Cake Pear Helene

Peel the pears, cut into 3 - 4 mm thin slices and cut out the core from them. Bring the water with sugar and lemon juice to a boil. When the sugar has completely dissolved, add the pear slices and simmer for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. If they start to look glassy and it is easy to pierce, remove them from the stove immediately and let them cool in their brew.

Since the bases of this cake are all baked individually and it is quicker and easier to do without a mold, you need either a bowl or a plate (or similar) with a diameter of 18 cm and 4 strips of baking paper for the templates of 30 x 40 cm. Draw 2 circles next to each other on 3 strips of paper with the help of the selected shape with a pen and only one on the 4th, so that you then have the templates for 7 small floors. Then turn it over - the mark on the pen shines through - and have it ready. Turning it over so that the dough does not come into contact with the stick.

Beat the butter, sugar and salt until whitish and creamy. Stir in eggs and vanilla flavor one after the other. Mix the flour, starch and baking powder, sift into the butter mixture and briefly fold in.

Preheat the oven to 180 ° O / bottom heat. Now always place about 60 g of dough in the middle of a circle and spread it thinly outwards to the edge with a rounded knife or a small palette. However, it should have the same height at the edge as in the middle, namely approx. 3 - 4 mm. Then slide the parchment paper onto the tray. It has to lie very flat there. However, if the sides bend up a little, cut them off, otherwise the sheet of dough would also bulge up there during baking. Slide the tray into the oven on the 2nd rail from below. The baking time is - depending on the oven - between 3 - 5 minutes. Check again after 3 minutes. When the dough is no longer shiny, but looks slightly dull and the plate has a slightly golden brown edge all around, remove the sheet immediately and let it cool down until the next 2 plates are spread out and ready to bake. Then just exchange, bake, spread out the next, etc. The amount of dough for the 7th floor is larger than the previous six. But this is intentional, because this floor is then the lowest when assembling.

When all bases are baked, let them cool completely on the paper before carefully peeling it off.

Mix the gelatine and the 50 ml cold water in a saucepan, allow to swell and then dissolve over a mild heat while stirring. Mix together the yogurt, sugar, cocoa and rum flavor. Remove two tablespoons, mix with the liquid, lukewarm gelatine, pour it into the yoghurt mixture and work in quickly with a hand whisk. Lift the pear slices out of the brew and let them drain a little on a paper towel.

No cake ring required for assembly. The cake is also so stable because of the individual plates. To do this, place the thickest sheet of dough that was baked last on a base, spread a thin layer of yoghurt mixture, press in the pear slices, spread some cream over them, put the 2nd base on top and press down lightly. Then put a thin layer of cream, the 3rd base, another thin layer of cream and the 4th base. This is followed by the filling with the pears again (as already described) and on bottoms 5 and 6 the simple filling only with the cream. There should still be a little bit of cream left over so that you can smear it around the edge to close any "holes". Then place the 7th plate on the last layer of cream and lightly press the entire cake again with the palm of your hand. Dust the surface of the last plate thickly with the drinking chocolate powder, use any remaining pear slices as decoration and place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.

Thanks to the yoghurt cream (not buttercream as in the original), the not too high proportion of sugar and also very little fat and flour, this cake is quite light and fruity - and enjoyed chilled - refreshing.