Autumn sea buckthorn cake

Let’s give the floor to Zarina: “In my opinion, the sea buckthorn the most “autumn” berry. Probably, not everyone understands her eccentric taste, but I personally adore it. You can cook a delicious sea buckthorn jelly, or use it in various desserts, just like I often do. In this case, I wanted to try it in a biscuit dough. As a creamy layer, I suggest my favorite lemon-sour cream, which I have been using for a long time for cakes and pies based on spinach, carrots, beets, pumpkins, as well as various fruits.

I have been thinking about what the cake should look like for a long time. And when a relative presented me some decorative sunflowers that did not freeze from the morning frost, everything came together in one image. This is how I created this bright, delicate and light sea buckthorn cake.

For the chiffon biscuit:

• egg yolk – 3 pcs | 3.00 items
• egg white – 5 pcs | 5.00 items
• sugar – 210 g (160 g for the yolks + 50 g for the whites) | 7.40 oz (5.65 oz + 1.75 oz)
• wheat flour – 140 g | 4.95 oz
• rice flour – 60 g | 2.10 oz
• vegetable oil -80 ml | 2.70 fl oz
• mashed sea buckthorn – 150 g | 5.30 oz
• salt – 1 pinch | 1.00 pinch
• baking powder – 2.5 tsp | 3.00 tsp

For the custard:

• sour cream 20% – 360 g | 12.70 oz
• condensed milk – 380 g | 13.40 oz
• lemon – 1 pc. (zest and juice) | 1.00 item
• red currant -100 g | 3.55 oz
• pistachio chips – 2 tablespoons | 2.00 tbsp

1. Whip the egg yolks with 160 g (5.65 oz) sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the sea buckthorn puree and the vegetable oil to the whipped yolks, and mix gently.
3. Mix the rice and the wheat flour with the baking powder; sift them and gently, and mix with the yolk mass.
4. Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt and 50 g sugar (1.75 oz), until soft peaks.
5. Add the egg whites to the dough in three passes, stirring each time by folding.
6. Cover the bottom of the 24 cm (9.4 inch) mold with the baking paper. Pour the dough in the mold without greasing the bottom and sides. Bake the biscuit in a preheated oven at 180C (356F) for 60 minutes.
7. Check the readiness of the biscuit with a skewer. Let the finished biscuit cool in the mold, turning it upside down on the wire rack; then remove the mold and the paper from the bottom of the biscuit. Let the biscuit stabilize for several hours (you better cook it the day before assembling the cake).

1. Grate the zest from the lemon and squeeze the juice.
2. Whip the sour cream with the condensed milk, and add the juice and the lemon zest (don’t stop whipping!). After adding lemon juice to the custard, it will start thickening immediately.

1. Remove the baked crust from the biscuit with a knife. Cut the biscuit into three cakes: the upper one will be slightly thinner (you will need it for the cake sprinkling); the other two cakes should be of the same size.
2. Grind the thin crust into crumbs.
3. Apply the custard on the bottom cake, and spread the berries; cover it with the top cake. Smear the top and the sides of the cake with the custard, and sprinkle with the biscuit crumbs; decorate the middle with pistachio crumbs, imitating a sunflower.
4. Place the cake in the cold for several hours to soak.