Here’s a simple yet impressive dessert because the Christmas cream tart with cream or Christmas cake I’ve made today in my kitchen represents a slightly crooked Christmas tree made with 3 layers of shortcrust pastry and a white milk and cream filling that I experimented with a few days ago, and it’s… delicious!
I decorated the Christmas tree cream tart with smarties, marshmallows, shortbread cookies with icing and sugar sprinkles, little trees, and a sugar Santa, chocolate chips, and chocolate leaves.
Not all doughs are suitable for making this kind of dessert, so…
Which dough to use for the cream tart bases? Besides the classic yellow shortcrust and cocoa, we can make a sablé pastry!
How to vary the decoration of the Christmas tree cream tart Christmas cake?
You can really get creative in 300 ways:
– fresh fruit, maybe blueberries, raspberries, blackberries;
– pieces of kinder chocolate;
– edible flowers;
– mixed macarons;
– meringues;
– small chocolates.
The main ingredient of the Christmas Cream Tart is the shortcrust pastry base, very important in pastry, which can be prepared in 3 ways:
1) classic
2) sablé
3) whipped
CLASSIC SHORTCRUST PASTRY is prepared with sugar, cold butter, vanilla and/or lemon flavor, then adding eggs and flour, kneading as little as possible by hand or in a mixer, and then letting it rest in the fridge.
SABLÉ SHORTCRUST PASTRY mixes cold butter cut into pieces, flour, and flavors, then sugar and flour for a more crumbly shortcrust.
WHIPPED SHORTCRUST PASTRY starts with a mix of sugar, soft butter, flavors, then egg yolks and flour are added, resulting in a soft dough that is used immediately with the help of a pastry bag.
If you prefer instead of the classic shortcrust you can use cocoa shortcrust and here is the infallible recipe by master Knam
COCOA SHORTCRUST
Previously I made a cream tart in a ring shape for Valentine’s Day here it is ▼
VALENTINE’S DAY CREAM TART
The recipe for the milk and whipped cream is here ▼
MILK AND CREAM
CHRISTMAS TREE CREAM TART CHRISTMAS CAKE
The kitchen of ASI
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients CHRISTMAS TREE CREAM TART CHRISTMAS CAKE
- 3 egg yolks (medium egg)
- 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter (cold)
- 2 pinches fine salt
- organic lemon (grated zest)
- q.b. chocolates
- q.b. chocolate chips
- q.b. biscuits with sprinkles and icing
- q.b. marshmallows (cut into 4 parts each)
- q.b. Christmas-shaped candies
- q.b. smarties
- q.b. silver sprinkles
Tools CHRISTMAS TREE CREAM TART CHRISTMAS CAKE
#ADV
- Bowl
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Knife
FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE CREAM TART CHRISTMAS CAKE
For the Christmas tree cream tart I first prepared the shortcrust pastry.
Then put all the ingredients in the mixer, using the pulse to avoid heating the blades too much and reduce everything to crumbs.
Now knead and roll out the shortcrust pastry of the Christmas cake between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
For the thickness… not too thin but not even 1/2 inch at least for me!
Now wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
After the usual rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, I rolled out the dough for this Christmas dessert with a rolling pin between 2 sheets of parchment paper and then tried to trace the shape of the tree.
In addition to making or trying to make the Christmas tree, I also made some Christmas-shaped cookies like 2 shooting stars and 3 snowmen.
I baked in a preheated oven at 350°F for very little, just enough time to brown, and my oven is very fast!
Let cool and prepare the other 2 bases… or at least my tree is composed of 3 layers of shortcrust pastry.
You do what is most convenient for you, and if you decrease the layers, adjust the dough quantities or freeze the excess shortcrust pastry for other delicious recipes besides the Christmas cream tart Christmas cake.
While the layered Christmas cake with shortcrust is in the oven baking and then cooling, prepare the cream of whipped cream and milk or the cream you prefer and will use for filling the Christmas cream tart.
I also leave you this article where you will find many interesting suggestions for this and other sweet recipes.
When everything is ready, place on the surface or directly on the serving plate the shortcrust tree base then decorate with the cream placed in a pastry bag with a large round nozzle and cover our entire Christmas tree of the recently made shortcrust cream tart.
Cover with the second shortcrust Christmas tree, add more cream, then place the third and final shortcrust Christmas tree prepared with sweet shortcrust.
Now you just need to decorate with cookies, gummy candies, chocolates, sugar decorations… with everything you like and that you find beautiful and delicious!
Enjoy your meal with the Christmas cream tart with cream!
Annalisa
The cream tart or tart cake originates from a delicious and fancy idea by the Israeli pastry chef Adi Klinghofer in Tel Aviv.
