Cake #4 - Orange Layer Fairy Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This is a combination of one of the Moosewood cakes and the chocolate ganache from Karen Krasne’s Extraordinary Cakes.  I guess I was feeling adventurous and decided I wanted to try something more involved.  I think I got a little ahead of myself, and ran into a couple of problems.  The final cake was fine (and is one of my colleague’s current favorite of the cakes I’ve made so far) but it was a frustrating experience.

Part of the trouble was slicing the cakes evenly.  I was trying to do it free-hand with a long serrated knife.  After that I read a suggestion to elevate the cake in its original pan, by using a small plate, or cardboard cake rounds.  Get the cake so that about half of it is up above the pan.  Then use the edge of the cake pan to evenly score the cake all the way around.  Then, keeping the knife even with the top edge of the cake pan, slowly cut through the cake.  This made much more even layers.

One of my favorite elements of this cake was the naming.  Since it wasn’t an existing cake from a cookbook, it needed a name.  I described the cake (an orange layer cake with chocolate filling) to my kids and asked for their help with a name.  My daughter, who is four and is currently obsessed with superheroes, immediately burst out with, “Autumn Cake!  Fairy Cake!”  She’s a creative soul who takes after her dad.  My son, who takes after his mother in his linear thinking, and logical approach to problem solving, suggested we call it “Orange Layer Cake.”  I loved how the name suggestions exemplified my kids and their way of thinking about the world, and decided to blend their ideas.

Orange Layer Fairy Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Cake

2 2/3 cups unbleached white flour

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure orange extract

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

1 cup orange juice

Frosting

1 cup butter, at room temperature

6 cups confectioners’ sugar

7-8 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons freshly grated orange peel

Chocolate Ganache

12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon Saint Germain liqueur

1.       For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter two nine-inch cake pans, line with parchment, butter parchment and then dust with flour. 

2.       Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and light.  Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla, orange extract, and grated orange peel and beat well.  Beat in the flour and orange juice alternately in thirds.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Gently fold them into the batter. 

3.       Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan and the top springs back when touched.  Cool the cake in the pans on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes.  Run a knife around the outer edges of the cakes and invert them onto a rack to cool completely.

4.       For the Frosting: Beat the butter until light.  Add the confections’ sugar ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the orange juice and grated organe peel and beat well.  If the frosting is too stiff, beat in more orange juice.  If it’s too soft or if it curdles, beat in more sugar.

5.       For the Ganache: Place the chocolate chips in a medium, heatproof mixing bowl.

6.       Bring the cream to a boil in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.  Using a rubber spatula, stir slowly and gently until the mixture is full combined and homogenous.

7.       Transfer the chocolate mixture to a food processor; add the Saint Germain liqueur and process to blend.  The ganache should be thick and shiny.  Allow the ganache to cool and firm until it is the consistency of pudding.

8.       To assemble: Slice each layer cake in half (see note above about how to slice layers).  Starting with one of the bottom halves, cover the cake with just less than 1/3^rd of the ganache, using an offset spatula.  Put the ganache covered cake in the freezer for a few minutes to set the ganache.  Continue coating each layer with just under 1/3^rd of the ganache, and freezing them to chill.  Do not cover the top layer with ganache.

9.       Starting with one of the bottom slices, place the cake on a cardboard cake round.  Top with orange frosting.  Add another slice, pressing gently, and then top with more orange frosting.  Add the third ganache covered slice, press gently, and add more frosting.  Finish by placing the top layer, and then frost the sides and top with the remaining orange frosting.  To decorate, place the left over ganache in a plastic bag, snip off a small corner, and then pipe the ganache in a concentric spiral on the top of the cake.  Using a toothpick, drag through the swirl, alternating moving in to the center or out to the edge, to create a spider web-like pattern.

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts by The Moosewood Collective