This is the basic birthday cake that I've made for Nick's birthday for years, but I'm counting it as new (for this challenge's purposes) because it was my first outing with chocolate buttercream, my first filling with pastry cream, and the first time doing this combination together.
We had a fun time decorating it - it was a joint project, with my daughter, whose fifth birthday this cake celebrates, doing the general art direction, embellishing with sprinkles, and adding one of the fish. My son did the other fish. My husband suggested that Lilah could trace her name with a toothpick, and I could go over it with frosting, which worked well.
It was a good cake - I wish there was more of the pastry cream filling, to make a thicker layer between the cakes. I might even try doubling what is listed below.
The buttercream frosting is incredible. It's so smooth, it's like edible silk. It is so worth the work. The first time felt tricky, but this time it seemed pretty straight forward.
White Layer Cake with
Almond Cream Filling and Chocolate Almond Buttercream Frosting
For the
cake:
1 cup milk, room temperature
¾ cup egg whites (about 6 large or 5 extra
large), room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2¼ cups plain cake flour
1¾ cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter,
softened
For the pastry
cream:
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
¾ cup milk
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons amaretto
For the
buttercream frosting:
8 egg yolks
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
2 cups butter (4 sticks), at room
temperature
2 tablespoons amaretto
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, melted
and cooled to room temperature
For the
cake:
1.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter two 9-inch cake pans and line
with parchment paper, then dust with flour.
2.
Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup
glass measuring cup, and mix with fork until blended.
3.
Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt
in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed.
Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist
crumbs, with no powdery ingredients remaining.
4.
Add all but ½ cup of milk mixture to crumbs and
beat at medium speed (or high speed if using hand-held mixer) for 1½
minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of milk
mixture and beat for 30 second more. Stop mixer and scrape side of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and
beat 20 seconds longer.
5.
Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake
pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls
and 3 inches apart. Bake until a
toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.
6.
Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Turn out of cake pans, invert onto cooling
racks, and cool completely.
For the pastry cream:
1.
Whisk sugar, flour, and salt together in a 1- to
1½-quart nonreactive saucepan. Whisk in
milk, then egg and yolk. Heat mixture
over low heat, whisking constantly, until pastry cream thickens and comes to a
boil. Boil, whisking constantly, for 15
seconds.
2.
Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla and
butter. Scrape pastry cream into a
nonreactive bowl and press plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour. (Can be refrigerated overnight.)
3.
Stir amaretto into pastry cream.
For the buttercream frosting:
1.
Beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer on
high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until they lighten; set aside.
2.
Combine the sugar and water in the saucepan and
place on medium-high heat. Boil until
the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes.
Increase the heat to high and boil the syrup another 4 to 5 minutes,
until a candy thermometer registers 239 degrees. Immediately remove from the heat.
3.
With the mixer on high speed, beat the egg
yolks, gradually adding the syrup a few tablespoons at a time. Avoid pouring the syrup on the beaters or it
will end up on the sides of the bowl instead of in the eggs. Continue beating the egg and syrup mixture
until it is no longer hot to the touch, about 5 minutes.
4.
Add the softened butter a few tablespoons at a
time, beating well after each addition.
The consistency will not be frosting-like until the last few tablespoons
of butter are added. When finally thick
and creamy, beat in the amaretto and melted chocolate. Set aside in a cool place until ready to use. [For this design, I pulled out about ¾ of a
cup to tint blue, before adding the chocolate.]
NOTE: If possible, use buttercream frosting soon after it is
made. If stored in the refrigerator,
always let it return to room temperature before spreading, because cold buttercream
is very likely to curdle and become grainy when beaten. Adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of melted butter
may help restore its original satiny texture.
To assemble:
1.
Using a 9-inch spring form pan, place a 9-inch
cake round into the bottom of the pan, and then place one of the cakes into the
pan, bottom-side down. Spread the pastry
cream to the edges. Place the second cake,
top-side up on the pastry cream, and press gently. Wrap the cake fully with plastic wrap and
make sure it’s completely sealed. Place
in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight (do not freeze pastry cream).
2.
When ready to frost, remove the cake from the fridge,
open up the spring form edge, and remove the cake. Place on a cake stand (or cake turn table)
and frost. Store the cake in the fridge
– remove an hour prior to serving.
Cake and pastry cream recipes from The Best Recipe by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine and
buttercream recipe from Moosewood
Restaurant Book of Desserts by The Moosewood Collective
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