Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Rose's Heavenly Cakes (29 page)
Special Equipment
Six 1¼-cup mini angel food pans up to one 10-inch (16 cups) two-piece metal tube pan, depending on the amount of batter you want to make | Wire rack raised off the counter, long-necked glass soda or wine bottle, or a large inverted metal funnel that will fit into the opening at the top of the pan, depending on the size of the pan. (Have this ready before baking and weight it by filling it with sugar or marbles to keep it from tipping.)
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
Prepare the Sugar, Flour, and Salt
In a small bowl, whisk together half the sugar, the flour, and salt until evenly combined. Sift the remaining sugar onto a piece of wax paper.
Beat the Egg Whites into a Stiff Meringue
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. With the mixer off, add the lemon juice (omit if using chocolate) and cream of tartar. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Gradually beat in the sifted sugar and continue beating on medium-high speed until very stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Beat in the vanilla until combined.
Make the Batter
Dust the flour mixture over the beaten whites, one-sixth of the mixture at a time (if using cake flour, sift it over the whites). With a large balloon whisk, slotted skimmer, or large silicone spatula, fold in the flour mixture quickly but gently. It is not necessary to incorporate every speck until the last addition. Fold in the grated chocolate, if using, until evenly incorporated. Using a long narrow spatula or silicone spatula, spread a thin layer of batter onto the sides of the prepared pan to ensure smooth sides. Empty the rest of the batter into the pan. In a 16-cup pan, it will be ½ inch from the top of the rim. Run a small metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets and smooth the surface evenly.
Bake the Cake
Bake for 15 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the pan, or until golden brown, a wire cake tester inserted between the tube and the side comes out clean, and the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. (A wooden toothpick will still have a few moist crumbs clinging to it.) During baking, the center will rise about 2 inches above the pan, but it will sink to almost level with the pan when done. The surface will have deep cracks, like a soufflé.
Cool and Unmold the Cake
Invert the pan immediately onto the raised wire rack or place the tube opening over the neck of the bottle to suspend it well above the countertop. Cool completely in the pan, about 1½ hours.
Loosen the sides of the pan with a long narrow spatula and remove the center core of the pan. Dislodge the cake from the bottom and center core with a small metal spatula or thin sharp knife. (A wire cake tester or wooden skewer works well around the core. To keep the sides attractive, press the spatula firmly against the sides of the pan, moving the spatula up and down as you go around it.) Invert the cake onto a flat plate covered with plastic wrap that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray and reinvert it onto a serving plate. Allow the cake to sit for 1 hour, or until the top is no longer tacky. Then cover it with a cake dome or wrap it airtight. It keeps for 3 days at room temperature, and for 10 days refrigerated. Freezing toughens the texture.
Notes
Grated chocolate is difficult to measure as it tends to fly around and melt immediately upon touch. Therefore I find it easiest to determine the amount by weight. Before grating, store the chocolate in a cool place, tightly wrapped. Refrigerate briefly before grating. Grate the chocolate onto a sheet of parchment, shake it into a bowl, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Using a large spoon, transfer the chilled grated chocolate to the mixing bowl.
If using the optional chocolate, omit the lemon juice.
Highlights for Successful Génoise
Compared with the basic butter layer cake, a génoise (zhay-NWAHZ) has all the liquid and about one-third the sugar in the form of syrup, added after baking, which makes it lighter and moister as well. Including the syrup, for the same-size butter cake, génoise has four times the egg, double the liquid, less fat, and 1.6 times the sugar.
Heat the eggs
to the temperature indicated
because any fluctuation makes a considerable difference in the volume of the batter.
It is imperative to
beat on high speed
for a minimum of 5 minutes. The batter should at least quadruple in volume and be very thick.
For maximum volume,
use a balloon whisk
or slotted skimmer to fold the flour into the batter. A large silicone spatula works but deflates the batter more. If using the whisk, periodically shake out the batter that collects inside. Work quickly once the eggs are beaten so that they do not deflate. Use a large silicone spatula at the end of folding in order to reach to the bottom of the bowl and to scrape the batter into the pan.
Especially for chocolate génoise,
use your fingers
to reach to the bottom of the bowl and pinch out any little pebbles of encapsulated flour that have not blended into the rest of the batter.
Make the génoise and add syrup
a day ahead of serving
to give the syrup a chance to distribute more evenly and to develop its flavors.
Highlights for Successful Biscuit
A biscuit (bees-KWEE) is a cake similar to a génoise, but it has a little more egg and no added fat, making its structure lighter and stronger. Therefore, it can absorb more syrup and become moister and a little sweeter (see
Lemon Meringue Cake
).
Weigh or measure
the yolks and egg whites.
Beat the egg mixture and egg whites
very stiffly
.
For maximum volume,
use a balloon whisk
or slotted skimmer to fold the flour into the batter. A large silicone spatula works but deflates the batter more.
If using the whisk,
periodically shake out the batter
that collects inside. Work quickly once the eggs are beaten so that they do not deflate. Use a large silicone spatula at the end of folding in order to reach to the bottom of the bowl and to scrape the batter into the pan.
Use a small offset spatula
to level the batter as the batter will not flow during baking.
14 to 16
30 to 40 minutes
Many of us adore the gossamer texture of angel food cake but find its taste too sweet. The perfect solution to tempering the sweetness is to spangle the batter with grated bitter (unsweetened) chocolate. Chocolate-Spangled Whipped Cream has the perfect harmony of color, texture, and flavor to fill and frost this cake. You can also fill the cake layers and leave the sides bare. For the fluffiest texture, serve using two forks back to back to cut through the cake without deflating it. Alternatively, use a serrated knife, but hold the cake gently without compressing it as you cut. Do not serve this cake with sauce as it would fall apart.
If you prefer a pure white cake, simply omit the chocolate and try the vanilla bean variation. The very lightest and most tender texture comes from using Wondra flour; it blends easily into the batter without deflating it significantly.
My recipe uses one egg white per cup capacity of the pan. (To get the volume of your pan, line it with a clean plastic bag and pour in water up to the top, counting the cups as you go.) If your pan is smaller, simply decrease the recipe or bake any extra batter as cupcakes. Be sure to cool the cupcakes upside down on a wire rack to ensure maximum volume. Sixteen beaten whites will rise to the very top of a 5-quart mixer.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
superfine sugar | 1½ cups, divided | 10.6 | 300 |
Wondra flour (or cake flour) | ¾ cup, lightly spooned and leveled off (or 1 cup, sifted into the cup and leveled off) | 3.5 | 100 |
salt | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
16 large egg whites, at room temperature | 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) | 17 | 480 |
cream of tartar | 2 teaspoons | . | . |
pure vanilla extract | 4 teaspoons | . | . |
fine-quality unsweetened or 99% cacao chocolate, chilled, finely grated, refrigerated | . | 2 | 56 |
Special Equipment
One ungreased 10-inch (16 cups) two-piece metal tube pan | Long-necked glass wine or soda bottle, or a large inverted metal funnel that will fit into the opening at the top of the pan. (Have this ready before baking and weight it by filling it with sugar or marbles to keep it from tipping.)
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
Prepare the Sugar, Flour, and Salt
In a small bowl, whisk together half the sugar, the flour, and salt until evenly combined. Sift the remaining sugar onto a piece of wax paper.
Beat the Egg Whites into a Stiff Meringue
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with 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 sifted sugar and continue beating on medium-high speed until very stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Beat in the vanilla until combined.
Make the Batter
Dust (lightly sprinkle) the flour mixture over the beaten whites, ¼ cup at a time (if using cake flour, sift it over the whites). With a large balloon whisk, slotted skimmer, or large silicone spatula, fold in the flour mixture quickly but gently. It is not necessary to incorporate every speck until the last addition. Fold in the grated chocolate until evenly incorporated. Using a long narrow spatula or silicone spatula, spread a thin layer of batter onto the sides of the prepared pan to ensure smooth sides. Empty the rest of the batter into the pan. In a 16-cup pan, it will be ½ inch from the top of the rim. Run a small metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets and smooth the surface evenly.
Bake the Cake
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown, a wire cake tester inserted between the tube and the side comes out clean, and the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. (A wooden toothpick will still have a few moist crumbs clinging to it.) During baking, the center will rise about 2 inches above the pan, but it will sink to almost level with the pan when done. The surface will have deep cracks, like a soufflé.