Monthly Archives: December 2017

Entrez Mon Ami

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For Hanukkah Fran bought me a set of entremet cake pans, so of course, I had to try Zekner Ring Mold Setthem. As I had decided to make a clock face cake with mirror glaze for New Year’s eve I thought this would be a good chance to try both. I made a chocolate cake with chocolate mirror glaze for Kathy’s birthday and fresh strawberry entremet cakes for our Christmas celebration at Karen’s.

small Fresh Strawberry Cake 1

I added a little red food coloring to the strawberry cake and green to the whipped cream frosting to so they were looking a lot like Christmas, everywhere we go. I thought the texture of the strawberry cake was a little close. I may try a lighter cake and add chopped strawberries next time.

Choc cakes8

 

I crumb coated the chocolate entremet and probably wouldn’t do that again. The idea is to make the cake as smooth as possible so the mirror glaze will be smooth when completed. The buttercream crumb coat was too slippery for the glaze to adhere properly. Maybe next time, just two coats of mirror, if needed at all.

Fresh Strawberry Cake

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pans
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 1/2 cups (about 14 7/8 oz.) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 3/4 cup half-and-half (equal parts heavy cream and milk to make ¾ cup)
  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries (about 7 oz.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon red liquid food coloring

METHOD

  1. Prepare the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat sugar and butter with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time; beat on low speed just until incorporated after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add to sugar mixture alternately with half-and-half, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat on low speed just until combined after each addition. Fold in strawberries and red food coloring.
  3. Divide batter evenly among 3 greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
  4. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire racks to cool completely, about 1 hour.

 

Chocolate Mirror Glaze

INGREDIENTS

  • 10 g gelatin sheets
  • 125 g water = ¼ cup to bloom gelatin
  • 225 granulated sugar
  • 30g cocoa powder
  • 150 g chocolate
  • 65 g heavy cream

METHOD

  1. Bloom gelatin in ¼ cup cool water (about 10 minutes)
  2. Add and mix sugar and 125 g water in a large saucepan
  3. Heat to 104C (219F) remove from heat
  4. Add 150 g finely chopped chocolate and mix until dissolved
  5. Add 30g cocoa powder and whisk until dissolved
  6. 65 g heavy cream and mix
  7. Cool to 60C (140F) add gelatin, mix until dissolved
  8. Sieve to remove any remaining lumps
  9. Immersion blend to smooth
  10. Sieve to remove any bubbles
  11. Cool to 32C (90F)
  12. Pour over cake being sure to coat the sides thoroughly

Gelatin Conversions

  • 1 (0.25 oz.) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin.
  • One package (1 tablespoon) of powdered gelatin equals 4 sheets.
  • 4 sheets leaf gelatin = 1 (.25 oz) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon granulated gelatin; Agar-Agar, which is an alga based jellifying agent

Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
  2. Use the first set of ingredients to make the cake. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Stir in the boiling water by hand. Pour evenly into the two prepared pans.
  3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.

 

Honey, I Shrunk the Cake

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completed cakeI asked Neil what kind of birthday cake he would like us to eat for him, as we will be unable to be with him on his actual birthday, yet what kind of birthday would it be without a cake, and why waste a cake if I am going to make one anyway? Whew!

He asked for an 8 Layer Honey Cake. After doing a (very) little research, I found a good recipe with instructions on Natshakitchen.com. The only modification I made was to reduce the size (diameter) of the cake as there will only be 3 or 4 people partaking. I didn’t reduce the size of the recipe so simply made two small (6″) cakes. (Please don’t ask about the disposition of the second cake.)layer with frosting

One mistake I made was to not roll the dough out to the specified 1/8″ thick. (Mine were closer to 1/4″.) I also found the frosting was too thin. Next time I would use less sour cream and more sugar, or let it set overnight in the refrigerator.

cakes1

8 Layer Honey Cake (Medovik)

INGREDIENTS

Cake Layers Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) honey
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 large eggs, beaten with a fork
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached, organic)

Sour Cream Frosting Ingredients:

  • 32 oz sour cream
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

For the topping:

  • ½ lb Fresh Berries, optional

METHOD

How to Make the Cake Layers:

  1. Add ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup honey and 2 Tbsp unsalted butter to a medium sauce pan and melt them together over medium/low heat, whisking occasionally until sugar is melted (5-7 mins). Don’t put them over high heat or they may scorch to the bottom.
  2. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and while it’s still hot, add in your beaten eggs in a slow steady stream while whisking vigorously until all of your eggs are incorporated (whisk constantly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs).
  3. Whisk in the baking soda until no lumps remain, then fold in your 3 cups flour ½ cup at a time with a spatula until the dough reaches a clay consistency and doesn’t stick to your hands. Mine took exactly 3 cups flour (measured precisely, scraping off the top of the cup).
  4. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and move on to the next step right away (these roll out best when the dough is still warm)
  5. On a well-floured surface, roll each piece out into a thin 9″ circle (about ⅛” thick). You can sprinkle the top with a little flour too to keep dough from sticking to your rolling pin. Place a 9″ plate or base from a springform mold over your rolled dough and trace around it with a pizza cutter to get a perfect circle. (I used a 6″ cake pan and “punched” out each disk. Be sure to use plenty of flour to keep the dough from sticking.) Keep the scraps for later. Transfer the dough to a large sheet of parchment paper and bake 2 at a time at 350˚F for 4-5 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before stacking. Repeat with remaining layers.
  6. Finally bake the scraps separated evenly on a re-used sheet of parchment. Once the scraps are baked, cooled and firm, you can crush them with a rolling pin or pulse them in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.

How to make the frosting:

  1. Beat 1 cup heavy cream until fluffy and stiff peaks form (1-2 min on high speed).
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 32 oz sour cream with 2 cups powdered sugar.
  3. Fold the whipped cream into the sour cream and you have your frosting.
  4. Refrigerate until ready to use. I suggest overnight to firm up the frosting.

Assembling your Cake:

  1. Spread about ⅓ cup frosting on each cake layer (don’t skimp on it since the cake needs to absorb some of the cream to become ultra soft.
  2. Press the cake layers down gently as you go to keep the layers from having air gaps.
  3. Frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
  4. Dust the top and sides with your breadcrumbs, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  5. This cake needs time to absorb some of the cream and soften, so be patient. It’s worth the wait!