Oh, No, You Didn’t!

Probably falls under the category of a mortal sin

 

Oh yes, I did!  I combined three of my most popular cakes into one.  If there is indeed a hell, I just know there is a big fat red devil with his pitch fork poised, just waiting for me to drop in with this cake.  It’s definitely a cross between heaven and hell.  Heavenly to behold, sweet, moist and rich in the mouth.  Hella hard to resist.  Oh, I’m sure it’s off the charts in fat grams and calories, but who’s counting?  I totally envision the angel and devil routine, each one  perched on my shoulders and whispering in my ear.  Devil -“Go ahead, eat it!  No one is looking!”  Angel – “Oh, my, all those calories!  All that fat!”  Devil – “Don’t listen to her.  You can eat whatever you want.  You deserve it.”  Angel – “It does look delicious.  Maybe just one eensy, teensy bite.”  Devil – “Screw that!  Eat it all.  Now!”  At this point I shake the Angel off my shoulder, give the Devil a conspiratory wink and devour that one way ticket to diet damnation with no remorse.   

If you can’t tell by the picture, the bottom layer is Chocolate Buttermilk Cake, the center layer is, are you ready?, Vanilla Mascarpone Cheesecake (!)and the top layer is Red Velvet Cake.  If that isn’t sinful enough, I frosted it all with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.  Yeah, it’s even better than it sounds.   

Wanna see how it’s assembled?  OK, since you asked, here goes:   

I baked a 9 inch Chocolate Buttermilk Cake, a 9 inch crustless Vanilla Mascarpone Cheesecake and a 9″ Red Velvet Cake.  The cheese cake was baked the day before the other two cakes were made so it could get good and set up in the refrigerator.   

Bottom Layer - Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

 

Here is the bottom chocolate layer with a thin layer of the frosting.  Yeah, I do call that thin. 

The center cheesecake layer

 

I unmolded the crustless cheesecake directly on top of the frosted chocolate layer.  The parchment paper is still attached in this photo, that’s why the bottom (or top, here) of the cheesecake looks wrinkly.  Don’t forget to remove the parchment before frosting the cheesecake layer.  The only reason I mention this is I actually started frosting this after I snapped the photo and then stopped myself.  Fortunetly it’s really easy to remove frosting from cheesecake when it has parchment on it!  Yes, sometimes I am a dork.  

Frosted cheesecake layer

 

Ok, so then I spread a layer of frosting on top of the cheesecake layer, after first removing the parchment paper!  This was the first time I had ever frosted a cheesecake and it glided on there smooth as proverbial silk.  

Last but not least, the top layer, Red Velvet

 

I placed the Red Velvet layer on top and then frosted the whole, beautiful creation.  By the way, I leveled both of the cake layers with a serrated knife before frosting, duh.  

Here's the finished product

 

I made the executive decision not to do my usual piping top and bottom borders.  The true attraction of this cake is on the inside.   

Is the devil whispering in your ear yet?

 

I wish the Red Velvet cake crumbs didn’t get drug across the cheesecake layer.  I used a sharp hot knife and cleaned it between cuts, but I still got crumb dregs.  Well, this was just an inspiration I came up with and thought I drive it around the block a few times until I come up the perfect rendition of this cake.  Not bad for a proto type, though, eh? 

So, what do you reckon, am I going to hell, or what? 

ps:   We did not eat this whole cake ourselves.  Katie and I shared the piece that appears in the picture next to the whole cake.  I sent almost half of the cake to work with Katie and I took almost the other half to my job.  The photo at the beginning of this post was kept at our house, for us to enjoy and share with a couple of lucky people who came by that weekend.

Chocolate Fig Custard Cake

Don't throw away those scraps of cake; create a new one!

My Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe rises really high.  When I made the cake for the Fall Themed Birthday Cake post, I had the piece left over from leveling it.  I hate to waste food, so I wrapped it up and saved it for another purpose.  At my current job as well as my previous one, we make a lot of bread pudding from left over breads, croissants and loaf cakes.  Since I can practically make bread pudding in my sleep, I decided to make this moist, not-too-sweet Chocolate Fig Custard cake.

Chocolate Fig Custard Cake

Chocolate cake, cut into 3/4″ chunks, enough to fit into a 9″ round cake pan

5 large fresh figs, each cut into 12 pieces

Spray 9 ” round cake pan with 2″ high sides with non stick spray

Place cake chunks in pan to cover bottom, layer fig chunks on top of cake chunks, then top with remaining cake chunks.  Prepare custard.

Cardamom Custard

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup half n half

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cardamom

8 large eggs, room temperature

Place the dairy, sugar, vanilla and cardamom in saucepan.  Heat until warm to the touch.

Beat eggs in medium mixing bowl.  While whisking, add warm milk mixture to the eggs.  Pour through strainer to remove any egg shell pieces and thick egg white.

Gently ladle the custard over the cake pieces in pan.  Do this slowly and allow the cake to soak up the custard.  Press the cake down gently into the custard.  Fill the pan as full as it will hold without spilling over the sides.  Place cake pan on heavy baking sheet and place in the middle of a 350 degree oven.  Bake until done.  Cake is done when a knife stuck in the center comes out clean, about an hour and 10 minutes.  Be sure to check cake after one hour, or before if your oven tends to run very hot.

While the cake is baking, make the fig glaze:

5 large fresh figs, cut in small chunks

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Place chopped figs, water and granulated sugar in small saucepan.  Heat until figs are soft and the water and sugar are syrupy.  Place in food processor and puree.  Add powdered sugar and process until smooth.

While the cake is still hot, brush the fig glaze all over the top.  You will have left over glaze.  It’s really nice on some fig scones!

Cool cake on wire rack until cool enough to refrigerate.  Refrigerate until completely cold.  Run a butter knife along the side of pan, careful not to cut into cake.  Place a dinner plate covered in plastic wrap on top of cake.  Turn over and lift pan.  Cake should slide out.  Place serving plate on bottom of cake and invert.

 

 

A fall themed birthday cake

A nice all purpose fall themed cake

My friend and co-worker, Katie D., ordered another cake for a birthday celebration last Saturday.  The family loves chocolate, so Katie ordered a 10″  square chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream.  I wanted the cake to have an October theme so fall leaves and a couple of candy pumpkins seemed appropriate.

Katie called this morning and reported that everyone loved the cake, especially her cousin Trygve (pronounced trig va – it’s Norwegian).

The chocolate cake recipe can be found on my post, Vampire Gran’s Perfect Chocolate Cake.  Here is the buttercream recipe I used:

• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 3/4 cup water
• 6 large egg whites at room temperature 30 minutes
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 sticks (1 1/2 pounds) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
• 12 ounces fine-quality 60%-cacao bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm

 

• Equipment: a candy thermometer; a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment

Preparation

Bring 1 3/4 cups sugar and water to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, until it registers 220 to 225°F, 15 to 20 minutes.

At this point, while continuing to boil syrup, beat whites with vanilla, cream of tartar, and salt in mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating, and beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.

When syrup reaches soft-ball stage (238 to 242°F), immediately pour syrup in a slow stream down side of bowl into whites (avoid beaters) while beating at high speed. Beat until completely cool, 25 to 30 minutes. With mixer at medium speed, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition (see cooks’ note, below) and until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all butter is added but will come together at end.) Pour chocolate into mixing bowl and whip until buttercream is smooth. If buttercreams are too soft to spread, chill, stirring occasionally. When chilled enough, whip before spreading.

 

I used pastry tip # 112 to make the leaves.