Postre Chajá

Postre chajá is an airy Uruguayan cake that’s named after the chajá, a large yet lightweight bird native to the country. Adorned with peaches and meringues, this dessert typically features layers of delicious sponge cake sandwiching a thick layer of whipped cream and even more peaches.

Postre chajá was the Technical Bake for Patisserie Week in Season 7 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Postre Chajá

Ingredients

Sponge Cake:

• 5 eggs, at room temperature
• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1¼ cups (178 g) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 6 tbsp (86 g) unsalted butter, melted

Meringues:

• 5 egg whites, at room temperature
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 1½ cup (297 g) granulated sugar
• Yellow, orange and peach food colouring

Poached Peaches and Peach Syrup:

• 4 peaches, ripe
• 2 cups (396 g) granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Stabilized Whipped Cream Filling with Peaches:

• 4 sheets gelatin
• 1 tbsp water, plus more for soaking gelatin
• 1¼ cup plus 1 tbsp whipping cream, divided
• ⅓ cup (38 g) icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup poached peaches, chopped (see above)

Stabilized Whipped Cream:

• 4 sheets gelatin
• 1 tbsp water, plus more for soaking gelatin
• 1¼ cup plus 1 tbsp whipping cream, divided
• ⅓ cup (38 g) icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Garnish:

• Fresh mint leaves

Preparation

Sponge Cake:

Heat the oven to 350 F. Spray two 8-inch cake pans lightly with non-stick cooking spray, and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.  

Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk them together on high until the mixture has tripled in volume and lightened in colour, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sift together the flour and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.

Remove the bowl and whisk attachment from the stand mixer. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture on top of the egg mixture and use the whisk attachment to incorporate by hand, gently folding the flour into the eggs. Pour in half of the melted butter and incorporate by hand using the whisk attachment. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and melted butter. Mix until no streaks remain, taking care not to overmix or deflate the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans, again, being careful not to deflate the batter with too much movement. Bake the cakes until they look dry on top and a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then loosen them with a knife or offset spatula. Turn them out onto a wire rack to cool right side up. 

Meringues:

Reduce the heat of the oven to 225 F.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high until the egg whites are almost forming soft peaks, about 4 to 5 minutes. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, making sure it has time to dissolve fully. Once the egg whites start getting shiny, turn the mixer up to high and whisk until a stiff meringue has formed.

Place a medium round tip into a large piping bag and fill the bag with meringue, reserving the leftover meringue for later use. 

Glue a sheet of parchment paper to a three-quarter sheet pan with dots of meringue, then pipe out as many thin strips of meringue as possible, leaving a bit of space in between each strip. Prepare a half sheet pan in the same way, gluing the corners of parchment paper down with dots of meringue, then pipe five small dollops of meringue on top. 

Select three decorative piping tips and brush the inside of each tip with food colouring, combining colours as desired (this will create a soft striped effect when the meringue is piped out). Place the tips in three small piping bags, then fill them up with the reserved meringue. Pipe five meringues from each small piping bag onto the prepared half sheet, creating a total of 20 decorative meringues. 

Bake the meringues and meringue strips in the oven until they are fully dried out and crisp, without gaining any colour, about 1 hour. Set aside on the counter to fully dry out.

Select the eight best decorative meringues for the top of the cake and set aside. Loosen the strips of meringue from the parchment paper with an offset spatula, then scrunch up the parchment paper to break up the meringue into small pieces. Set aside until ready to use.

Poached Peaches and Peach Syrup:

Prepare an ice bath and set aside. Fill a pot with enough water to fully cover the peaches and bring it to a boil. 

Using a paring knife, carve an X into the bottom of each peach. Blanch the peaches in the boiling water for a few minutes to loosen the skins. Remove and shock the peaches in the ice bath to stop the cooking process. When the peaches have fully cooled, remove the skins with a paring knife. Cut three cheeks off each peach and set aside. 

Place the sugar, water, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a saucepan set over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Place the peeled peach cheeks in the simmering syrup and poach them until they are just tender, about 3 to 5 minutes (be careful not to overcook the peaches). Transfer the peaches from the syrup to a wire rack, remove the peach syrup from the heat and allow them to cool completely. 

Select the four best-looking peach cheeks for garnish and set aside. Dice the remaining peach cheeks into small cubes until you have ½ cup and set aside.

Generously brush the fully cooled cakes with the cooled peach syrup. Place one layer of cake on an 8-inch cake board, right side up.

Stabilized Whipped Cream Filling with Peaches:

Place the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water and let stand for 5 minutes. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine 1¼ cups of the whipping cream, the icing sugar and the vanilla extract. Whip on medium-high until the whisk leaves a trail, about 5 to 6 minutes. 

Remove the softened gelatin sheets from the bowl and squeeze out any excess water. Combine the gelatin with 1 tablespoon of water and microwave in 10-second intervals until it is fully melted. Mix 1 tablespoon of whipping cream into the gelatin mixture. Pour your gelatin mixture into the already whipped cream and continue to whip on medium-high. Once the cream forms medium-stiff peaks, remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the ½ cup of diced peaches.  

Immediately put the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe it on top of the cake layer on the cake board (if you wait too long, the gelatin will set and the cream won’t be soft enough to pipe); you want to create a generous 1-inch-thick layer of whipped cream filling. Invert the second cake layer on top of the whipped cream so the flat bottom is facing up. 

Lightly brush the top and the sides of the cake with another coat of peach syrup, and gently press down on the top of the cake to secure it. Place the cake in the fridge to set up and chill.

Stabilized Whipped Cream:

When you are ready to ice your cake, repeat the steps for the stabilized whipped cream, omitting the chopped peaches.

Assembly:

Pipe the stabilized whipped cream on the top and sides of the cake, and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Press the crumbled meringues onto the sides of the cake to fully cover. 

Thinly slice the four reserved peach cheeks with a chef’s knife and fan them out on the top of the cake as shown. Intersperse piped dollops of whipped cream, the reserved decorative meringues and fresh mint in a visually pleasing manner. Transfer the cake to a serving plate.

Makes one cake