Passionfruit & Pear Charlotte Royale
April showers are so last month! It's time to get your flower fix with this beautiful sunflower bouquet cake, full of passionfruit sponge, poppy seed filling, pear mousse, and white chocolate ganache.
Mother’s Day is swiftly approaching, reader. Did you forget? You forgot, didn’t you? Tsk tsk. You really need to get that calendar app figured out. But don’t worry, I’ve got your back! Especially if your mom likes sunflowers. And if she doesn’t, you can color this cake to be whatever flower she does like. Like daisies or uhhhh the blue ones (I just bake, ok? I’m not a flower-ologist. You’re the one on trial here, forgetful offspring!)
Servings: 8 to 12 | Prep Time: 2 h 35 m | Cook Time: 16 to 20 m | Chill Time: 26 h 30 m
Spice grinder
Plastic wrap
9 x 13” baking sheet (with sides at least 1” high)
Parchment paper
Acetate sheets
Hand-mixer / Stand-mixer
Piping bags
Wooden dowel / Wooden spoon
Cutting board
Tape
Blender / Food processor
Saucepans
Leaf or petal piping tip
Cake stand
Tissue paper / Bouquet paper
Twine
Poppy Seed Filling:
½ cup poppy seeds
¼ cup heavy whipping cream, hot
1 tbsp butter, cold, cubed
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
Food dye (black, brown)
Passionfruit Sponge Cake:
5 large eggs, room temp
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
¾ cup passionfruit puree
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp canola oil
1 ½ tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Food dye (black, brown, green, orange, yellow)
Pear Mousse:
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar
1 (15 oz) can pears, drained (reserve the syrup)
1 ¼ tsp gelatin powder
2 tbsp water, cold
1 cup heavy whipping cream
White Chocolate Ganache Leaves:
6 oz white chocolate (I used Guittard Choc-au-lait Chips)
2 oz heavy whipping cream
½ cup powdered sugar
Gel food dye (black, green)
Poppy Seed Filling (15 minutes + 1 hour chilling)
In a spice grinder, grind the poppy seeds until fine and transfer to a bowl.
In the microwave or on the stove, heat the heavy whipping cream just to a simmer.
Add the cream to the poppy seeds and stir to combine.
Stir in the cold, cubed butter until melted.
Add the sugar, vanilla, and almond extract and stir together.
Add a couple drops of brown food dye and a tiny amount of black food dye, stirring together until the color is evenly distributed.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, or until needed.
Passionfruit Sponge Cake (1 hour 15 minutes + 16 to 20 minutes baking + 30 minutes chilling)
Preheat your oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13” baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
Cut the acetate into twelve 1 by 12” strips and set aside.
In a large glass bowl, with a hand-mixer or stand-mixer, whisk the eggs until foamy and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
Gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until pale and tripled in volume. The mixture should be at ribbon stage: when you can drizzle a “figure 8” with the batter onto itself before it disappears.
Whisk in the salt.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the passionfruit puree, milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Gradually pour into the egg mixture, while whisking on low, until fully combined.
In a small bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and baking powder, whisking to combine.
Gradually sift it again into the rest of the batter and gently fold until just combined. Scrape along the bottom and sides to make sure you don’t miss any pockets of flour.
Split the batter in half between two bowls.
To one of the bowls of batter, add several drops of green dye and one small drop of black dye to achieve a leafy green color. Carefully fold in the dye until the color is evenly distributed. Transfer to a small piping bag and set aside.
To the other bowl, dye the remaining half of the cake batter with several drops of yellow dye, one drop of orange dye, and a very small drop of brown dye to achieve a sunflower yellow color. Carefully fold it in, until the color is evenly distributed.
Spread the yellow batter evenly into the prepared pan. Tap the pan firmly a few times to remove any air bubbles.
Pipe the green batter evenly, in rows, across the surface of the yellow batter until the yellow is fully covered. Tap the pan firmly to remove any air bubbles.
Starting at one corner of the pan, stick a wooden dowel or the handle of a wooden spoon into the batter, and slowly drag it through the batter in a straight line. Once you reach the edge of the pan, curve the line down about ½” and drag it back the other direction in parallel to the first line. Continue dragging through the batter in this “S” pattern all the way across the pan. Rotate the pan 90 degrees and repeat.
Tap the pan firmly to remove any air bubbles.
Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Run a knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Immediately flip the cake over onto a parchment lined cutting board so it releases from the pan.
Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake.
Using a knife, trim the edges of the cake off so you have a nice, neat rectangle.
Cut the long side of your cake into 1” wide strips. The strips should be around 8” long, or as long as your short side. You should end up with 11 or 12 strips.
With the green side of the cake touching the acetate, roll the cake strip up into a circle (with the yellow cake on the inside). Press the ends together. Tape the acetate shut and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat for all cake strips.
Cover the cake strips with plastic wrap and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the chilled poppy seed filling to a small piping bag with the corner cut off.
Fill the middle of each rolled up cake strip with poppy seed filling, until the top is just flush with the cake.
Cover the cakes with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge while you prepare the mousse.
Pear Mousse (20 minutes)
In a medium glass bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale, about 2 minutes, and set aside.
In a blender or food processor, combine the drained pears and a couple tablespoons of the reserved syrup, and blend into a thick puree. Add more syrup, if necessary.
Transfer the pear puree to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, whisk together the gelatin powder and cold water and let it firm up.
Whisk the firm gelatin into the hot pear puree until fully combined.
Once the pear puree is just boiling, remove from the heat and pour a small amount into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
Gradually pour the rest into the eggs, whisking constantly, until fully combined.
Return mixture to the saucepan over medium heat and bring just to a boil. Cover and cool completely to room temperature.
In a large bowl, with a hand-mixer or stand-mixer, whisk the heavy whipping cream to soft peaks.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the pear mixture and set aside.
Assembly (20 minutes + 24 hours chilling)
Line the inside of a medium-sized glass bowl with plastic wrap and set aside.
Take the cakes from the fridge and carefully remove the acetate strips.
Starting at the bottom of the bowl, line it with the cakes, pressing them close together so there are no gaps. You may need to cut some of the cakes in half to fully line the top edge of the bowl.
Ladle the pear mousse into the center of the cake, filling it to the top.
Cover completely with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
White Chocolate Ganache Leaves (10 minutes + 1 hour cooling)
While the cake is chilling, place the white chocolate and heavy whipping cream into a small heat-safe bowl.
Microwave in 15 to 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the mixture forms a smooth ganache.
Cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature, about 1 hour.
Just before assembly, sift the powdered sugar into the ganache and mix together with a hand-mixer until fully combined.
Mix in a few drops of green food dye and a small amount of black food dye, until your ganache closely resembles the green color of your sponge cake.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a leaf or petal tip and set aside.
Assembly Cont’d (15 minutes)
Remove the plastic wrap from the top and flip the chilled cake over onto a cake stand. Remove the bowl and plastic wrap.
Pipe ganache leaves in between the sunflowers and along the bottom of the cake to give the bouquet more dimension.
Take several sheets of tissue paper and wrap it around the cake stand. Tie a bow with twine to hold it together.
Serve immediately. Leftovers may be stored covered, in the fridge, for up to 1 week.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Best Practices page for tips on how to make this recipe yourself. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and feel free to tag me on Instagram @made.by.shade if you make it!
-Shade