Rose's Heavenly Cakes (25 page)
Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Complete the Buttercream
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds, or until creamy. Gradually beat in the crème anglaise until smooth. Add the Italian meringue and beat until just incorporated. If the mixture looks curdled instead of smooth, it is too cold. Allow it to sit at room temperature to warm to 70°F/21°C before continuing to beat, or suspend the bowl over a pan of simmering water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water), and heat very briefly, stirring vigorously when the mixture just starts to melt slightly at the edges.
To stop the warming, dip the bottom of the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water (see
Water Baths
) for a few seconds to cool. Remove the bowl from the ice water and beat the buttercream by hand until smooth. Beat in the orange concentrate, orange zest, and orange paste, if using.
Remove 2 tablespoons of the buttercream to a small bowl and add enough orange paste to tint the buttercream a more intense shade of orange. If not using the buttercream immediately, transfer it to an airtight bowl.
Compose the Cake
When the cakes are completely cool, with a long serrated knife, carefully slice off the mounded top of each cake half. Spread a little buttercream on a serving plate and set one half of the pumpkin cake on top. Slide a few strips of wax paper or parchment under the cake to keep the rim of the plate clean. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on top of the cake and set the second half on top. With a small metal spatula, coat the cake evenly with buttercream. Finish by applying the more deeply tinted buttercream in long strokes from bottom to top to create the striped effect of a pumpkin. Slowly slide the paper strips out from under the cake.
Décor
If desired, make a stem out of marzipan and attach it with a long wooden skewer. Tint it a deeper brown by kneading unsweetened cocoa powder or brown food coloring, preferably powdered, into the marzipan. To make vine tendrils and leaves, tint some of the marzipan green. For an autumn leaf effect, you can combine pieces of marzipan tinted orange, red, brown, and green using food coloring. For the tendrils, roll pieces of marzipan into long thin logs and curl them around a well-oiled wooden dowel. For the leaves, make a cardboard template and cut out leaves from the marzipan.
Note
You can make your own orange juice concentrate by reducing ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice to 1 tablespoon. (Use a 1-cup heatproof measure coated with nonstick cooking spray in a microwave, and watch closely to prevent burning.)
8 to 10
50 to 60 minutes
Everyone adores this easy-to-make, dairy-free cake because of the satisfying combination of walnuts, oatmeal, brown sugar, and vanilla. The banana, carrots, and zucchini build its moist texture. Canola oil helps it hold its texture even when refrigerated. For the most flavor, the banana should be covered with black spots.
Baby bananas are an exceptionally delicious alternative. You'll need about two 5-inch ripe bananas.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
walnuts | ¾ cup | 2.6 | 75 |
bleached all-purpose flour | 2 cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off) plus 2 tablespoons | 8.5 | 242 |
baking powder | 2 teaspoons | . | . |
baking soda | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
salt | ¾ teaspoon | . | . |
instant unflavored oatmeal | 1/3 cup | 1 | 27 |
1 large very ripe banana, peeled and lightly mashed | ½ cup | 4 | 113 |
canola or safflower oil, at room temperature | ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) | 3.7 | 108 |
light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado | 1/3 cup, firmly packed | 2.5 | 72 |
granulated sugar | 1/3 cup | 2.3 | 66 |
2 large eggs, at room temperature | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces) | 3.5 | 100 |
water | 1/3 cup (2.6 fluid ounces) | 2.7 | 79 |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
green zucchini, finely shredded | 2/3 cup, loosely packed | 2.6 | 74 |
carrots, shredded medium fine | 1/3 cup, loosely packed | 1 | 33 |
Special Equipment
One 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan (about 6 cups), coated with baking spray with flour
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.
Toast and Break the Walnuts
Spread the walnuts evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes to enhance the flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even toasting and avoid overbrowning. Turn the walnuts out onto a clean dish towel and roll and rub them around to loosen the skins. Coarsely break the walnuts into a bowl, scraping off and discarding as much of the skin as possible.
Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and then sift them into another bowl. Stir in the oatmeal.
Make the Batter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, mix together the banana, oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs on medium-low speed. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the water. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes or until well mixed and the color lightens slightly. Reduce the speed to low once more and beat in the vanilla and then the zucchini and carrots for about 10 seconds, or just until incorporated. The batter will be foamy.
Add the flour mixture and beat until the flour is moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for about 20 seconds until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the walnuts and beat for about 10 seconds until evenly incorporated. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula.
Bake the Quick Bread
For an attractive split down the middle of the crust, bake for 15 minutes, or until the natural split is about to develop and then, with a lightly greased sharp knife or single-edged razor blade, make a shallow slit 6 inches long down the middle of the cake. (Do this quickly so the door does not remain open long enough for the oven to lose heat.) Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. An instant-read thermometer will register 190°F/88°C. The quick bread should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.
Cool and Unmold the Quick Bread
Let the quick bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the quick bread, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the quick bread onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Reinvert the quick bread so that the top side is up. Cool completely.
8 to 10
30 to 40 minutes
My favorite banana cake is made with oil instead of butter. Though I adore the flavor and softness of the butter version, the crumb becomes hard and dense when refrigerated. Oil keeps the cake extra moist and tender, even when served cold, a delicious way to eat it, especially, with its luxuriously creamy, absolutely delicious white chocolate frosting, which
requires
refrigeration. If you use crème fraîche instead of sour cream in the batter, the flavor will be more mellow and the texture even more moist.
The flavor of the white chocolate frosting is reminiscent of cheesecake. No sugar is added because the sugar contained in the white chocolate is just enough to sweeten it. It has a lovely ivory color and wonderful consistency for piping.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
2 large very ripe bananas, peeled and lightly mashed | 1 cup | 8 | 226 |
crème fraîche (or sour cream) | ½ cup | 4 ounces (or 4.3 ounces) | 116 grams (or 121 grams) |
2 large eggs, at room temperature | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces) | 3.5 | 100 |
lemon zest, finely grated | 2 teaspoons, loosely packed | . | . |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
turbinado sugar | ¾ cup plus 1½ tablespoons | 6 | 170 |
canola or safflower oil, at room temperature | ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) | 3.7 | 108 |
cake flour (or bleached all-purpose flour plus cornstarch); see | 2 cups (or 1½ cups plus ¼ cup), sifted into the cup and leveled off | 7 | 200 |
baking soda | 1 teaspoon | . | . |
baking powder | ¾ teaspoon | . | . |
salt | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
Special Equipment
One 9 by 2-inch round cake pan, encircled with a cake strip, bottom coated with shortening, topped with a parchment round, then coated with baking spray with flour
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 Bananas and Liquid Ingredients
In a food processor, process the bananas and crème fraîche until smooth, stopping the processor and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla and process until combined, about 10 seconds.
Make the Batter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the banana mixture and sugar on medium speed for about 1 minute. Gradually add the oil, beating until it is thoroughly incorporated.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sift the flour mixture into the egg mixture and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the dry ingredients are completely moistened. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula.
Bake the Cake
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should just start to shrink away from the sides of the pan. During baking it will rise to the top of the sides of the pan and a little higher in the middle.