge for 30 minute to 1 hour for the mousse to firm up before cutting and decorating them into individual slices. There may be extra mousse leftover.
Enjoy!
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