Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Rose's Heavenly Cakes (28 page)
Beat the Butter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Set aside in a cool place (no higher than 70°F/21°C).
Prepare the Egg Whites
Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer, if you have a second bowl, or into a medium bowl and have ready a handheld mixer.
Heat the Sugar Syrup
Have ready a 1-cup or larger heatproof glass measure.
In a small heavy saucepan, preferably nonstick, stir together ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the water until all of the sugar is moistened. Heat on medium, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Stop stirring and reduce the heat to low. (If using an electric range, remove the pan from the heat.)
Beat the Egg Whites
If using the stand mixer for the egg whites, attach the whisk beater. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. With the mixer off, add the cream of tartar. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Gradually beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly.
Bring the Sugar Syrup up to the Proper Temperature
Increase the heat under the sugar syrup and continue to boil the syrup for a few minutes until an instant-read thermometer registers 248° to 250°F/120°C (the firm-ball stage). Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.
Add the Sugar Syrup to the Egg Whites
If using a stand mixer, with the mixer off to keep it from spinning onto the sides of the bowl, add the syrup to the egg whites. Begin by pouring in a small amount of the syrup. Immediately beat on high speed for 5 seconds. Add the remaining syrup the same way in three parts. For the last addition, use a silicone scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure and scrape it off against the whisk beater. If the syrup has hardened before most of it has been poured, soften it to pouring consistency for a few seconds in the microwave.
If using a handheld mixer, beat the syrup into the egg whites in a steady stream. Don't allow the syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl.
Lower the speed to medium and continue beating for up to 2 minutes. Refrigerate the meringue for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the temperature registers 70°F/21°C. Whisk after the first 5 minutes to test and equalize the temperature.
Beat the Meringue into the Butter
Set the mixer bowl containing the butter in the stand mixer and attach the whisk beater (no need to wash it). Beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, or until the butter lightens in color and is no warmer than 70°F/21°C.
With a silicone spatula, scrape the meringue into the butter and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. At first the mixture will look slightly curdled. If it starts watering out, check the temperature. The mixture should feel cool and be no lower than 65°F/19°C, no higher than 70°F/21°C. If it is too warm, set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir gently to chill it down before continuing to whisk. If it is too cool, suspend the bowl over a pan of simmering water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and heat very briefly, stirring vigorously when the mixture just starts to melt slightly at the edges. To stop the warming, dip the bottom of the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water for a few seconds to cool it. Remove the bowl from the ice water and beat the mousseline by hand until smooth. Beat in the vanilla.
The mousseline becomes spongy and fluffy on standing, which is lovely to eat but needs to be smooth when frosting the cake. If you don't use it right away, whisk it lightly by hand to maintain a silky texture before applying it to the cake. However, do not rebeat chilled mousseline until it has reached 70°F/21°C; this will prevent it from breaking down.
Beat 1/3 cup/3.7 ounces/106 grams seedless raspberry preserves into the completed mousseline.
Notes
High-fat (low-water) butter helps to ensure smooth emulsification. Temperature, however, is the key to the success of this buttercream, so you will need an instant-read thermometer. If the temperature of the meringue and butter is between 65° and 70°F/19° and 21°C, it works easily and magnificently. In hot or humid weather, use
Golden Neoclassic Buttercream
.
The top of the cake has a very slight dip. If you use 60 percent cacao chocolate, the dip will be a little deeper. Either way, it's not a problem because there's more than enough height to cut the layers.
Compose the Cake
With a long serrated knife, carefully slice off the mounded top or tops of the cake (about ¼ inch). Then slice the cake into three even layers, each about ¾ inch thick. If the cake was baked in two pans, simply leave it as two layers.
Spread a little mousseline on a 6-inch cardboard round or a serving plate. Set the bottom layer crust side up on top and spread it with about one-third of the mousseline. Set the middle layer on top and spread it with half the remaining mousseline. Set the top layer on top and spread it with the remaining mousseline. (If the cake is only two layers, use half the mousseline for the filling and half for the top.)
Décor
For the attractive decoration in the photograph, use a partially closed star tip (number 26) to pipe a ring of mousseline starting about ¾ inch in from the outer edge. You can continue spiraling the mousseline to fill in the center of the top layer and then smooth it except for the outer edge, or fill in the center using a small offset spatula. Make this top layer as smooth as possible. Set the traditional pink Miette rose and leaves in the center, if desired (see the photograph). They are available from Lucks Food Decorating Company (see
Ingredients Sources
).
Chapter 2: Sponge Cakes
Light, moist, and tender, there are no cakes more elegant or alluring than these. To achieve these qualities, most sponge cakes rely on a proportionately larger amount of well-beaten eggs or stiffly beaten egg whites to flour rather than on the chemical leavenings used in butter or oil layer cakes. (If baking powder, baking soda, or both are used, it is only in very small quantities.) The stiffly beaten eggs or egg whites provide the structure usually contributed by the higher amount of flour. The success of these cakes, therefore, depends on proper beating technique, which makes them a little more challenging but at the same time very rewarding.
Whipped cream makes an ideal frosting for sponge cakes because when refrigerated, the texture of a sponge cake does not get as firm as that of a butter cake. Any slight watering out that might occur gets absorbed into the cake, making the cake moister and more tender; a butter or oil cake just becomes soggy.
Of special interest in this chapter is the optional use of Wondra flour (see
Flour
) in many of the cakes. This unique flour produces sponge cakes that are lighter, more tender, and more delicious than those using any other flour.
Preparing the Pan
If using a layer cake pan, coat the interior of the pan with baking spray with flour. Then set a parchment round in the bottom. (The round will stick to the cake and help when removing the bottom crust so that the cake can absorb syrup. Leave the parchment on the cake until ready to apply syrup.) Wipe off the rim of the pan. There is no need to use a cake strip as sponge cakes don't tend to dome and also any dryness at the edges will be corrected when the cake is brushed with syrup after baking.
A straight-sided tube pan should be left uncoated so that the sponge cake can rise to its fullest height.
Cooling and Unmolding a Sponge Cake
When hot, sponge cakes are so light and fragile that they seem almost to defy gravity. If they are left in the pan, the moisture from within will cause them to deflate like a soufflé. It is therefore necessary to have ready two unmolding racks that have been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray, and to unmold the cakes as soon as they are baked.
Except when baking the cake in a fluted tube pan, always run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing it against the pan, to ensure complete release of the cake's sides with crumb intact.
Invert the cake onto one prepared rack and immediately reinvert it onto the second rack. The firm upper crust helps maintain the maximum height of the cake layer. The main exception to this rule is a cake that is baked in an angel food tube pan; it is always cooled completely upside down. The cake will cling to the bottom of the pan and stretch downward to its full height. Once cool, the structure is firm enough to prevent the collapse of the delicate foam structure and the cake can be unmolded. (A large chiffon cake baked in a pan without a center tube also needs to be cooled upside down.) To unmold, loosen the sides and bottom with a metal spatula and run a wire cake tester or wooden skewer around the center tube.
Some angel food pans have legs designed to support the pan when inverted to cool, but they don't function very well. The cooling cake needs to be suspended a minimum of four inches above a work surface to allow for effective evaporation of steam. A slim-necked glass soda or wine bottle will work well, but the opening of some pans is not large enough. If this is the case, you will need to use a wire rack or large inverted metal funnel that is raised off the work surface. Whatever you use, have this ready before the cake comes out of the oven.
Allow cakes to cool until they are no longer warm to the touch before adding syrup, storing, or frosting. Any residual heat will Make the Cakes soggy and melt the frosting.
Highlights For Successful Sponge Cakes
It is best to make sponge cakes on a relatively dry day as humidity will result in slightly less height in the finished cake.
Weigh or measure ingredients carefully:
To measure cake or all-purpose flour, use a solid cup measure (one with an unbroken rim) and sift the flour directly into it until the flour mounds above the rim. Use a long metal spatula or knife blade to run across the rim of the cup, getting rid of the excess flour. Measure Wondra flour by spooning it lightly into the measuring cup and leveling it off in the same way. Be sure to weigh or measure all eggs, egg yolks, and egg whites. Because eggs vary in size and because sponge cakes depend on them for leavening, any fluctuation will affect the outcome significantly.
Use the specified pan size.
Check for
accurate oven temperature.
Use superfine sugar
for the finest texture. (You can make it by processing fine granulated sugar in the food processor for a few minutes.)
Use Wondra flour
when specified, cake flour without leavening, or bleached all-purpose flour. Wondra produces a slightly stiffer batter so use a small offset spatula to spread and level the batter in the pan.
When handling or beating egg whites, everything that comes in contact with them, including the mixer bowl and beater,
must be free of grease
(this includes even the tiniest trace of egg yolk) or the egg whites will not beat adequately.
Use the recommended amount
of cream of tartar (1/8 teaspoon per egg white) and beat until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. (There is no risk of breaking down the egg whites or drying them if the correct amount of cream of tartar is used.)
Once the egg whites are beaten,
immediately fold them
gently but thoroughly into the rest of the mixture to prevent them from breaking down and to maximize their volume.
Before scraping the batter
into the pan(s), reach to the bottom of the mixer bowl with a silicone spatula to make sure all the flour is integrated.
Bake immediately
after mixing the batter.
Use correct baking times;
do not underbake.
Avoid opening the oven door
before the minimum baking time has elapsed, because these fragile cakes could fall. Test toward the end of baking by opening the oven door a crack, and if the cake doesn't appear done, continue baking for another five minutes.
Sponge cakes that have syrup are enjoyed most if allowed to
ripen overnight.
Wrap cake layers well
or add syrup and frost them only when completely cool.
This cake has no fat and is made entirely with egg whites, which means that it is lacking in tenderizing ingredients. Lemon juice is, therefore, an important addition because it makes the crumb slightly ivory in color and meltingly tender, especially when combined with the Wondra flour and the right proportion of cream of tartar.
Although an angel food cake can be baked in a layer cake pan, it is much better to use the traditional pan with a center tube because it produces a more uniform shape and lighter consistency. Because these pans vary so much in size and capacity, I offer an angel food cake formula based on one egg white for a one-cup-capacity pan. All you need to do is multiply the weight or volume of each ingredient by the number of cups of your pan. (Measure the volume of the pan by placing a plastic bag inside to keep the water from leaking out and then measure out cups of water until you reach the top of the pan.) If you are using volume rather than weight, keep in mind that three teaspoons equal one tablespoon and sixteen tablespoons equal one cup. See
Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake
for a full-size version.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
superfine sugar | 1½ tablespoons, divided | 0.66 | 18.7 |
Wondra flour (or cake flour) | ¾ tablespoon, lightly spooned and leveled off (or 1 tablespoon, sifted into the spoon and leveled off) | 0.22 | 6.2 |
salt | pinch (¼ teaspoon for 16 egg whites) | . | . |
1 large egg white, at room temperature | 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) | 1.06 | 30 |
lemon juice, freshly squeezed | 1/8 plus 1/16 teaspoon | . | . |
cream of tartar | 1/8 teaspoon | . | . |
pure vanilla extract | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
fine-quality unsweetened or 99% cacao chocolate, grated (optional); see | . | 0.12 | 3.5 |