Rose's Heavenly Cakes (68 page)
Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Replace 6 ounces/170 grams of the dark chocolate with milk chocolate, 40% to 41% cacao.
six 3½-inch whoopies
8 to 10 minutes
Whoopie pie originated in the Pennsylvania Dutch country. There are many versions, including some that use Marshmallow Fluff as part of the filling. This one, created by pastry chef Deborah Hartman, is simply the best! I had never heard of whoopie pie before enjoying it at the Two Fat Cats Bakery in Portland, Maine. There, one of the bakers was in the midst of scooping the chocolate batter onto baking sheets and I was mystified because I never had seen cake batter baked on a flat sheet. Then I was entranced by the soft, moist cake sandwich filled with a sweet, white fluffy buttercream that perfectly balanced the intense bittersweetness of the chocolate. Deborah adds meringue to the creamed butter instead of the reverse, an easier technique all around and one that I now use for all of my mousseline-type buttercreams, including the Whoopie "Marshmallow Cream." Although it's technically a mousseline, it has more than double the butter and three times the sugar of a classic mousseline.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
dark chocolate, 60% to 62% cacao, chopped | . | 1.5 | 40 |
dark brown sugar, preferably Muscovado | ½ cup, firmly packed | 4.2 | 120 |
1 large egg, at room temperature | 3 tablespoons (1.5 fluid ounces) | 1.7 | 50 |
canola or safflower oil, at room temperature | 2 tablespoons | 1 | 28 |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 2 tablespoons | 1 | 28 |
bleached all-purpose flour | 1 cup (sifted into the cup and leveled off) plus 1½ tablespoons | 4.5 | 125 |
unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder | 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (sifted before measuring) | 0.6 | 18 |
baking powder | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
baking soda | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
salt | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
low-fat buttermilk | ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) | 4.3 | 121 |
Special Equipment
2 baking sheets or inverted half-sheet pans, coated with nonstick cooking spray or shortening (flour not needed)
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
Melt the Chocolate
Heat the chocolate until almost completely melted. Use a small microwavable bowl, stirring with a silicone spatula every 15 seconds (or use the top of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often—do not let the bottom of the container touch the water).
Remove the chocolate from the heat and, with the silicone spatula, stir until fully melted. Set it aside to cool until it is no longer warm to the touch but is still fluid.
Make the Batter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the brown sugar, egg, oil, and butter on medium speed for about 5 minutes. The mixture will become smooth and paler in color. Lower the speed and beat in the cooled melted chocolate until evenly incorporated.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift to remove any lumps from the cocoa and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, in three additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and beat just until incorporated, starting on low speed and raising the speed to medium. With a 1-ounce (2-tablespoon) ice cream scoop (number 40), scoop 6 evenly spaced rounded mounds (1.5 ounces/42 grams each) onto one of the prepared baking sheets.
Bake the Cakes
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pan after 6 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed lightly in the centers. While they are baking, finish mounding the remaining batter on the second baking sheet and bake as soon as the first batch is removed from the oven.
Cool the Cakes
Let the cakes cool on the pan on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a thin pancake turner, lift them from the pan and set them on wire racks to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container until ready to fill.
1 cup plus a rounded 1/3
cup/8.5 ounces/240 grams
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
sugar | ¼ cup | 1.7 | 50 |
corn syrup | 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) | 1.5 | 41 |
water | 1 tablespoon (0.5 fluid ounce) | 0.5 | 14 |
1 large egg white, at room temperature | 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) | 1 | 30 |
cream of tartar | 1/8 | . | . |
unsalted butter, preferably high fat (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 1 tablespoon | 0.5 | 14 |
pure vanilla extract | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
Make the Sugar Syrup
This small amount works best made with a handheld mixer.
Have ready a 1-cup or larger heatproof glass measure.
In a small heavy saucepan, preferably nonstick, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water and stir until all the sugar is moistened. Heat, 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 White into a Stiff Meringue
In a mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the egg white on high speed until foamy. With the mixer off, add the cream of tartar. Beat until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly.
Bring the Sugar Syrup to the Proper Temperature
Increase the heat under the sugar syrup and boil 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 Syrup to the Meringue
Beat the syrup into the meringue 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. Use a silicone scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Lower the speed slightly and continue beating until the outside of the bowl no longer feels hot, about 3 minutes. Beat in the butter until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Refrigerate the meringue mixture for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it is cool but still soft (ideally 70°F/21°C).
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
unsalted butter, high fat, preferably slightly softened but cool (65°F/19°C) | 8 tablespoons (1 stick) | 4 | 113 |
powdered sugar | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off) | 1.5 | 43 |
Make the Finishing Cream
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until soft and creamy. Attach the whisk beater. Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is very light in texture and almost white in color. Lower the speed to medium, add all the meringue, and beat until incorporated and the buttercream is smooth and light in texture, about 10 seconds. Step back on your heels and congratulate yourself for having produced a perfect buttercream.
Compose the Whoopie Pie
Place a mound (about 3 gently rounded tablespoons/almost 1.5 ounces/40 grams) of whoopie cream between two cakes to make a sandwich, pressing down slightly so that cream reaches the edges of the cakes, which have now officially become whoopie pies.
16
15 to 20 minutes
When I think of mud turtles, I think of my beloved nephew, Alexander, when he was a little boy. He had been given a new slingshot and decided to try it out on a poor unsuspecting mud turtle. Despite a considerable distance, Alex's aim was perfect but happily the turtle was unharmed. What I remember best was his look of astonished pride followed immediately by deep remorse. It told me everything I needed to know about what kind of man he would become. Alex's young son, Haydn, and little daugher, Mary Jane, love this story.
Picture this mud turtle: First you encounter the taste of toasted whole pecans; quickly thereafter, the ganache "mud" mingling with the slightly sticky caramel; finally, your teeth sink into the most tender, full-flavored chocolate cake. (In fact, the cupcakes are so good that you can forgo the "mud" and eat them warm with vanilla bean ice cream.) This is the ultimate crowd-pleaser birthday cake for children and grown-up children alike!
Plan Ahead
Make the ganache several hours before using.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder | ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (sifted before measuring) | 1.5 | 42 |
sour cream | 2/3 | 5.6 | 160 |
2 large eggs, at room temperature | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces) | 3.5 | 100 |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
cake flour (or bleached all-purpose flour) | 1½ cups plus 1 tablespoon (or 1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons), sifted into the cup and leveled off | 5.5 | 156 |
superfine sugar | 1 cup | 7 | 200 |
baking powder | ¾ teaspoon | . | . |
baking soda | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
salt | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) | 7 | 200 |
Special Equipment
16 cupcake liners, coated with baking spray with flour, set in muffin pans or custard cups
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.
Mix the Cocoa with the Liquid Ingredients