This Mother’s Day berry cream dessert is a moist cake base filled with vanilla pastry cream and topped with fresh berries. The recipe was adapted from Williams-Sonoma Mary Ann Cake with Mascarpone and Berries. The cake base is baked in a Mary Ann pan.

What is a Mary Ann Pan?

Mary Ann Pan is a cake pan with a raised flat centre area. Its purpose is to create a light cake shell. A cake baked in one, when turned out, has a raised edge all around it.

The pan will usually be 8 inches (20 cm) wide by 4 inches (10 cm) tall. The raised “mould” area rises up about 2 inches (5 cm) into the pan, leaving a leaving a 2 inch (5 cm) deep moat all around it.

Source: Practicle Edible

Components of Cake:

Simple Syrup
Cake Base
Vanilla Pastry Cream
Assorted fresh berries

Toasted sliced almonds (optional)
Icing sugar

Simple Syrup:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 strip lemon zest
1 3-inch cinnamon stick

Method:

Combine water and sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir until sugar is disolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove lemon strip and cinnamon stick.

Cake Base:

I used the cake recipe from Williams-Sonoma Mary Ann Cake with Mascarpone and Berries using the Mary Ann cake pan. When the cake has cooled, remove from pan, turn right side up and poke holes at the top. Drizzle the cake with the simple syrup.

Vanilla Pastry Cream Filling

Ingredients:

2 cups milk, divide
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipped cream (optional)

Method:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 3/4 cups of the milk,

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup milk and the cornstarch, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the yolks and the sugar. When-milk mixture has come to a boil, pour it through a strainer onto the beaten yolks-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Return this mixture to the saucepan and whisk in the milk-cornstarch mixture.

Over medium heat, bring to a boil again, whisking all the while, and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Add the vanilla, remove from the heat, and scrape into a bowl. Cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap to prevent it from forming a skin.

(The cream keeps for up to 3 days, tightly and refrigerated.) Chill before serving.

Optional: Fold in 1/2 cup whipped cream into the pastry cream before using on cake base. This will lighten up the pastry cream if it comes out too thick.

Assemble Berry Cream Cake Dessert

Fill cake base with Vanilla Pastry Cream. Top with fresh berries and sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds if using. Dust with icing sugar.