zephyr

A creamy and rich cake that doesn’t taste as sweet as it looks. The pink sour zephyr with a layer of strawberries balances the sweetness of the soft, caramelized meringue. I think this cake is especially suitable for warm summer.

Preparation time: 1.5 hours
Level: average
Quantity: 16 slices of cake

Ingredients:
Crust
170 g butter
200 g of flour
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cold water

Zephyr
3 egg whites
225 g of sugar
60 ml of water
1.5 teaspoons of citric acid
Fingertip salt
Red food color if desired

Soft meringue
4 egg whites
150 g of sugar
In addition, a handful of ripe strawberries is needed to cover the crust
A gas burner is needed to caramelize the egg white.

Preparation:
1. Prepare the dough. Chop the butter and flour until a smooth, semi-dry crumb is formed. Add egg yolks, sugar, and water. Knead the whole mass into a dough. It is not necessary to knead very strongly, the main thing that the dough is even.
2. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees, roll the dough into a disc 0.5 cm thick, which is slightly larger than the cake tin.
3. Place the dough in a form, press against the bottom and sides of the form, cut the rest of the dough.
4. Lining the dough in the form of parchment paper and pouring in the dry peas or a mixture of peas and rice to keep the dough in shape. Bake for 20 minutes until the dough is lightly browned.
5. Remove peas with parchment paper. Punch holes in the bottom of the bottom with a fork to allow air to escape and cook for another 10 minutes to make the bottom crispy. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely
6. Prepare the sapphire. Whisk the egg whites into a strong foam, while preparing the sugar syrup. For the syrup, mix the sugar, citric acid, and water in a thick-bottomed pot and heat over medium heat until the sugar melts and the syrup forms.
7. Stir the syrup constantly. Boil it until the foam disappears. Test syrup readiness. Drop a drop of syrup on the cutting board with a spoon. If it remains rather spherical and does not spread easily, the syrup is ready. Do not boil the syrup for too long. It should not change color at all and should remain clear and transparent. The color-changed syrup will probably make a zephyr with a caramel flavor, but I haven’t tested it.
8. Stir the hot syrup into the egg white while mixing evenly. Mix using an electric mixer at maximum speed until the zephyr starts to slightly loos from the edges of the bowl and will stay in the shape you want it to.
9. Cut the strawberries into suitable pieces and line the bottom of the cake crust. Cover the strawberries with zephyr, smooth the surface. Here you can leave the cake to stand and place it overnight in the fridge covered with foil.
10. To make a meringue coating, whisk the egg whites into a strong foam, add the sugar, and mix at maximum speed for about 5 minutes.
11. Place the egg white mixture in a spray bag and make a pattern on the surface of the zephyr.
12. Carefully caramelize the top surface of the meringue. Be careful not to burn the surface, which can happen very easily. Practice caramelization separately by applying the egg white from the spray bag to a pan or heat-proof plate and try caramelizing before you start working on the cake.
Before serving, keep the zephyr cake at +4 degrees C to make it easier to cut and create a straighter cut line. Serve with strong, bitter  coffee
Ready !!