Birthday time again, so I was looking around for a new cake recipe. I don’t know why I bother, really, as the birthday boy would be quite happy with the ultimate chocolate cake, every time (see The Ultimate-Chocolate Cake). Still, I like to try something new and I thought that a lighter cake would be a good idea since it would be served up after a substantial birthday dinner! I came across this recipe on line, which seemed to be a form of angel food cake (a very light sponge) but with added white chocolate. I’ve never made an angel food cake before so it was the excuse to indulge in buying a new piece of kit-an Angel Food Cake pan!
The central pillar is to ensure that the centre of the cake cooks through, too.
Angel food cake is supposed to be made in an ungreased pan, since the cake, sort of, crawls up the side of the pan during baking. It is cooled in the pan, balanced upside down, perched on supports-the central tube is actually higher than the rim of the pan, to facilitate this cooling. My recipe said to grease and flour the pan before using, which maybe should have set off alarm bells. What should I do-follow the perceived wisdom for angel food, or follow the recipe? In the end I followed the recipe, considering that the addition of the chocolate might have affected the process.
Cake
| 1 cup/250 g/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp (plus extra to grease the pan) |
| 3½ cups/440 g all-purpose (plain) flour, plus extra for the tin |
| 2½ tsp baking powder |
| ½ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) |
| ½ tsp salt |
| 125 g/4 oz white chocolate, chopped |
| ½ cup just-boiled water |
| 1½ cups/375 g granulated sugar |
| 6 large egg whites |
| 1 tsp vanilla extract |
| 1½ cups/375 ml buttermilk, at room temperature* |
*due to absence of buttermilk, this was prepared by adding whole milk to lemon juice (1 tbsp lemon to 1 cup milk) and leaving to stand.
Heat the oven to 300˚F/150˚C/Gas 1-2
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Use a balloon whisk to ensure it is well-mixed. Set aside.
Place the chocolate into a small bowl. Add the just-boiled water and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside.
Place the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. I used my temperamental stand mixer for this, as it was easier when I wanted to add ingredients, and it is quite a long process of mixing. I just had to be careful to keep scraping down the sides of my bowl to ensure good mixing.
Reduce the mixer speed to medium and then add egg whites, one at a time, beating to ensure each is fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Reduce the mixer speed once more. Add the flour, in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just incorporated. Mix in the white chocolate/water mixture.
Transfer to the prepared tin. Bake until a skewer comes out clean (75-80 minutes). Remove from oven and leave to cool, in the tin on a rack, for 10 minutes, then invert onto the rack to cool completely.
The recipe stated that the cake would take 75-80 minutes, but mine was still sticky at that point. I reckon it was 90 minutes-plus before my wooden skewer tester came out clean. The greasing of the pan seems to have been necessary, I lost a patch of cake from the top when I released it from the tin. Oh well, one slice will have extra-deep frosting!
I have to admit that at this stage I was not at all sure about this cake and was hunting out my recipe for Blackout Cake as a backup (see Bit of a Mash-Up-Blackout Fudge Cake). The sponge in this cake is very easy to make and is a lovely dark moist chocolate cake which would work with all sorts of frosting. In the end I decided to stick with the cake I’d made and cross fingers…
Cream cheese frosting
| 100 g/3.5 g white chocolate, chopped |
| ½ cup/125 g/1 stick unsalted butter, softened. |
| 8 oz/250 g/1 block cream cheese, softened |
| 1 cup/155 g icing (powdered/confectioners) sugar |
| ½ cup/125 ml whipping (heavy/double) cream |
Melt the chocolate, in a bain-marie or in the microwave. the recipe suggests the microwave, but I’ve always thought that white chocolate is particularly easy to overheat, so I went with the bain-marie. Set aside.
Incidentally, I think that the quality of the chocolate for this cake does matter a lot. Normally I buy Lindt white chocolate, but this can be difficult to find occasionally, and so it proved this time. I managed to get one bar, but needed more, and ended up with a budget ‘store’s own’ alternative. This did not melt well at all. I’m glad that I saved the Lindt bar for the frosting and used the other for the cake.
Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the icing sugar and mix to combine, then add the melted chocolate and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the cake.
When ready, beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Stir a spoonful into the cream cheese mixture, then fold in the remaining cream.
To assemble
Cut the cake in half, through the equator. Place the base on a cake board or serving plate.
I recently also acquired a cake turntable, along with some icing equipment, offset spatulas and that sort of thing. I always say that I’m no great shakes at icing, so maybe I could improve. Anyway, the cake didn’t look bad when cut in half, although it maybe had a slightly ‘bready’ texture. I glued the bottom down onto a cake board and placed this on the turntable, ready for the next stage.
Add ½ cup/125 ml seedless raspberry jam to the base and spread evenly.
Add ¾ cup of the cream cheese frosting over the jam layer. Place the top half of the cake on top.
I decided to try a ‘crumb coat’ for the frosting. This is a thin layer of frosting that covers the outside the cake and is then left to ‘set’ in the fridge. The idea is that any crumbs from the cake surface are trapped in this layer and then the top coat will be pristine and crumb-free. Well, I gave it a go:
I popped the cake (on the turntable!) into the fridge for 15 minutes, but it didn’t seem to set over much. Maybe this is not the best frosting to achieve the smooth surface? Anyhow, I also realised (later) that I’d neglected to do another stage, which was to wrap each layer in plastic film and place them into the freezer for 15 minutes, to help stabilize the layers.
So I ended up with some sort of frosting-definitely not perfect, though- and I had a bit of a go with piping, too. I think my career making wedding cakes had better go on the back burner.
As for the cake? Well, I think it was a bit bready in texture, and it really wasn’t the airy cake I was expecting. I don’t know if that was a function of the cheaper chocolate, or the fact that it took quite a lot longer to bake than expected. It really needs to come out of the fridge for a couple of hours in advance of serving, too, but the cream cheese in the frosting means that it has to be stored refrigerated. On the plus side, its a big cake and will provide 16 servings with no problems. I don’t think I’d make it again, though, but you live and learn.
The Pudding Queen 