Major Cake

Rose Levy Berenbaum is a cake pimp, seriously and for realz. I could see her hanging out with Snoop Dogg, grill in place, pimp cup in hand, sipping on gin and juice, talking cake. I love her and I love her baking and she is crazy and ballsy and that is what I like in my cookbook writers.

Let me back up for a moment: it was my good man Dion's birthday recently, and I wanted to bake up something of appropriate scale. I love birthdays, whether mine or one of my beloveds, because parties are fun and so are presents but I mostly like the cake. I adore making cakes, but they are most definitely a Sometimes Food, and if I baked as often as I wanted to I'd keel over into a diabetic coma within a week. So when I happen upon a cake opportunity I tend to go crazy, broadway style. I'd bookmarked this mocha chiffon cake from sister cake pimp Deb of Smitten Kitchen as a good, comfortably masculine birthday cake. It's a great recipe as is, but as there were only going to be seven people at dinner I balked at the three 9" layers. I also prefer cream cheese icings on layer cakes, as the acid cuts pleasantly through all the sweetness, and then I wanted to put a ganache in the middle for a hit of chocolate, and then I gave up on trying to scale down the chiffon cake. In the end, the only thing remaining from Deb's cake was the espresso and rum syrup she brushed the layers with.

In  the process of compiling my frankencake I turned to La Rose's website for a scaleable recipe for genoise.  What's a genoise, you ask, and why don't you call a sponge cake a sponge cake? Genoise is a sponge leavened only by beaten eggs, which means you need to beat those eggs as you've never beaten eggs before.  I've made genoise before, but I wasn't totally happy with the result.  And let me tell you: this recipe is flawless. There is a wee bit of technique to making a decent genoise, but if you watch this video of La Rose and follow all the steps you should be fine. In sum: you need to beat the eggs until they are thick enough to form a ribbon that sits for a moment on the surface of the rest of the eggs before sinking, you need to sift the flour at least twice, and you need to fold the flour in thoroughly. I used a slotted skimmer to fold in the flour, as Rose suggested, and it worked beautifully.  I also used browned butter, and it added a faint, pleasant nuttiness. Do it.

Mocha Layer Cake
Serves 8-10. From assorted sources.

For cake:
75g butter
1 tsp vanilla
8 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup + 2 tbsp cornflour, spooned and levelled

For cream cheese icing:
2 tsp instant coffee grains
1/2 ts boiling water
250g block cream cheese
100g butter
500g bag of icing sugar (you probably won't use it all, but I can never keep track of how much sugar I use)

For ganache:
125g good chocolate
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp ground coffee

For syrup:
1/4 cup hot freshly brewed coffee (I used stovetop espresso)
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Spray two 25cm round cake tins with oil and flour them. Set aside.

Start by making the browned butter. Put the butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Heat, swirling occasionally, until the butter turns brown and the kitchen smells nutty and good. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl and set aside. Sift together the cornflour and flour three times, and set aside.

Fill a medium pan 1/4 full of water and set it simmering slowly. Put the eggs into a large bowl, add the sugar, then set over the water. Beat, using a hand mixer, for 5 or so minutes, until the eggs are voluminous and feel just barely warm. Remove from heat and continue beating, for at least 10 minutes or up to 15, until the eggs have tripled in volume and become very, very thick. There is no such thing as over-beating.

Add about 1 cup of the egg mixture to the browned butter and fork together sternly.

Sprinkle half the flour mixture over the eggs and fold in thoroughly but gently, scraping right to the bottom of the bowl, with a slotted skimmer or balloon whisk.  Repeat with remaining flour, then fold in butter mixture.

Divide between the prepared pans and bake for 25-35 minutes until the cake starts to shrink a little from the sides of the pans. When done, remove from the pans immediately and allow to cool. If you're making the cakes the night before, which you should really do, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Next up: the ganache. Break the chocolate into pieces, and pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Alternatively, chop finely and put into a bowl. Put the cream into a small saucepan along with the coffee grinds over medium-high heat, and heat, swirling occasionally, until bubbles start at the edges of the pan. Strain through the fine mesh strainer, then pour the hot cream into the food processor with the motor running. Alternatively, pour over the chopped chocolate and whisk thoroughly. Cover with glad wrap and set aside, at room temperature.

Next up: cream cheese icing. In a very small bowl combine the instant coffee with the tiniest splash of boiling water to form a gooey paste. Beat together butter and cream cheese in a large bowl, then add your coffee paste.  Beat until creamily combined, then beat in the icing sugar, a little at a time, until the icing is adequately stiff. If you want to pipe it, aim for stiffer rather than softer. That's what she said etc.

Next up: syrup! Put sugar and rum in a small bowl. Brew your coffee, pour it over, and whisk together sternly.

To assemble the cake, slice the tops off your cakes. They'll probably need to be levelled, anyway. Lay down strips of baking paper on your cake board or serving plate to form an empty square, then centre the bottom layer over the square. Brush the first layer with half the syrup, then spoon over the ganache. Carefully place the second layer on top, and brush with remaining syrup. Use an offset spatula to apply a crumb coat, a thin first layer, of icing all over. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to firm up, then apply the second layer. I cut sick with the star tip then, but you can do as you wish. Remove the strips of baking paper to reveal a perfectly clean plate. Feel virtuous.