Yesterday at 6:30 PM • Modified yesterday at 8:56 PM
King’s Day actually involves only one real delicacy: the orange tompouce. But how do you make it yourself? Who knows this better than Heel Holland Bakt candidate Francis Kuijk from Kaatsheuvel. She shares her recipe and looks back on her baking adventure on television.
“A few things need attention,” Francis begins about making tompouces. That’s what she calls baking the puff pastry. It should be well cooked and crispy. “It can be baked so that it becomes a little on the brown side,” she says.
According to her, cutting the tompouces is also a job that deserves attention. You do this with a serrated knife. “You also have to have a little patience,” she says. “I usually start in the middle and then first saw through the top puff pastry. Then you do the second layer.”
You can read the recipe at the bottom of this article.
She herself was able to make this delicacy in the latest season of the TV program Heel Holland Bakt Elke Dag. Although she had to leave the program last week. “When they asked if I wanted to participate, I already knew that the competition was fierce,” she says. “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” she says convincingly.
Season with former candidates
It was not Francis’ first time on TV, because ten years ago she also baked in the program. Then she made it to the finals. This season was slightly different, because only former candidates participated. “There was a different atmosphere, which was very nice. Despite the stress, there was a kind of relaxation. Half a word is enough between us.”
This season was also unpredictable for Francis. It was always a surprise how the baking would turn out. “What to make, what the weather does, which oven you get. Because every oven works differently,” she explains.
And sometimes you do things during the recordings that you would never be able to accomplish at home behind the kitchen counter, Francis says. To give an example: “The day I got out, I was making a cake. I made caramel. I’ve done that how many times before. But I just forgot to turn off the heat. I kept thinking, ‘Why does that get so dark?'”
The recipe
Back to the orange tulips. Even though she plans to make orange puffs herself, she knows better than anyone how to make the rectangular pastry. Read the recipe below.
This is how you make Francis’ orange tompouce yourself
For 6 pieces:
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Setting: 3 hours
Ingredients
1 roll of fresh puff pastry
100 g fine granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
45 g custard powder
500 ml whole milk
500 ml whipped cream, whipped until stiff
4½ leaves of gelatin, soaked
1 bag (125 g) white icing (or homemade)
1–2 drops orange food coloring
Preparation
1.Preheat the oven to 180 °C (fan) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Roll out the puff pastry and place it on the baking tray. Prick the dough generously with a fork and bake for 20–30 minutes until golden brown and done. Let cool completely on the baking sheet.
3. Mix the custard powder with the sugar in a saucepan. Stir in the milk and vanilla flavoring until smooth. Bring this to the boil over medium heat while stirring until the custard thickens. Let it simmer gently for 1 minute while continuing to stir. Pour the hot custard onto a plate, cover immediately with plastic wrap (on the surface) and let cool to room temperature.
4. Stir the cooled pastry cream until smooth with a hand mixer and, if necessary, rub it through a sieve for an extra smooth result.
5. Gently heat the soaked gelatin leaves with the adhering water until they are completely dissolved. Allow to cool until lukewarm and stir into the pastry cream with a whisk.
6. Fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream in three parts. Place the cream in a piping bag and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
7. Trim the cooled puff pastry tightly and divide it lengthwise into two equal strips. Place one strip with the least smooth side up. Pipe two layers of cream on top, together about 5–6 cm high.
8. Place the second strip with the smooth side up on the cream and press lightly. Smooth the sides with a palette knife.
9. Heat the icing according to the directions and mix in the orange food coloring. Spread the glaze over the top and smooth. Let the tompouce strip set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
10. Cut the tompouce into equal pieces by first lightly scoring the top layer and then cutting it completely, so that the layers remain neat.
