What to do with your leftover durian? - Durian Cream Cake

Light sponge cake with layers of durian custard and cream

Durian season is here. Have you had any durian yet? Durian a.k.a king of fruits (likely due to being smelly / having thorny skin) is very popular in Southeast Asia, so much so you can find places offering cheap all-you-can-eat durian buffet. There's even a durian room package by Hotel Equatorial for guests to feast on durian and visit durian farm. If you and your family have had too many durian and want to know what you can do with the fruit apart from eating it on its own, you're in luck because here's a good durian cake recipe. 


When I first tasted this cake, I was like, Wow! Didn't know amazing things could be created with durian.

This easy recipe which calls for sponge cake mix is from an old edition of Flavours magazine. Baking the cake may be an easy feat but icing it requires some skills and a lot of patience. You need a cake turntable otherwise you will have to move around the cake a lot in order to ice it. 


Ingredients:-
for cake
125g sponge cake mix
35ml milk
3 large eggs (Grade A)
35g melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

custard filling
150 fresh durian pulp 
20g custard powder and 100ml water
1 1/2 tbsp gelatine powder and 50ml water (I omitted for fear of the smell of gelatine)
100ml fresh milk
2 egg yolks

cream topping
100g whipping cream
100g fresh durian pulp

 
Method:-
In an electric mixer, combine the sponge cake mix, eggs and milk. Mix on high speed until creamy and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and melted butter.

Pour batter into an 8" round pan and bake in preheated oven at 180°c for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from oven once done. When the cake has cooled down, slice into 4 layers. Use a leveler slicer for to slice cake evenly.

If you're using gelatine, soak it in the water until plumped up. Heat gelatine and stir. 

In a separate saucepan, place custard powder, eggs, water and milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously until mixture is thick and bubbling. Turn off heat. Dissolve gelatine and durian pulp; mix to combine. Divide into 3 equal portions.

Assemble the cake. Spread the durian custard evenly onto a sponge layer. Place another layer on top and spread another portion of custard. Repeat. The top layer should be a sponge. Cover the cake in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour until the filing sets.

For the cream topping, whisk the cream and durian pulp in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Remove cake from fridge and spread the sides and top with 2/3 of the durian cream topping. Smoothen the surface. Place remaining cream in a piping bag and pipe rosettes on the cake as decoration. Chill before serving.  


If you are a durian lover like me and love to have durian in desserts, you'll love this cake. 


Happy baking! xx