VETERNIK TORTE (CHOUX PASTRY TORTE)
On my recent visit back home to Slovakia, I got to indulge in all of my favorites, for a long time missed cakes, pastries and desserts. I ate and baked a ton and this veternik torte was my creative solution to the question of how to treat my family and friends one Saturday afternoon with everyone's favorite - veternik, while not spending hours in the kitchen
Instead of making many small, bite-size pieces of the dessert, I made a torte-size veternik that I then sliced into individual pieces and served with freshly whipped cream on top. If you've never heard of or tried Slovak Veternik - the base is always made of a choux pastry that's filled with typically two creams (vanilla custard and whipped heavy cream).
Choux Pastry
240g Water
125g Butter, softened
180g Flour, plain/ all-purpose
4-5 Eggs, large & at room temperature
10g Sugar
A pinch of Salt
Filling
100g very ripe & sweet mashed Bananas or BRINS Banana Jam
500g Milk, whole
3 Egg yolks, large
80g Sugar, brown or white
45g Corn starch
1 tsp, Vanilla extract
A pinch of Salt
Topping
300g Heavy whipping cream, cold
In a small saucepan combine 240g Water with 125g chopped Butter, 10g of Sugar and a pinch of Salt. Melt the butter and bring the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally. Once simmering, add 180g of Flour, all at once. Keep stirring the flour & water mixture for 2-3 minutes until it’s completely incorporated and you can’t see any dry flour with a naked eye. The dough should come together into a soft ball and you should see white film covering the sides of the saucepan
Take it off the heat and wait for the dough to cool down (until warm but not anymore hot to touch). Alternatively, you can place the dough into a bowl of standing mixer attached with a batter attachment and turn it at a low speed to cool it down faster. Once cool to touch, start with adding 4 whole beaten Eggs (at room temperature) in several additions until the dough reaches pipeable consistency. You might need to add a little more than 4 eggs to reach desirable consistency (the dough should not be tearing when dropped down from the spatula but it should slowly fall in a single line)
Preheat the oven to 390° Fahrenheit. Pipe 8 or 9-inch circle of the dough on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle with some water drops before placing it into the oven. Bake for 25-30 or until the pastry shell is puffed & golden brown on top. Do not open the oven while the choux pastry bakes otherwise it will collapse and stay flat. Let your pastry cool down completely before slicing it in half
To make a filling, start with warming up 400g of Milk on a stove. In a separate mixing bowl
whisk together the remaining 100g Milk, 3 Egg Yolks, 80g of Sugar and 45g of Cornstarch. Once the milk is simmering, pour a little bit of hot milk into an egg mixture to temper and hand-whisk properly. Then pour the egg-mixture back into the simmering milk, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Cook the cream until thick for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to the fridge to cool down completely (cover the cream with a plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream to prevent from forming a thick skin). Once cold and well chilled, mix into a cream mashed/ blended bananas and 1 tsp. Vanilla extract. To make a cream on top, whisk 400g of cold Heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks for around 5 minutesTo assemble the torte, divide the choux pastry shell into two halves horizontally using a bread knife. Spread well-chilled Banana & Vanilla cream on the bottom layer of the choux shell, cover with another half of the pastry shell and press gently (note: you can assemble the cake in a round springform for easier manipulation and to hold a nicer shape). Spread or scoop a freshly whipped cream on top. Serve immediately or let it sit for a couple more hours in the fridge. Consume within three days and store in the fridge