Week 5: Who says I can't have my cake & eat it too!

I find it amazing that in just five weeks I have learned all the basic techniques necessary to create some delectible baked goodies.  This week I entered the world of cakes & frosting.  I must say that I was impressed at how many different techniques exist and could be crammed into just 5 days.  I learned so much this week it was hard to retain all the information in my brain!


The syllabus focused on practicing the chiffon, genoise, 2-stage and creaming method for cakes. I also learned the technique for making swiss buttercream. In a matter of just four days, my refrigerator became crammed with an extra stash of buttercream frosting, genoise (i.e. sponge) cake,  as well as

Lemon Swiss Buttercream Chiffon Cake

Black Forrest Cake

&

some adorable Petit Fours.

Almond Raspberry Petit Four:  Almond sponge cake filled with raspberry preserves and
marzipan topped with a white chocolate icing & served with a shot of espresso

For those who are just familiar with box mixes, there is no reason to be intimidated by  a "from scratch" process.  When preparing a cake you should have the three goals in mind:

1. Ensure the batter is smooth & uniform  (having ingredients at room temperature is required)

2. Develop the proper air cell formation  (type of fat used in the recipe + mixing method affects this)

3. Create proper texture (over mixing batter & using the wrong flour can cause this)

I know that these three goals sound simple, but spend one day in a culinary classroom and you will be amazed that 30 students can all start with the same recipe and end up with some interesting products! 

For those of you who know me well, the Whole Foods  Berry Chantilly Cake has been one of my newest cake addictions.  Let me just say, it's the kind of cake that continues to linger in your thoughts long after the last bite.  I searched and searched online for the recipe, but could not find the exact one.  So I jotted down the ingredients and description and then stuck it on a Windows 7 sticky note on my desktop screen.   Here's what I read everytime I log onto my laptop:

3 layers of delicate white chiffon cake soaked in orange simple syrup filled with 2 layers of fresh fruit and chantilly frosting (a heavenly blend of cream cheese, whipped cream, mascarpone and almond essence). Covered with chantilly frosting and seasonal fruit.  May be decorated with almond slices.

So, it's pretty accurate to say that I was literally salivating to see that a chiffon cake was on our syllabus.  I have been wanting to learn how to make this cake for awhile.  

What is important to understand about the chiffon cake is that the "fat" in the cake will always be oil.  Since there is not a lot of fat in the ingredients, the structure from the cake comes from egg whites.  As a result, making sure that the egg whites are properly whipped to the firm moist peaks is imperative.  Otherwise, you'll end up with a cake that does not have uniform air cells and possibly a dense texture. 

As usual, we worked in pairs and this time I worked with a new person.  I was responsible for preparing the flour-liquid batter, while my partner worked on whipping the egg whites.   Unfortunately, we miss judged and folded our egg whites in too soon.  As you can see, the cake is a little dense and has a few tunnels that indicate the batter was overmixed.   Although the cake still tasted good, the inside of this cake was a visible reminder that I need to work on the 3 goals of cake mixing.   

Tunneling is a sign that the batter was over mixed.

The cake we made in class was actually a yellow chiffon cake versus white chiffon.  The difference is that yellow chiffon cake also includes the egg yolks.   I'm still on the hunt for a good white chiffon cake, but for now this recipe is a pretty good.  With practice, I know I'll master the chiffon method.  If you'd like to try out this cake, here's the recipe:

Yellow Chiffon Cake

10 oz         Cake flour

8 oz           Sugar

1 1/2 tsp   Salt

.5 oz          Baking powder

5 oz           Vegetable oil

5 oz           Egg yolks (measure by volume, not weight)

7.5 oz        Water

1 1/2 tsp   Vanilla extract

10 oz         Egg Whites (measure by volume, not weight)

5 oz           Sugar

5/8 tsp     Cream of Tartar

Mixing Method:  Chiffon

1.  Sift the first four ingredients and place in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment.  Combine oil, yolks, vanilla and water in a bowl and whisk together.  Turn mixer on low and slowly incorporate egg mixture into batter.  Mix until combined.  Ensure the bowl is scraped down to ensure ingredients are fully incorporated.  Remove from bowl and set side.

2.  Combine remaining sugar and cream of tartar.  In a clean mixing bowl add egg whites and whip using a whisk attachment until foamy.  Slowly add sugar/cream of tartar mix to egg whites and whisk on medium speed until egg whites are firm moist peaks.

3.  Fold egg white mixture into flour-liquid batter.  Be sure not to over mix, but ensure that egg white and batter is fully incorporated.  Batter should be a solid color with no white swirls from the egg whites.

4.  Line pan with parchment paper on the bottom of 2- 9" round cake pans.  Do not grease sides of pan as the cake will need to stick to as it rises.  Divide batter and bake immediately to ensure volume is not lost.   Bake at 350 degrees until center is springing and cake tester comes out clean.  Approximate baking time is 20-30 minutes, but ovens may vary so keep an eye on it.  

5.  Once fully baked, remove and invert cake pan onto cooling rack.  If this step is skipped, the cake will sink in the center.  Allow to cool before frosting.  Because this cake is in the sponge cake family, layers can be brushed with a simple syrup, coffee, or other flavor to give the cake more dimension.