Vanilla Butter Cake

 

 

 

This is a larger amount of batter for those of you who have the good fortune to be able to work with a 20 quart mixer.

1 lb unsalted butter at room temperature

8 ounces vegetable oil

12 whole eggs

6 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 lbs plus 6 2/3 ounces cake flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups milk

You will need a 20 quart mixer for this recipe.  If you have smaller mixers, reduce the batch by a half and bake a few cake pans at a time.  You can also bake the cake on sheet pans and cut the rounds with cake rings that look something like this:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 3 – 12″ cake pans, 3 – 9″ cake pans and 3 – 6″ cake pans with plenty of pan release and rounds of parchment paper.

Cream the butter, vegetable oil and sugar together until light and fluffy and I should tell you that this butter/oil/sugar mixture will be

very light and fluffy.  The oil will create a very nice soft crumb.

Add the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and the salt.

Alternate the dry ingredients with the whole milk in three rounds, scraping the bowl well and blending until just smooth.  Do not over mix this batter or you will create tunnels.  Divide the batter between the cake pans so that there is about an inch of batter in each cake pan.  Try to find the perfect amount of batter for each cake pan that you like for the height of your cakes.  If you like tall cakes, you will need more batter in each cake pan if you like shorter cake tiers, use less batter per cake pan.  Jot down the weights of batter that you prefer for the kinds of cakes that you like to make.

Bake at 350 degrees f for approximately 25 minutes.  If the center springs back when touched then the cakes are well baked.  You can also test with a toothpick if you wish.  Whenever your fingers leave marks in the top of a baked cake, leave that cake in the oven for about 5 more minutes to finish baking.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pans for at least 20 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans.  Invert the cake pans and place the cakes on their parchment rounds on the inverted pans to finish cooling before chilling thoroughly.  Cakes must be well chilled before filling.

Spice Cake

Before we know it, Autumn will be here and Autumn in the Pacific Northwest means Spice Cake.  If you have the opportunity to use Vietnamese cinnamon, do so.  You will be delighted with the flavor.

Prepare 3 – 8″ cake pans with plenty of pan release and rounds of parchment paper.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f.

Cream together:

8 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups sugar

Make sure you cream the butter and the sugar very well.  People have a tendency not to cream the butter and sugar enough.  When butter and sugar are well creamed together, they will lighten in color and be very fluffy.  This is because you are “dissolving” the sugar into the fat and the action of mixing these ingredients means the sugar will be acting as an abrasive.

Add:

4 whole eggs one at a time

Beat well after each addition of an egg.  Scrape down the bowl.

Sift 3 cups of cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground  cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Alternate the dry ingredients with:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Start with a third of the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl followed by 3/4 cups of the buttermilk and alternate until all the buttermilk and dry ingredients are used.  Scrape down the bowl and the paddle well and blend until just incorporate.  Do not overmix.

Divide evenly between the three 8″ cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees f.  When the cakes are just becoming light brown and the center springs back when touched, remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.  Remove the cakes from the cake pans and invert them on top of the bottom of the cake pans to cool completely.   Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator before filling.

Filling suggestions:

Blackberry Mousse is a hands down winner of a filling for this spice cake and is just so Pacific Northwest.  A good cream cheese filling would be nice or a mascarpone cream filling with fresh blackberries even nicer…!!

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Vanilla Butter Cake

Pretty little wedding cake in pale pink with cornelli lace and sugar flowers. This is one of my earliest wedding cakes for my student, Carmen who has recently had a baby! Congratulations dear Carmen!!

Vanilla butter cake is more delicate if you substitute a portion of the unsalted butter with vegetable oil.   The crumb will be tighter and the cake will be softer.  Tweaking recipes for artisan cakes comes with practice, time and understanding the fundamentals of baking.  Buttercream decorating also takes time to learn and master.

Prepare 2 8″ cake pans and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4 ounces unsalted butter softened to room temperature

2 ounces vegetable oil

12 ounces granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 whole eggs

2 2/3 cups cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk

Cream the butter, oil and sugar together until light and fluffy…approximately 10  minutes.  Add the vanilla and the eggs one at a time.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and alternate the incorporation of the dry ingredients with the milk in thirds.

Divide equally among the two cake pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until golden.  The cake should spring back when you touch it.

Cool in the pans before removing the cakes and chill well before filling.

Because butter cakes are a bit more dense than a Vanilla Chiffon cake, fillings that are on the sturdy side are good but mousses are good as well.  Just cut your layers of cake thinly..so two layers of cake would become four layers of cake with three layers of filling.

Hazelnut Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

The recipe will make two tiers of cake like this one. Remember to build your cake in a lined cake pan and chill well.

8 eggs separated

1 cup water

2/3 cups vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

12 ounces cake flour

6 ounces hazelnut meal (special order through PCC)

4 teaspoons baking powder (1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon)

1 teaspoon salt

5 ounces granulated sugar for the flour/hazelnut mixture

9 ounces granulated sugar for the meringue

Using two mixers with whip attachments, place the yolks in one bowl and whites in the other mixer bowl.  Add the water, oil and vanilla to the yolks and combine all on low speed.

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the hazelnut meal with the baking powder and salt plus 5 ounces of the granulated sugar.  Whisk together so that the hazelnut meal is well incorporated into the flour.

Begin to whip the egg whites on medium high.  Add the 9 ounces of granulated sugar to the whites when they are at the soft peak stage.  Whip the whites until they are soft but completely hold their shape.

Put all of the flour/hazelnut mixture into the egg yolks and whip until well combined.  Scrape down the bowl and whip on high for about a minute.

Fold the whites into the yolk/hazelnut mixture until they are very well combined.  Remember that you have baking powder in this cake so the possibility of the cake falling is remote.

Divide into your cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes.  This is enough batter for 3 8” cake pans and 3 5”cake pans.

5 ounces of batter can go into the 5” cake pans and  12 ounces of batter an go into the 8” cake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes..

Chocolate Mousse which can be flavored with

Praline Paste

8 ounces good quality dark chocolate melted and cooled

3 ounces egg yolks

3 ounces whole eggs

4 ounces granulated sugar for hot syrup

¼ cup cold water

14 ounces heavy cream whipped

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer whip the yolks and whole eggs until they are light and fluffy.

Moisten the granulated sugar with ¼ cup of water and boil it to a temperature of 240 degrees F.

Whip the cream to soft peaks and refrigerate until needed.

When the syrup is 240 degrees F, pour over the whipped egg mixture in the heavy duty mixer and allow to continue to whip until cool.

The melted chocolate should be no cooler than 90 degrees F. when you pour it into the cooled egg mixture.  The chocolate needs to be immediately and with some vigor folded into the eggs.

Fold in the whipped cream and thoroughly blend.  Add the vanilla and you have the most delectable chocolate mousse ever..!

Flavor with praline paste for a hazelnut mousse by putting a couple of scoops of the praline paste in with the melted chocolate before you add the chocolate to the whipped eggs.

You can ice the cakes with Italian meringue buttercream flavored with chocolate or just vanilla.  To flavor buttercream with chocolate, you need to melt a weight of chocolate that is 25% of the total weight of the buttercream you are going to flavor.

If you have 28 ounces of Italian meringue buttercream, which is a single recipe, you need to melt 7 ounces of good chocolate.

Frangelico Simple Syrup

Flavor 1 cup of simple syrup with 1/2 cup Frangelico liquor

Your simple syrup should be made by boiling 1 cup sugar in 2 cups water for 10 minutes and make sure it is cool before adding the Frangelico liquor.

Flavored syrups are good in refrigeration for a week or so but it is always best to use all your products as soon as possible.

Two tiers 8″ and 5″

Line the cake pans with plastic wrap and place a prepared layer of cake in each pan.  Brush layer of cake with Frangelico syrup and pipe a dam of Italian meringue butter cream around the rim of each cake layer.   Fill with hazelnut mousse, top with another layer of cake, brush with syrup, pipe the dam and fill with the mousse..top with the final layer of cake upside down and brush with syrup.

Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.  Remove from the pans and invert on cake boards right side up so that the syrup continues to move downwards.  Ice with Italian meringue buttercream and if you are going to cover your cakes with white chocolate fondant, chill them very well before hand.  Remember to always ice your cake boards so that the fondant has something to adhere to at the very bottom of the cake.  Stack as you would with support dowels in the 8″ tier.  You can glue the cakes with royal icing on the top of the 8″ cake or just assemble at your venue or at home so that there is no dowel mark showing on top.  Some people will create a hole in the bottom of the top tier of cake through the cake board and place a dowel half way up into the top tier.  It is up to you to discover what works best for you.

People are apprehensive about doweling cakes and putting stabilizing dowels in cakes.  You just have to do it enough times successfully so that you gain confidence.

Best of luck!

Almond Chiffon Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare 3- 7″ cake pans

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of pure almond extract

6 ounces cake flour

3 ounces almond meal

7 ounces granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

Sift together the flour, the baking powder, salt, 2 ounces of the sugar and set aside.  Add the almond meal to the flour mixture and blend well.

Separate the eggs.  Whip the whites to the soft peak stage and add in a thin stream 5 ounces of granulated sugar.  Whip to stiff peak.

Put the yolks into a bowl of a heavy duty 5 quart mixer with a whip attachment.  Add the water, oil, vanilla and almond extract.  Whip until well incorporated.

Add the flour mixture all at once to the yolk mixture.  Blend well and then scrape down the bowl.  Blend for about a minute more and then fold in the whites.  Make sure there are no lumps of whites visible to the eye.

Pour into prepared cake pans.   Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool in the pans 15 minutes before depanning.  Chill thoroughly before filling.

This cake is particularly wonderful when brushed with a soaking syrup of:

`1 cup of simple syrup

1/2 cup Amaretto di Sorano liquor

Make the simple syrup by boiling 1 cup of sugar with 2 cups water for 10 minutes.  Cool and add the liquor.

Build the cake with various fillings:

You can spread a thin coat of chocolate glaze on the layers of the moistened cake and then fill with vanilla Bavarian cream.

A nice layer of Creme Parisian would be nice.  ( see recipe under fillings)

A thin layer of Cherry Preserves would be nice.

Chocolate mousse is good as well.

Almond Swedish Butter Cake with Cherry Preserves

Italian Meringue Buttercream piped flowers

I find Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves, made in France, to be the perfect cherry preserve for this cake.  It is difficult to come by tart cherries, not impossible, but not easy.  The cherry preserves shown here are the perfect in this delightful almond cake.  Swedish butter cake contains a pound of butter for 4 eggs which makes it very rich.  The average American butter cake contains about 8 ounces for 4 eggs so you can see what a treat you are in store for with this beautiful cake.

I will fill the cake layers with a generous layer of the cherry preserves and then put a layer of vanilla buttercream over them.  Try this combination.  You will love it and your brides and grooms will love it as well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare 3 – 9″ cake pans with pan release and line the cake pans with rounds of parchment paper.

In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer with a paddle, cream together:

1 pound unsalted butter

3 cups granulated sugar

4 ounces pure almond paste

Add one at a time:

4 whole eggs

Add:

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons pure almond extract

Sift together:

4 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Measure:

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Alternate the dry ingredients with the milk in thirds starting with the flour, then adding half the milk, more flour, the other half of the milk and ending with the flour.  Scrape down the mixer well including the paddle.

Mix the batter for a minute making sure there are no lumps of flour in the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool in the cake pan.  When the cakes are cooled, chill them in the refrigerator before depanning.  Run a knife around the cake pan to release the cake, invert the cakes onto a cake board and prepare to fill by trimming the tops of the cakes evenly with a serrated knife.

Build the cakes in a plastic wrapped lined cake pan using a layer of cake, a generous amount of cherry preserves, a thin layer of Italian meringue buttercream on top of the preserves..repeat ending with a top layer of cake with the bottom side up.

Decorate as you wish.

Coconut Pecan Icing

This is the best coconut pecan icing or filling you will ever make or eat or share with friends and family.  This is a cooked icing and will thicken as it cools so don’t worry about it being on the thin side when your finish making it .. it will  be perfect when it is allowed to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.

In a saucepan melt:

6 ounces unsalted butter softened

Add:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 egg yolks

Whisk altogether and cook this mixture until it reaches a temperature of about 160 degrees F or until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and running a finger across the spoon will leave a track.

Remove from the heat and add:

2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

2 1/2 cups chopped pecans

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Pour into a clean container that has a tight fitting lid.  Cool with lid off the container and then refrigerate with a lid on.  It will thicken as it cools.

This filling is good in chocolate cake as for a German Chocolate Cake.

Rustic Cake Recipe for Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake can be stacked. You treat it as if it were any other layered, filled and iced cake.  There is very little fat in this recipe. The crumb is open and meant to absorb liquid. This is the finest formula you will find for Tres Leches Cake. I flavor the soaking milk with dulce de leche which is made by blending about 1/2 cup of Dulce de Leche with evaporated milk either in a blender or with an immersion stick blender. This cake likes to be soaked with the milk about 5-10 minutes out of the oven as the warm cake will really soak up that liquid quite well.

You will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 3 9″ cake pans by spraying the bottom of the cake pans and lining them with rounds of parchment.

Sift and set aside:
4 cups of All Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

Separate:

12 whole eggs ( the whites will go into the bowl of a heavy duty 5 quart mixer)

Measure:

4 cups granulated sugar

Measure:

1 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Process:

In the bowl of a heavy duty 5 quart mixer, whip the egg whites to a soft peak.   Slowly and gradually start adding the sugar in a thin stream.  If you add the sugar too quickly, the egg whites might collapse from the weight of the sugar so it is best to add sugar very gradually.  This egg white/sugar mixture should become quite stiff and shiny and hold a peak when the whip attachment is turned upside down.  It will take at least 15 minutes to whip the whites with the added sugar so it is best to use a stand mixer.

Add the 12 egg yolks a couple at a time making sure they are well mixed into the whites.

Alternate the addition of the all purpose flour/baking powder with the milk by starting with the flour and folding it into the whites. Then adding half of the milk, followed by a third more flour and folding those in well but not completely.  Add the other half of the milk and fold that in then add the last of the flour.  Fold all thoroughly and if need be use a whisk to allow the batter to fall through eliminating the lumps of flour if any.  Scrape the bowl well with a rubber spatula.

Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake at least 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven when golden brown.  Cool for about 5 – 10 minutes, poke holes in the cake with a bamboo skewer or other similar instrument and then brush the soaking milk over each cake in an equal amount.  Cool and then remove from the cake pans.  Chill the cakes thoroughly before filling them.

Soaking Milk:

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 cup dulce de leche

Blend well and soak cake layers with a brush or use a squeeze bottle if you prefer.

Best filled with Dulce de Leche flavored Bavarian Cream, Bavarian Cream or French Vanilla Cream.  If you are stacking the Tres Leches Cake as for a wedding cake, the French Vanilla Cream has to be stabilized with gelatin and stabilized with gelatin especially if you are adding sliced strawberries in the filling or any fresh fruit for that matter.

Works of Heart

Stirring a nice batch of dulce de leche

Here I am stirring a nice batch of dulce de leche

Dulce de Leche is not difficult to make.  I learned that if you combine milk and cream with sugar for the reduction, you get a much more spreadable caramel.

Dulce de Leche is a just that..a caramel that is made by reducing cream and milk with sugar.  Other caramels, those invented by Antoine Careme in the 19th century are made by cooking sugar and adding cream or a combination of milk and cream to them.  Try dulce de leche for a delightful change of pace.  I will post the rustic cake recipe that I use in making an untraditional Tres Leches Cake.

What you will need to make Dulce de Leche

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

9 ounces granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk the cream, mil and sugar together in a shallow saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and allow to cook at a slow simmer for about 1 1/2 hours…it will turn into a lovely brown caramel.  When the bubbles slow and are large, the dulce de leche is done.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  Pour into a clean container and allow to cool to room temperature.  Make sure the container has a tight fitting lid.  Refrigerate.  The shelf life for dulce de leche is about two weeks.  It won’t last that long.

This filling is good spread thinly on cake layers as you build your cake.  A filling that is equally good flavored with dulce de leche is the Bavarian Cream or the French Vanilla Cream.  If you are using a French Vanilla Cream as a filling for wedding cake, please remember to stabilize it with gelatin.  (see recipe)