Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Rose's Heavenly Cakes (6 page)
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
3 large egg whites, at room temperature | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces) | 3.2 | 90 |
milk | 2/3 cup (5.3 fluid ounces), divided | 5.6 | 160 |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
cake flour (or bleached all-purpose flour) | 2 cups (or 1¾ cups), sifted into the cup and leveled off | 7 | 200 |
superfine sugar | 1 cup | 7 | 200 |
baking powder | 2½ plus 1/8 | . | . |
salt | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 8 tablespoons (1 stick) | 4 | 113 |
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 Liquid Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites, 3 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla just until lightly combined.
Make the Batter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a large 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 golden brown, a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.
Cool and Unmold the Cake
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so that the top side is up. Cool completely.
2 cups/19.2 ounces/544 grams
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
milk chocolate, Valrhona 40% cacao, Scharffen Berger 41% cacao, or Cluizel 42% cacao, chopped (or 8 ounces 30% to 34% milk chocolate and 4 ounces 60% to 62% dark chocolate) | . | 12 | 340 |
heavy cream, warm | ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 fluid ounces) | 5 | 145 |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 5 tablespoons (½ stick plus 1 tablespoon) | 2.5 | 70 |
pure vanilla extract | 1 teaspoon | . | . |
Make the Milk Chocolate Ganache
Heat the chocolate until almost completely melted. Use a small microwavable bowl, stirring with a silicone spatula every 15 seconds (or use the top of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often—do not let the bottom of the container touch the water).
Remove the chocolate from the heat and, with the silicone spatula, stir until fully melted. Gradually stir in the cream until it is uniform in color. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool just until no longer warm to the touch, about 30 minutes.
With a whisk, very gently, so as to avoid incorporating air and lightening the ganache, stir in the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir in the vanilla.
Use at once or cover it with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few hours. The ganache will continue to thicken at room temperature. It keeps in an airtight container for 3 days at room temperature, for 3 weeks refrigerated, and for 6 months frozen.
Compose the Cake
Split the cake in half. Set one layer on a 9-inch cardboard round or serving plate. If using the plate, slide a few wide strips of wax paper or parchment under the cake to keep the rim of the plate clean. Fill and frost with the milk chocolate ganache. If using the paper strips, slowly slide them out from under the cake.
Highlights for Success
You can use 100 percent milk chocolate, but, to my taste, it is a little too sweet unless you are using a high-percentage milk chocolate such as Cluizel, Scharffen Berger, or Valrhona. (A lower-percentage milk chocolate will be paler in color.)
If you are combining a high-percentage milk chocolate (40 to 42 percent) with a high-percentage dark chocolate (over 53 percent), you will need to add a little more heavy cream to ensure a soft consistency (see
Ganache Proportions
and
Chocolate
).
For slightly softer and less creamy ganache, prepare it without butter. Use a total of ¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons/7½ fluid ounces/7.5 ounces/213 grams heavy cream.
8 to 10
30 to 40 minutes
Imagine an impossibly tender coconut cake mounded with a billowy cloud of coconut-imbued unsweetened whipped cream and then a generous crowning of sweetened coconut flakes. The taste is like a gentle explosion of coconut flavor, accentuated with a light spray of sugar.
Although the cake still has a wonderful, albeit denser, texture when made ahead, it is at its most ethereal when prepared
à la minute.
In other words: Bake it, cool it, top it with whipped cream and coconut, call the neighbors, and eat it.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
3 large egg whites, at room temperature | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces) | 3.2 | 90 |
canned cream of coconut, | 2/3 cup (5.3 fluid ounces) processed in a food processor before measuring, divided | 6.7 | 190 |
pure vanilla extract | ¾ teaspoon | . | . |
coconut extract | ¾ teaspoon | . | . |
superfine sugar | ½ cup minus 1 tablespoon | 3 | 88 |
desiccated unsweetened grated coconut | ½ cup | 1.2 | 35 |
cake flour (see | 2 cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off) | 7 | 200 |
baking powder | 2¼ teaspoons | . | . |
salt | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 8 tablespoons (1 stick) | 4 | 113 |
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 Liquid Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites, 3 tablespoons of the cream of coconut, the vanilla, and coconut extract just until lightly combined.
Make the Batter
In a food processor, process the sugar and coconut until the coconut is powder fine.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the coconut mixture, flour, baking powder, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining cream of coconut. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg white mixture in two parts, beating for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. 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 wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake just starts to come away from the sides of the pan. It will be underbaked in the center if it is removed before it starts shrinking. The cake is so fluffy that it will not spring back readily when pressed in the center. Because it is so wondrously tender, the top will dip slightly on cooling.
Cool and Unmold the Cake
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so that the top side is up. Cool completely.
Notes
The cake is also very delicious with coconut milk and it will not dip in the center. To substitute, use 2/3 cup/5.3 fluid ounces/5.7 ounces/163 grams canned coconut milk (stirred well before measuring). Be sure to increase the sugar to 1 cup/7 ounces/200 grams and the baking powder to 2½ teaspoons. You can also use the same weight of bleached all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, but the volume is 1¾ cups instead of 2 cups.
Cream of coconut contains solid coconut oil and needs to be processed in the food processor until smooth, or thoroughly whisked, to break it up into small pieces.
I love the flavor and incredibly tender texture offered by the cream of coconut, but if you use it, you also need to use cake flour to prevent serious dipping in the center.
3 cups/13 ounces/370 grams
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
heavy cream, cold | 1½ cups (12 fluid ounces) | 12.3 | 348 |
coconut cream powder (optional) | ¼ cup | 1 | 32 |
sweetened flaked coconut | 1 cup | 3 | 85 |
Make the Coconut Whipped Cream Topping
In a mixing bowl, combine the heavy cream and coconut cream powder, if using, and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. (Chill the mixer's beaters alongside the bowl.)
Whip the mixture, starting on low speed, gradually raising the speed to medium-high as it thickens, only until the cream mounds softly when dropped from a spoon.
Mound the cream on top of the cake and sprinkle evenly with the flaked coconut. Serve immediately. Be prepared to swoon.
Highlights for Success
If you want to top the cake with whipped cream more than 30 minutes before serving, you will need to add ½ teaspoon Cobasan (see
Commercial Stabilizers
) before beating, or use Gelatin-Stabilized Whipped Cream (see
Stabilized Whipped Cream
) to enable it to stand for up to several hours at room temperature without watering out (or twenty-four to thirty-six hours refrigerated) or Cornstarch-Stabilized Whipped Cream (see
Stabilized Whipped Cream
), which will keep it from watering out for twenty-four hours refrigerated.
The powdered coconut cream in the whipped cream topping adds an extra dimension so it is well worth purchasing. Powdered coconut cream is available in specialty food supply stores such as Kalustyan's (see
Ingredients Sources
).
This coconut cake is not as moist as the
Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake with Silk Meringue Buttercream
when held for several days because of the slightly drying effect of the dried coconut and the low-liquid, high-fat content of the cream of coconut. The flaked coconut, however, gives it extra coconut flavor, and the higher fat content gives it its meltingly tender texture.