Just in case you’ve forgotten, here is where we last left off:
Inspiration for recipes on The Misanthropic Hostess come from all over the place. Sometimes I’m attracted to a new idea, ingredients or technique I haven’t worked with. Other posts are inspired by memorable meals and childhood favorites. And then, sometimes, I try a recipe for this singular reason: get in my belly! This is one of those recipes. Bon Appetit has this new thing going on where they offer additional recipes via mobile/tablet interface that don’t appear in the print magazine or, as far as I’ve seen, Epicurious. They show you the picture and then send you to the mobile. Such a tease. Anyhow, this is one of those recipes.
Who doesn’t love chocolate and coffee together?
A single recipe makes three eight-inch cakes.
The crumb is pretty fine and loose. If you are going whole-hog and decide to frost these babies, I suggest freezing them first.
While I liked the frosting included in this recipe, I still haven’t found the perfect chocolate frosting. Good thing I like research.
Here is what makes this recipe special. That hazelnut crunch pictured above? It finds its way into each layer of the cake. It’s like a little crunchy Nutella surprise!
Remember to leave some for the top.
Now, who needs a glass of milk?
The only suggestion I have is to maybe chop the hazelnut crunch to a finer grain for the middle cake layers. As you can see from the piece below, the generous chunks sort of got in the way of the layer-flow.
This is a great special occasion cake indeed! And no TD, no peppercorns.
I discovered this new dude name Phillip Phillips. Guess who doesn’t watch American Idol?
Devil’s Food Cake with Hazelnut Crunch
Bon Appetit, September 2012
Devil’s Food Cake
Ingredients
2 1/3 C cake flour
1 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Vahlrona)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 C hot coffee
1 C buttermilk
2 1/2 C sugar
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz semi-or-bittersweet chocolate, melted, cooled slightly
Directions
Grease 3 8″ cake pans, line bottoms with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and baking powder into a medium bowl.
In a separate bowl (better yet, if you have it, use a multi-cup pyrex liquid measuring cup), dissolve espresso into hot coffee, whisk-in buttermilk, set aside.
In a stand mixer (or with an electric mixer), beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy (5ish minutes), scraping-down bowl as needed. Add eggs one-at-a-time, beating in between additions. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Beat on high speed until doubled in volume and very fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape bottom of bowl well making sure all ingredients are incorporated. Beat 1 more minute.
With mixer on low, beat in flour and coffee mixtures in alternating pattern, starting and ending with flour.
Divide evenly among pans.
Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean (about 20 minutes). Transfer to wire racks, let cake cool in pans for 30 minutes.
Invert cakes onto racks, peel off parchment and let cool completely. I like to do this step in advance, wrap each cake tightly in plastic wrap and then freeze. These cakes will be much easier if frosted while frozen.
Frosting
Ingredients
8 oz milk chocolate, chopped
8 oz semi-or-bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 TBS light corn syrup
1 1/2 C heavy cream
1 C (2 sticks) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces.
Directions
Combine both chocolates and corn syrup in medium bowl.
Bring cream to barely a boil in a small saucepan; pour over chocolate mixture. Let sit for 2 minutes. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is completely combined.
Using a standing or electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture until cool, 5-6 minutes.
Add-in butter a few pieces at a time, beating until incorporated between additions. Continue to beat until thick and lightened in color (between 5-15 minutes). If kitchen is hot or frosting feels thin, refrigerate.
Level-off cakes using a serrated knife. Place 1 cake layer on a large plate or stand.
Using an offset spatula, spread about 1 cup frosting on bottom layer. Spring 1/2 cup hazelnut crunch over frosting. Place second layer over crunch. Repeat.
Top third layer with frosting and decorate as desired. Finish with hazelnut crunch.
March is a heavy birthday month in my family. TD’s is the 3rd and my brother’s is the 17th. So, we needed cake. Lots of it. While perusing the March issue of Bon Appetit, I spied a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Fun Cake. Well yeah, chocolate and peanut butter are always fun. This is a single-layer cake made in a 8X8″ pan. And, it starts with chocolate.
This is also one of those no-heavy lifting or serious kitchen tools required sort of recipes. At least, the cake part is.
The resulting batter will be very dark and very thick.
And really difficult to not stick your fingers into.
Out of the oven, the cake looks a lot like a brownie. But don’t be fooled. This baby is all cake.
The frosting is a basic buttercream recipe with a lot of peanut butter thrown in. Be prepared to be able to smell nothing but peanut butter for the rest of the day after making a batch of this confection.
Enough whipping (and air) and the color fades to a nice, mellow Tuscan beige.
And then the real fun begins. We happened to have house guests the weekend of TD’s birthday. So, I enlisted a mini-pastry chef to decorate. She used salted peanuts, mini peanut butter cups and chocolate curls.
Here our chef spreads a nice thick layer of buttercream.
A border of baby cups.
She spelled-out the birthday boy’s name in peanuts…but was very artistic about it.
And that my friends, is a very fun cake. I would have liked to hire Kate on permanently but her dad said something about kidnapping and child labor laws.
Soundtrack
All kids songs all the time.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fun Cake
Bon Appetit, March 2012
Ingredients
Chocolate cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (about 1 3/4 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped unsalted, dry roasted pinenuts (TMH note: I believe this is a typo–I used salted peanuts)
Mini peanut butter cups (a TMH addition, optional)
Directions
For chocolate cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat bottom and sides of pan with nonstick spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Whisk flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add oil, vanilla, and 1 1/4 cups water; whisk until smooth. Fold in chopped chocolate. Scrape into prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
For peanut butter buttercream:
Combine sugar and egg whites in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot to the touch, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat; using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until cool and thick, 5-6 minutes. Beat in vanilla, then peanut butter. With mixer running, add butter a few pieces at a time, beating to blend between additions. Season with salt.
Run a thin knife around pan to release cake. Invert cake onto a serving plate. Spread peanut butter buttercream over top. Garnish with chopped chocolate and peanuts. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
A work colleague (and fantastic baker) introduced me to this cake recipe several years ago. And I’ve been exploiting it ever since. This is by far my favorite way to make chocolate cake. It is dark and not as sweet as some chocolate cakes, which makes it a perfect foil for the globs of buttercream I like to slather on top. And, if you are so inclined (as I am from time to time), it gives you a good excuse to pop the little widget on the Guinness can or bottle and enjoy a pint or two while baking.
This cake recipe is a little unusual in that you start it by boiling together a couple of cups of a good stout beer, butter and cocoa. Strange brew indeed.
While the brew cools a bit, beat together eggs and sour cream.
Then the beer mixture is added to the sour cream.
After this, the dry ingredients are incorporated.
The result is a gorgeous, silky cake batter. I’ve made layer cakes, sheet cakes and cupcakes with this recipe.
Here is the do what I say, not what I do portion of the post. I thought it would be cute to make mini cupcakes without the wrappers so that when I topped them with the frosting they’d look like little beers. Good idea in theory, a little short-sighted in operation. First, if making cupcakes, only fill each cup about 2/3 full. In the picture below they are filled to the top. Not a good idea. Second, these guys need wrappers. Despite oiling the already non-stick pan, I had a heck of a time getting the little buggers out of the pan. This recipe will make about three dozen full-sized cupcakes, six dozen babies or two eight-to-nine inch cakes.
While this cake would be fantastic topped with a cream cheese or sour cream frosting, my go to is an Italian buttercream recipe from Gourmet magazine. Hey–you know how some people have the dates of their deceased loved-ones in decals across the back windows of their cars. Do you suppose there is a foodie out there with a Gourmet Magazine RIP on their car? Just wondering.
Anyhow, Italian buttercream starts by creating a sugar syrup. Yes, you’ll need your candy thermometer.
While the syrup is coming up to temp, egg whites get whipped into soft peaks with a little sugar and salt.
Then things get really fun. Start up your standing mixer and slowly add the hot syrup in a steady stream.
This is going to heat things up a bit. Don’t worry though, keep that whisk attachment (or handmixer) going.
It wouldn’t be buttercream without the butter. The butter gets added a tablespoon at a time.
At some point it will start to look like something has gone horribly wrong. It hasn’t, keep on whisking.
A little later you’ll think, really, this isn’t right. It is.
Eventually, the whole mess will come together and you’ll have beautiful, smooth butter cream frosting.
What you do after is up to you. Me? I topped my little stout cupcakes with a dollup of butter cream and dusting of sanding sugar.
If what TD says is true about there being a sandwich in every beer, there is definitely a cake in every pint!
Chocolate Stout Cake
Bon Appetit, September 2002
Ingredients
2 C stout (such as Guinness)
2 C (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
4 C all purpose flour
4 C sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 T baking soda
4 large eggs
1 1/3 C sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pans
In a saucepan, bring stout and butter to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl. In a separate bowl or standing mixer, beat eggs and sour cream to blend. Add stout mixture to egg mixture and beat to combine. Add-in flour mixture and blend briefly on slow speed until just combined. Divide batter as desired. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes our clean, 18-35 minutes.
Vanilla Buttercream
Gourmet, January 2004
This recipe makes about 6 cups frosting
Ingredients
4 large egg whites at room tempurature
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon of salt
2/3 C water
1 1/3 plus 2 T sugar
4 sticks (2 C) butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
2 t vanilla
Combine whites and salt in a very large bowl. Stir together water and 1 1/3 cups sugar in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan until sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil over moderate heat, without stirring, brushing any sugar crystals down side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.
When syrup reaches a boil, start beating egg whites with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until frothy, then gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat at medium speed until whites just hold soft peaks. (Do not beat again until sugar syrup is ready.)
Meanwhile, put thermometer into sugar syrup and continue boiling until syrup registers 238 to 242°F. Immediately remove from heat and, with mixer at high speed, slowly pour hot syrup in a thin stream down side of bowl into whites, beating constantly. Beat, scraping down side of bowl with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes in a standing mixer or 15 with a handheld. (It is important that meringue is properly cooled before proceeding.)
With mixer at medium speed, gradually add butter 1 piece at a time, beating well after each addition until incorporated. (Buttercream will look soupy after some butter is added if meringue is still warm. If so, briefly chill bottom of bowl in a large bowl filled with ice water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all of butter is added but will come back together by the time beating is finished.) Add vanilla and beat 1 minute more.
Note: buttercream will freeze very well in an air-tight ziplock bag.
TD: That doesn’t have pink peppercorns. And is big with chocolate cake and chocolate filling and chocolate frosting.
ME: But no peppercorns?
TD: No peppercorns.
For my valentine? Anything. And so chocolate love cake was born.
The concept for this cake isn’t particularly unique or even fancy. You’ve seen this cake a hundred times. In fact, when you get down to it, this cake is a darned cliche. Like chocolate molten cake or New York cheesecake. But. A cliche is a cliche for a reason and as well worn as this cake is, it does deliver.
The recipe that follows combines what I think is the best of all fudge recipes. The cake has a buttermilk and unsweetened chocolate base (as opposed to a cocoa base) to which I have added mini chocolate chips. The filling/frosting also begins with unsweetened chocolate. Then the whole thing gets covered in toasted almonds (or walnuts or pecans…or well, you get the picture). Shall we get started?
Unsweetened chocolate, sugar and vanilla are added to water and cooked until combined.
The fudge is then cooled down in an ice bath. Stir the cooling sauce often or you get grainy fudge (I know this from experience).
Once chilled, the fudge is added to the usual list of great cake suspects: sugar, butter, yadda yadda yadda. Then the buttermilk and dry ingredients are incorporated by alternating between the two beginning and ending with the flour.
Oh, let’s back up a minute. While your butter is creaming, butter your pans. Then, line the bottoms in parchment and finally “flour” each pan with cocoa. Using cocoa instead of flour keeps your chocolate cake looking chocolatey.
Okay, now back to the finished batter. For this recipe, I’ve used six-inch cake pans. The recipe easily yields enough batter for three six-inch pans or two eight or nine-inch pans. To get evenly sized cakes, I zeroed-out my scale with a separate empty bowl and then transferred the batter to said bowl. I divided the total weight by three and then added the appropriate amount to each of my pans. Alternately, you could just eye-ball it.
Here comes extra-special cake tip #2 (#1 one was the thing about the cocoa if you are keeping track). Once the cakes are completely cool, double wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them solid. Frozen cake is much, much easier to work with than cake at room temperature.
Level out each frozen cake. Then decide how many layers you’d like your finished cake to be. And then, very carefully, cut each cake with a large serrated knife (I use a bread knife). It’s okay if you don’t get them completely level: that’s what frosting is for.
Now it’s time to frost. The frosting recipe I’ve included below makes plenty for a two-layer cake. For three layers, consider one-and-one-halving the recipe.
After filling your layers, you may want to add a crumb layer to the whole cake before frosting the entire construction project. This is super duper cake tip #3. A crumb layer is a very thin layer of frosting–kind of like putting down a layer of primer before painting a room. It makes your final layer of frosting much neater looking.
Of course, I did this and remembered that I was going to cover the entire cake in almonds. But, I did feel better knowing how nice the frosting looked under the almonds.
Here is cake tip #4. To keep your cake plate clean, slip parchment paper under the edges of the cake. Frost and then carefully remove the parchment. The result is a nice, un-frosted cake plate.
I have to admit, I don’t really have any advice on how to successfully stick your nuts to the outside of the cake (oh, good grief TD, we are still talking about cake). I just took handfuls and carefully pressed the nuts into the side of the still-soft frosting. It worked well save for the huge mess I made on the kitchen counter. Word to the wise: do this over a rimmed baking sheet and you will save quite a bit of time in clean up. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this in advance. Must have been distracted by the nuts.
Behold: Chocolate Love Cake.
Love, love love.
All you need is love.
Love in an elevator…oh wait. Have I gone too far?
Still stuck on the part about the peppercorns? For reasons I don’t exactly understand, TD is convinced that I have an evil plan to infuse peppercorns into all of my baked goods. Pink peppercorns to be specific. Setting aside the fact that we don’t even have any peppercorns in the pantry (pink or otherwise), I’ve decided that this is code for something. I’m just not sure what…
Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Cake Ingredients
(adapted from Cooks.com)
2 C sifted cake flour
2 t baking powder
.5 t baking soda
.5 t salt
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
.66 C water
1.5 C sugar
1 t vanilla
10 Tbs butter at room temp.
3 eggs
.33 C buttermilk
1 C mini chocolate chips or chunked chocolate of your favorite variety
To make cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Butter, line with parchment and flour (or cocoa) your pans.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into bowl, set aside.
Cook chocolate, water and .25 C of sugar in saucepan over low heat stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Transfer to a bowl set in ice water, stirring often. Add vanilla.
Beat butter and remaining sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs one-at-a-time. Add chocolate fudge mixture and blend.
Beginning and ending with your sifted ingredients, add in flour and buttermilk alternating beating well after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour into prepared cake pans and bake for 35 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when touched.
Remove from pans, cool completely and freeze if desired.
Fudge Frosting
(according to the recipe I pilfered this from it is an adaptation of a recipe from Sky High)
Ingredients
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled
4.5 C confectioner’s sugar
24 Tbs (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp
6 Tbs whole milk, half-and-half or heavy cream
1 Tbs vanilla
2 cups toasted and chopped nuts of choice
To make frosting
Cream together butter, sugar and milk. Add in chocolate and vanilla, beat until desired consistency. Makes about 5 cups.
I was excited to get to brush off my college french for this month’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge. Then I realized that being able to ask for the location of the library or discotheque isn’t of much use when making pastry. Oh well.
The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a biscuit joconde imprime to wrap around an entremets dessert.
Is biscuit jaconde imprime simply Greek to you? Well, it was to me until I read the challenge several times. And watched the suggested video. And scoured the links included in the challenge.
It turns out this challenge is actually two methods put together to create a single entity of deliciousness. A biscuit jaconde imprime is really just a fancy dessert wrapper made out of a very flexible sponge cake with a pattern in it. The entremets refers to the filling the biscuit jaconde imprime houses.
This recipe starts with paste. A pastry paste which will give the cake its fanciness. For this recipe, I piped the paste on to a silicon baking mat. More traditionally, a very thin layer of the paste is spread onto the mat and then a pattern is done in relief. As a note, I halved the paste recipe and still had plenty left over.
I did this pattern free-hand but if you wanted something specific, you could easily trace your pattern on to parchment, slip it under the mat and then trace with your paste.
The pattern then gets some time in the freezer to firm-up.
While the pastry is resting, it’s time to make the cake. In my case, I added a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder but you can make it any color you would like.
Returning to the paste, once firm to the touch, the mat is fitted into a half-sheet pan.
And then the sponge batter is poured over it.
After a very quick turn in the oven, the silicon mat is inverted on to a flat surface.
And when peeled-away, the pattern is revealed. Cool or what?
Once the cake is completely cool, it is ready to mold. I used two four-inch spring molds. However, because you are done with the baking process at this point, you aren’t limited to baking pans. Foam board and duct tape could be equally as effective if you wanted to get really groovy with your shapes.
I first lined the bottom of the pans with plastic wrap and then lined the inside of the mold with parchment that was cut to stick out vertically by a couple of inches. I cut the strips of sponge to reach just under the height of the mold.
A quick calculation and homemade compass helped me with the diameter of the bottom and middle layers.
And then it was time to fill. The instructions of the challenge said the entremets could be anything. ANYTHING. So, my mind went to ice cream. And ganache. I’m a little worried that this bastardization could get my spatula confescated, but the instruction did say “anything.”
Each little mold was filled with alternating layers of the extra sponge, mint chocolate chip ice cream and ganache. Once the mold was filled to the top, into the freezer my little friends went for a couple of hours.
Once completely solid, I un-molded the spring-form ring and added a final layer of ganache to top the whole thing off. My understanding is that the jaconde imprime often only goes half-way up the dessert with other delectable layers topping it off as sort of a penthouse floor. For this attempt, I played it conservative and took advantage of the support of the cake.
And then, back into the freezer. The top should have been completely smooth. That it isn’t is a complete rookie error on my part.
Once more frozen, I unwrapped each of the cakes
Here is the pattern on the bottom. I know, nice outlets.
A little detail work with the extra ganache and a cherry on top. Et voila! My take on an ice cream cake.
It isn’t perfect, but was really fun to make . Unlike a souffle or the French macaron, this is one of those recipes that is passably successful if you simply follow the steps carefully.
As a note. If you are thinking of doing this with ice cream, once completely frozen, the layers are much more defined than the picture below. This cut was made only a couple of hours after I completed the cake. A day or two later, I cut it again and the layers were very clean.
I’ve included the recipe here verbatim as posted by accro
Joconde Sponge
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
Ingredients:
¾ cup/ 180 ml/ 3oz/ 85g almond flour/meal – *You can also use hazelnut flour, just omit the butter
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons/ 150 ml/ 2? oz/ 75g confectioners’ (icing) sugar
*Note: How to make cake flour: http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/
Directions:
1. In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.
2. Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour. (This can be done into your dirty egg white bowl)
3. On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light. (If using a stand mixer use blade attachment. If hand held a whisk attachment is fine, or by hand. )
4. Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.
5. Fold in melted butter.
6. Reserve batter to be used later.
Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
COCOA Décor Paste Variation: Reduce cake flour to 6 oz / 170g. Add 2 oz/ 60 g cocoa powder. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture.
Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand)
2. Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.
3. Fold in sifted flour.
4. Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa variation.
Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:
1. Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch (5 millimeter) thick onto silicone baking mat with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.
2. Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.
3. Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.
4. Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.
5. Bake at 475ºF /250ºC until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.
6. Cool. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.
7. Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)
Preparing the MOLD for entremets
Start with a large piece of parchment paper laid on a very flat baking sheet. Then a large piece of cling wrap over the parchment paper. Place a spring form pan ring, with the base removed, over the cling wrap and pull the cling wrap tightly up on the outside of the mold. Line the inside of the ring with a curled piece of parchment paper overlapping top edge by ½ inch. CUT the parchment paper to the TOP OF THE MOLD. It will be easier to smooth the top of the cake.
Preparing the Jaconde for Molding:
Video: MUST WATCH THIS. This is a very good demo of the joconde and filling the entremets:
1. Trim the cake of any dark crispy edges. You should have a nice rectangle shape.
2. Decide how thick you want your “Joconde wrapper”. Traditionally, it is ½ the height of your mold. This is done so more layers of the plated dessert can be shown. However, you can make it the full height.
3. Once your height is measured, then you can cut the cake into equal strips, of height and length. (Use a very sharp paring knife and ruler.)
4. Make sure your strips are cut cleanly and ends are cut perfectly straight. Press the cake strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing out. Once wrapped inside the mold, overlap your ends slightly. You want your Joconde to fit very tightly pressed up to the sides of the mold. Then gently push and press the ends to meet together to make a seamless cake. The cake is very flexible so you can push it into place. You can use more than one piece to “wrap “your mold, if one cut piece is not long enough.
5. The mold is done, and ready to fill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e1DsyDtcd0&feature=related
Disclaimer:
*Note: The Daring Kitchen and its members in no way suggest we are medical professionals and therefore are NOT responsible for any error in reporting of gluten-free ingredients. If you have issues with digesting gluten, then it is YOUR responsibility to research the ingredient before using it. If you have allergies, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. If you are lactose intolerant, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. If you are vegetarian or vegan, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. Please consult your physician with any questions before using a product you are not familiar with. Thank you! 🙂
