Rose's Heavenly Cakes (79 page)

Swirled Frosting

My favorite way to apply ganache or chocolate frosting to a layer cake is in opulent swirls, both on the sides and top of the cake. The swirls make the cake look both delicious and approachable. Start by applying a smooth, thin layer of frosting to the sides and top of the cake to seal in any crumbs. Then add a thicker layer and, with a small metal spatula, make circular swirls all over.

Spikes

Perky little peaks of frosting require a thicker layer of frosting than usual so that there is enough to pull out into peaks. Use a small metal spatula to lift the frosting away from the cake in short, sharp movements.

Chocolate Snowflakes

Fine flurries of chocolate dissolve and melt instantly on the tongue like snowflakes. They are lovely in appearance and add extra chocolate impact. When grated, dark chocolate makes pale brown flakes. To make thick flakes, a chocolate block or bar needs to be as hard as possible, so store it in a cool room or wrap it tightly and refrigerate it briefly. Use a good-quality melon baller with sharp edges to scrape the chocolate, making short, light strokes that do not cut too deeply into the block.

Allow the flakes to fall onto a small cool baking sheet because they will melt if you touch them with your fingers. Place the sheet inside a large plastic bag and shake the flakes into the bag without touching them. They keep in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature. Use a large metal spoon to lift them out and onto the cake.

Chocolate Curls

Chocolate needs to be moderately soft in order to curl without breaking or flattening. A small block of chocolate can be softened by placing it under a lamp or in a microwave using 3-second bursts on high power. It usually takes a few tries to get the chocolate soft enough without oversoftening it, but once this point is reached, it will hold for at least 10 minutes, giving you enough time to make lots of beautiful curls.

I find the best utensil with which to make the curls is a sharp vegetable peeler. Hold it against the upper edge of the chocolate block and dig in the upper edge of the cutter, pulling it toward you. Increase pressure to form thicker, more open curls. Decrease pressure to make tighter curls. Until the chocolate is sufficiently warmed, it will splinter. When it becomes too warm, it will come off the block in strips that will not curl. But if the strips are not too soft, you can use your fingers to shape the curls. Keep your fingers cool by periodically dipping them in ice water and drying them well.

Marzipan Candles

The magic of these edible candles is the edible sliced almond wicks that not only bear the shape of a flame, they also can be lit with a match because of the oil contained in the almonds.

It's also attractive to make the flames out of marzipan, tinting them with red food color.

Candles can be made any size or color, twisted just like wax candles, and even brushed with edible gold or petal dust (see
Gold
). If the candle is large, however, push a plastic drinking straw up through its center for support. That way it can remain upright and straight. Shape by rolling marzipan into a log.

To color it, you can knead powdered or paste food color into the marzipan, or unsweetened cocoa powder, which cuts some of the sweetness and adds a lovely flavor. If using food color, it helps to knead it into the marzipan on a piece of plastic wrap, using the plastic wrap to press it in without staining your fingers. Food-safe latex or vinyl gloves also work well.

For 7 ounces/200 grams marzipan, use about 1 tablespoon/6 grams cocoa, or to taste. This makes a candle big enough to put in the center of a cake baked in a fluted tube pan. It will be about 4 inches tall, 2 inches in diameter at the bottom, and about 1½ inches in diameter at the top. If making a marzipan flame, shape it to be about 1½ inches high.

Marzipan candles can be air-dried for several days if they are intended only for decoration, but if you are planning to eat them, keep them well wrapped and refrigerated until shortly before presenting the cake or brush them with melted cocoa butter to prevent crusting. They can stay at room temperature for 2 days.

To serve the candle, use a sharp thin knife to cut thin slices lengthwise through the candle.

Dazzling Lemon and Orange Peel Roses

Citrus peel roses are fun and easy to make. The only slightly painstaking part is removing the peel in one long piece. Work slowly and carefully and you will be rewarded with a magical adornment. Orange peel is thicker than lemon peel and holds its shape better. Lemon peel requires more gentle heating to attain a firm texture. Choose oranges and lemons that have thick skin.

With a very sharp paring knife, start by cutting a round section across the base of the fruit but not all the way through. Be sure to keep it attached to the rest of the peel. Carefully cut around the fruit to remove the peel in a single strip, taking a layer of the white pith as well. Stop before you get to the other end and use this section to cut a few small strips about 1 inch in length to use for the centers of the roses.

You will need enough sugar syrup to cover the peel. To make sugar syrup, bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil, stirring until dissolved. The exact amount of syrup depends on the size of the pan and the number of roses you plan to make.

If using orange peel, add it to simmering syrup, pushing it down gently with a silicone spatula to coat it, and allow it to poach uncovered at a bare simmer for 30 minutes. Remove it from the syrup to paper towels and let it sit for a minute, or until cool enough to handle.

If using lemon peel, add it to simmering syrup, pushing it down gently with a silicone spatula to coat it. Cover the pan and remove it from the heat. Allow the peel to sit for 8 to 12 hours before removing it from the syrup to paper towels.

Starting at the straight end of the strip, curl each strip loosely around itself to form a rose. The coiled strip will sit on the little round base at the end of the strip. When dry, the peel will draw in slightly, resulting in less space between the "petals." Curl the shorter strips into little cones for the centers.

Allow the roses and center cones to dry for about 1 hour on a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Insert the little cones pointed ends down into the center of each rose and, with a small artist's paintbrush reserved for use with food, coat all sides of the peel with corn syrup. After about 1 hour, apply a second coat, and after another hour, apply a third coat. Allow the orange peel roses to dry completely. This can take several days. Then store them in a covered container. The lemon peel edges curl inward as they dry, resembling the points of rose petals in full bloom. Set them in a covered container after they have curved in just a little. Place the lemon peel roses on the cake up to 12 hours before serving. The orange and lemon peel roses will keep for months, but they will require a touchup of corn syrup to restore their beautiful glisten. If making more than one week ahead, store the lemon peel roses in the refrigerator.

Crystallized Flowers and Leaves

Small edible flowers (see
Flowers
), such as roses, lilacs, pansies, and wild violets (not African), and leaves such as the rose geranium and mint leaf, can be made into beautifully shimmering decorations to garnish cakes. When you make them yourself, each petal remains separate and sparkling. Firm-petaled flowers such as roses are the easiest to work with. Sugared rose petals of varying hues are stunning scattered around the base of a serving plate. All that's needed is a little egg white, superfine sugar and petal dust or powdered food color, and a small artist's paintbrush reserved for use with food. Petal dust, available in cake decorating supply stores, comes in many subtle hues. Paste food color also works well. For example, Wilton (see
Ingredients Sources
) makes a grape paste color the perfect hue for lilacs and a violet paste color the perfect hue for violets. For red roses, it's exciting to use powdered or paste red food color as it intensifies and preserves the flower's natural color. After drying, most flowers will last for years, with the exception of lilacs, which tend to brown around the edges after a few months.

Crystallize the Flowers and Leaves

Place superfine sugar in a small bowl and stir in the powdered food color, starting with a small amount. Pour an egg white into another small bowl and beat it lightly with a whisk or fork. If using roses, peel off any outer petals that are not in perfect shape. If the roses are too tightly closed, tease open the petals by blowing on them and probing them gently with the blunt end of a wooden skewer.

Dip the flowers facedown into the egg white. Use an artist's paintbrush to remove all but a thin coating, making sure that the underside of the petals is coated, too. Hold the flower over the sugar bowl and, with a small spoon, spoon the sugar over the flower's petals to coat them evenly on all sides.

Dry the Crystallized Flowers and Leaves

Large multi-petaled flowers such as roses can take up to 4 days to dry, while mint leaves can dry in just a few hours. Most flowers with softer petals, such as violets, keep their shape best when suspended upside down until partially dry and set. This works well for rose geranium leaves, too. Use a clamp-type clip to grasp the stem and hang it by the loops of the clamp. When it is partially dry, transfer the flower to a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray to dry completely. For roses, what works best is to cover the top of a bowl tightly with a piece of aluminum foil, preferably nonstick heavy duty, and punch small holes in the foil to hold the flowers upright. When the petals are dry enough to hold their shape on their own, transfer the flowers to lightly greased racks to dry completely. Cut off all but about 2 inches of stem, which can be used to insert into the cake. Most crystallized flowers will keep indefinitely in an airtight container in low humidity, away from direct sunlight.

Troubleshooting

Assuming you are working with a reliable recipe, if something goes wrong with a cake, the first thing to consider is the ingredients—the way in which they were weighed or measured and their temperature. Keep in mind that any substitution of ingredients is almost sure to have an impact on the way the cake turns out. Next is oven temperature. Another consideration is altitude.

High Altitude

Changes in the way cakes bake usually begin at altitudes over 3,000 feet/914 meters due to the decrease in air pressure. This lower air pressure causes water to boil at a lower temperature, resulting in more evaporation during baking and drier cakes. If the batter is drier, it will not have the ability to gelatinize the starch fully, a step that is necessary to set the structure. The structure is compromised further by decreased air pressure: The cakes rise too much, the structure can't support the rise, and the cakes collapse.

Decreasing the sugar helps to make more liquid available for gelatinizing the starch. I also recommend decreasing the leavening slightly and increasing the liquid slightly. It may also be necessary to increase the number of eggs to add more structure. For a butter cake that uses very little baking powder and a high level of butter, such as a pound cake, decreasing the butter will help to strengthen the cake's structure.

At elevations above 3,500 feet/1,067 meters, increasing the oven temperature by 25°F/15°C will help to set the structure more quickly.

As each cake recipe varies, guidelines can be given, but the proof truly is in the pudding. To start, I recommend two books:
The Chocolate Snowball: And Other Fabulous Pastries from Deer Valley Resort,
by head baker Letty Halloran Flatt, who has been baking at high altitude for many years, and
Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes,
by baking authority Susan G. Purdy, who baked at different elevations over a period of time. (You can visit her Web site at
www.highaltitudebaking.com
.) In addition, the USDA lists the following recommendations for high-altitude adjustments: