100k Subscribers Celebration Cake (Number & Letter Shaped Sablé with Vanilla Diplomate Cream)

Ingredients

• 500 g All‑purpose flour (sifted)
• 250 g Powdered (icing) sugar (sifted with flour)
• 250 g Almond flour (ground almonds) (sifted)
• 250 g Unsalted butter, cold (cut into small cubes)
• 2 Large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 500 ml Whole milk (full‑fat for richer cream)
• 1 Vanilla bean (Madagascar) (split and seeds scraped)
• 4 Egg yolks (room temperature)
• 100 g Granulated sugar
• 30 g Cornstarch (maïzena)
• 2 Gelatin sheets (softened in cold water)
• 50 g Unsalted butter (for pastry cream) (cut into small dice)
• 250 ml Heavy whipping cream (chilled)
• 20 g Powdered sugar (for whipped cream)
• 200 g Mascarpone cheese (softened)
• 200 g Fresh strawberries (halved)
• 100 g Fresh raspberries
• 100 g Fresh blackcurrants (groseilles)
• 100 g Meringues (store‑bought or homemade) (broken into shards)
• 6 Macarons (assorted colors) (for decoration)
• 20 g Edible fabric flowers (optional, for spring/summer look)
• 5 ml Pink food coloring (to tint leftover sablé crumbs)

Instructions

1. Sift dry ingredients

   Place the all‑purpose flour, powdered sugar and almond flour in a large bowl and sift them together in batches to ensure a light, airy mixture.

   Time: PT5M

2. Incorporate butter and salt

   Add the pinch of salt and the cold butter cubes to the dry mixture. Pulse in the food processor until the texture resembles fine sand.

   Time: PT5M

3. Form the dough

   Add the two eggs and pulse just until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forming a cohesive ball.

   Time: PT5M

4. Chill the dough

   Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

   Time: PT2H

5. Roll and cut shapes

   On a sheet of parchment, roll the dough to about 5 mm thickness. Using the number/letter templates, cut out each character twice (for two layers).

   Time: PT20M

6. Second chill

   Place the cut biscuits back on parchment, cover loosely with plastic and chill for 30 minutes before baking.

   Time: PT30M

7. Bake the sablés

   Preheat the oven to 170 °C. Bake the biscuits on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden.

   Time: PT25M

   Temperature: 170°C

8. Cool biscuits completely

   Transfer the baked biscuits to a wire rack and let them cool completely (about 15 minutes).

   Time: PT15M

9. Soak gelatin

   Place the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water and let them soften for 10 minutes.

   Time: PT10M

10. Heat milk with vanilla

    In a saucepan, combine the milk, the scraped seeds and the split vanilla bean. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.

    Time: PT5M

11. Prepare egg‑yolk mixture

    In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar and cornstarch until smooth and pale.

    Time: PT5M

12. Temper and thicken pastry cream

    Gradually pour the hot milk over the yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

    Time: PT5M

13. Add gelatin and butter

    Remove the pan from heat. Squeeze excess water from the gelatin sheets and stir them into the hot cream until fully dissolved. Let the mixture cool 10 minutes, then whisk in the diced butter until smooth.

    Time: PT7M

14. Chill pastry cream

    Transfer the pastry cream to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until very cold.

    Time: PT2H

15. Whip the cream

    In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar to soft peaks (about 5 minutes).

    Time: PT5M

16. Combine mascarpone, pastry cream and whipped cream

    Soften the mascarpone, fold it into the chilled pastry cream, then gently fold in the whipped cream until the mixture is light, airy and homogeneous.

    Time: PT5M

17. Final chill of diplomate cream

    Cover the diplomate cream, pipe it into a pastry bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes before assembly.

    Time: PT30M

18. Assemble the cake

    On a clean work surface, place the first layer of each number/letter biscuit. Pipe a thin ribbon of diplomate cream onto each, then place the matching second biscuit on top and pipe another layer of cream. Repeat for all characters.

    Time: PT20M

19. Set assembled cake

    Cover the assembled cake loosely with plastic and chill for another 30 minutes to let the layers set.

    Time: PT30M

20. Decorate

    Arrange edible fabric flowers, halved strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, meringue shards, macarons and pink‑colored sablé crumbs on and around the cake. Finish with a final drizzle of any remaining cream if desired.

    Time: PT15M

Nutrition Facts

Calories

350

Protein

5 g

Carbohydrates

45 g

Fat

18 g

Fiber

2 g