Overture
My friend and neighbor, Penny, gave me the opportunity to bake a birthday cake for her daughter Katelyn's 21st birthday. Katelyn, who is everything one would want in a young daughter, loves chocolate, so I baked the Chocolate Cuddle Cake in her honor.
I baked two Cuddle Cakes--a standard cake for Katelyn's celebration, and a half-size recipe for my husband and I to enjoy. I wanted plenty of the ganache and the whipped cream topping to work with, so I made double batch of each of those recipes.
This was not a difficult recipe, but it was rather involved, hence the "Five Acts."
I baked two Cuddle Cakes--a standard cake for Katelyn's celebration, and a half-size recipe for my husband and I to enjoy. I wanted plenty of the ganache and the whipped cream topping to work with, so I made double batch of each of those recipes.
This was not a difficult recipe, but it was rather involved, hence the "Five Acts."
ACT ONE: The Cake
STIFF PEAKS! The Cuddle Cake is a straightforward sponge-type cake, in which the egg whites are whipped furiously into a stiff meringue, and then folded gently into the rest of the batter.
Before I continue this narrative, let me comment on how hilariously preposterous I sound to myself, like such a baking authority, "a straightforward sponge-type cake..." I'm no expert! After baking with Rose's books since 1989, I just have a lot of experience following her recipes. So, laugh along with me, and if I start taking myself too seriously, PLEASE, somebody--jerk a knot in my tail, will ya?!
This summer my husband Smitty and I went to part of "The World's Longest Yard Sale" in Crossville, TN. What an experience! I was thrilled to find an antique angel food cake folder--pictured in a line drawing in the "Equipment" section in the back of the Cake Bible (p.458). You can see it put to good use in this next photo. It really won't deflate meringue, I love it! Keep your eye out for one at antique shops, it is a great find!
Before I continue this narrative, let me comment on how hilariously preposterous I sound to myself, like such a baking authority, "a straightforward sponge-type cake..." I'm no expert! After baking with Rose's books since 1989, I just have a lot of experience following her recipes. So, laugh along with me, and if I start taking myself too seriously, PLEASE, somebody--jerk a knot in my tail, will ya?!
This summer my husband Smitty and I went to part of "The World's Longest Yard Sale" in Crossville, TN. What an experience! I was thrilled to find an antique angel food cake folder--pictured in a line drawing in the "Equipment" section in the back of the Cake Bible (p.458). You can see it put to good use in this next photo. It really won't deflate meringue, I love it! Keep your eye out for one at antique shops, it is a great find!
By the way, this is the other side of my reversible new apron, handmade by daughter Jessica! What a great Christmas gift! (See the other side on last week's post about the frozen pecan pie!) I have to get a good shot of the whole apron--soon! I improvised a bake-even strip the old fashioned way. I folded wet paper towels inside a pocket of aluminum foil and fastened it with paper clips. It was easier than dealing with my old Wilton strips that have to pinned--especially for the second half-size cake baked in a six-inch springform pan.
The springform pan is prepared with a strip of parchment paper around the inside. Once the batter is scraped into the pan, a metal flower nail is sunk into the center of the pan to serve as a heating core. Fortunately, I had two flower nails. I didn't know if it would be necessary to use one for a six-inch pan (for my half-size cake), but I did it anyway.
Unmolding the cake was easy. The parchment liner slipped off without the need for the damp towel treatment.
One note here--the telltale cracks at the center of the cake were very small. I was watching it carefully, (one might even say with extreme paranoia) per the instructions. Because it was a birthday cake for a friend, I was particularly anxious to get it right!
ACT TWO: The Ganache
This component is so simple that it is certain to become a frequent addition to my repertoire. (Uh oh, sounding uppity again...)
Vanilla and Kaluha are added to the molten chocolate mixture in the food processor. Unlike some of my fellow Alpha Bakers, I am deeply attached to my Cuisinart!
Cooling is an essential part of this process. When I read the recipe, "make the ganache at least three hours in advance," I took that to mean that it would be ready in three hours. However, I found that it took closer to four hours to cool to spreading consistency. Fortunately, on page 521 of the Baking Bible, Rose notes that ganache can be beaten with a whisk to thicken it if you need to use it before the cooling time has elapsed. This worked perfectly! I didn't notice any change in color at all.
Cooling is an essential part of this process. When I read the recipe, "make the ganache at least three hours in advance," I took that to mean that it would be ready in three hours. However, I found that it took closer to four hours to cool to spreading consistency. Fortunately, on page 521 of the Baking Bible, Rose notes that ganache can be beaten with a whisk to thicken it if you need to use it before the cooling time has elapsed. This worked perfectly! I didn't notice any change in color at all.
ACT THREE: The Caramel
Let me pause a moment to wax lyrical on the downright magical collaboration between sugar, butter and Lyle's Golden Syrup. All nice ingredients on their own, but introduce them to one another in the presence of heat, stir in some scalded cream and they turn into a confection truly greater than the sum of their parts.
My readers may recall the blisters I endured when making candied hazelnuts last month. I was nervous in the face of another hot sugar syrup, but no burns this time! Finished with a little bit of cocoa powder mixed with water, this is the most heavenly caramel I have ever tasted.
Cooling is critical to this component as well. It took about 90 minutes to cool my double batch of caramel.
Cooling is critical to this component as well. It took about 90 minutes to cool my double batch of caramel.
ACT FOUR: The Caramel Whipped Cream
Unflavored gelatin is dissolved in a little bit of heavy cream, and warmed in a pan of barely simmering water. The cake is superb, the ganache delicious, but this caramel whipped cream is by far the best part of this already stellar dessert.
The cream is stabilized with unflavored gelatin and sweetened with that amazing heavenly caramel.
The cream is stabilized with unflavored gelatin and sweetened with that amazing heavenly caramel.
The caramel is added to the softly whipped cream....
Now the photos cease. We have entered the Dark Times. (It couldn't have been more than 20 minutes, although it felt like three hours of agony.)
Act 4.1 The Whipped Cream...Deflates
Whisking along as directed, the caramel and cream are becoming a lovely, uniform color...when suddenly, the cream seems to be deflating. My heart begins sinking with it. What could I be doing wrong? I followed the instructions to the letter! In desperation, I reach for the hand mixer. Dear God--is it getting worse?! I stuff the bowl into the fridge. My blood pressure rises.
ACT 4.2 Mousseline crash and burn
The birthday party is in 90 minutes. I picture a wonderful young woman with a terrible cake because I messed it up!
Quick change of gears. I am a Girl Scout, after all. I turn to my old reliable Cake Bible. I will make a batch of Rose's foolproof Mousseline Buttercream to use instead of the whipped cream. I have made that recipe so many times, I'm petrified to even attempt Rose's new sequence (in Rose's Heavenly Cakes) for fear of forever jinxing myself!
All is going well. I'm back in The Zone. Meringue is perfect, butter the right temperature....and then for the first time in 20 years....curdling. More curdling, even more curdling where there isn't even room for more. RUINED icing. Throw-it-out, irretrievably bad icing. Trying hard not to break down in sobs in the kitchen. Panic is thick in the room.
ACT 4.3 The Whipped Cream is....Okay After All???
Whisking along as directed, the caramel and cream are becoming a lovely, uniform color...when suddenly, the cream seems to be deflating. My heart begins sinking with it. What could I be doing wrong? I followed the instructions to the letter! In desperation, I reach for the hand mixer. Dear God--is it getting worse?! I stuff the bowl into the fridge. My blood pressure rises.
ACT 4.2 Mousseline crash and burn
The birthday party is in 90 minutes. I picture a wonderful young woman with a terrible cake because I messed it up!
Quick change of gears. I am a Girl Scout, after all. I turn to my old reliable Cake Bible. I will make a batch of Rose's foolproof Mousseline Buttercream to use instead of the whipped cream. I have made that recipe so many times, I'm petrified to even attempt Rose's new sequence (in Rose's Heavenly Cakes) for fear of forever jinxing myself!
All is going well. I'm back in The Zone. Meringue is perfect, butter the right temperature....and then for the first time in 20 years....curdling. More curdling, even more curdling where there isn't even room for more. RUINED icing. Throw-it-out, irretrievably bad icing. Trying hard not to break down in sobs in the kitchen. Panic is thick in the room.
ACT 4.3 The Whipped Cream is....Okay After All???
I am an adult. I face the fact that the cake will be iced completely with the ganache. Out comes the turntable and the decorating bags. My husband, Smitty, God bless his dear heart, pulls the bowl out of the fridge and remarks, "Are you sure this won't work? It looks okay to me." Lo and behold, a dairy product miracle!! The cream is extremely soft, but definitely workable. Heaven and nature begin to sing!
ACT FIVE: Icing the cake (and the photos continue!)
Cake Decorating 101 (Per me, anyway): First I put a lot of icing on the cake....and then I take about half of it back off the cake! Note the green bowl on the left. If you have crumbs in the icing on your spatula, scrape it into a second bowl--NOT back into your main bowl of icing. First, I used an angled spatula to ice the sides smoothly with a very thin layer of the ganache.
Then I used my favorite up and down spatula strokes to make an easy vertical pattern on top of that. If you want to do this, just add about a tablespoon of icing for every two or three vertical strokes. It won't take you long to get the hang of this. I like this charming, old fashioned look. (Shown a couple of photos down.)
Remember--the "secret" to icing a cake is to keep the spatula between the icing and the cake. Never touch the cake with the spatula--only touch the icing. Not always easy to do, but that's the rule of thumb. And of course, you can always put two layers of icing on a cake--the first layer is to seal in all of those crumbs--it's called the crumb coat! Then go back over it a second time and you might be surprised how much easier it is to get a pretty result.
Then I used my favorite up and down spatula strokes to make an easy vertical pattern on top of that. If you want to do this, just add about a tablespoon of icing for every two or three vertical strokes. It won't take you long to get the hang of this. I like this charming, old fashioned look. (Shown a couple of photos down.)
Remember--the "secret" to icing a cake is to keep the spatula between the icing and the cake. Never touch the cake with the spatula--only touch the icing. Not always easy to do, but that's the rule of thumb. And of course, you can always put two layers of icing on a cake--the first layer is to seal in all of those crumbs--it's called the crumb coat! Then go back over it a second time and you might be surprised how much easier it is to get a pretty result.
For those who may be interested, here is a low-tech method of dividing a cake evenly for decorating.
First, ice the top of your cake with a thin coat of icing. Trace your cake pan on a piece of waxed paper or parchment and cut out the circle.
Fold the circle in half and then in half again, creasing it as many times as you like.
Unfold it and stick a toothpick in the center. Center the paper circle on the cake and gently set it down. Use a toothpick to make little marks in the icing either on top or on the sides all the way around where the folds are, and you will have equally spaced divisions for decorating your cake.
I took one extra step and used a piece of uncooked spaghetti to mark lines from the center to the edges of the cake to create "wedges."
I took one extra step and used a piece of uncooked spaghetti to mark lines from the center to the edges of the cake to create "wedges."
I used the whipped cream and decorating tip 86 (my favorite!) to pipe ruffles inside the wedges. I chose that quick design so that the cream wouldn't have to be in the bag for more than a couple of minutes. Even so, the ruffles began sagging. This is a very simple design, even if you don't have any experience piping. Give it a try! You can do this, I promise!
See that easy vertical spatula treatment on the sides? Try it! It's simple and looks so charming! I piped a shell-motion border along the top edge with tip 105. Very pretty, but they did begin to slide with the soft whipped cream. I piped a hasty rose for the middle of the cake and called it finished.
Oh dear, I can see the whipped cream sliding under the shell border...but it tasted so GREAT!
Finale
Out of all of my many favorites, this cake is going in the top five.
All reports are that the birthday cake was devoured and declared "wonderful." I didn't trust the whipped cream to hold up under the heat, so I sent along a pretty glass dish filled with glass marbles to hold the 21 birthday candles! No one took photos of the birthday "moment" with cake. Oh well, happy birthday, Katelyn, on the threshold of your life! You bring laughter and joy to all who meet you!
All of the components--the cake, the ganache, the caramel, and the caramel whipped cream--are exceptional in their own right. Together, they are so good, it is one of the best desserts I have ever tasted!
I hope my readers will try this recipe! I am anxious to hear how my fellow Alpha Bakers liked it as well.
Wishing us all the blessings of the new year--
Michele at home with my Artful Oven
All reports are that the birthday cake was devoured and declared "wonderful." I didn't trust the whipped cream to hold up under the heat, so I sent along a pretty glass dish filled with glass marbles to hold the 21 birthday candles! No one took photos of the birthday "moment" with cake. Oh well, happy birthday, Katelyn, on the threshold of your life! You bring laughter and joy to all who meet you!
All of the components--the cake, the ganache, the caramel, and the caramel whipped cream--are exceptional in their own right. Together, they are so good, it is one of the best desserts I have ever tasted!
I hope my readers will try this recipe! I am anxious to hear how my fellow Alpha Bakers liked it as well.
Wishing us all the blessings of the new year--
Michele at home with my Artful Oven
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