LYCHEE BUTTER B'DAY CAKE is a butter cake with a fruity punch of lychee that I have designed for a friends b'day. I spent most of yesterday and last night up till this morning making this since I also had a few other things to do. This is a very fluffy and buttery cake with a sweet, sour cream cheese frosting. The strips of lychee jelly add an interesting texture to the smooth cake, and you palate. The main fruity punch comes from the home made sweet lychee jam sandwiched between the layers, with a layer of cream cheese frosting over it. The cake is generously garnished with 8 lychees and 7 blueberries. The elegant look is enhanced with a sense of grandness by adding pairs of wings around the cake, unfolding from the crease between each lychee. Little pearl shaped cream cheese frosting piped along the bottom edges of the cake to add a final finishing touch to this cake :) The cake will be delivered today, hope all goes well!
Fruit Preparation - Ingredients
- 8 Nice Looking Lychee for Garnish on cake. (Pick a few good ones and shell to make sure they look good inside. Also make sure they are similar in size.)
- 17-18 Lychee for Making Jelly
- 16 - 17 Lychee for Making Jam
- 6 - 8 Nice looking and similar sized Blueberries for Garnish on cake.
Lychee Jelly Strips - Ingredients
Adapted From: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Dragon-Fruit-Jellies--shadler
- 1 Package Gelatin (1/4 oz.) = 1 Tablespoon (7 grams) Gelatin Powder
- 1/4 Cup Cold Water
- 3/4 Cup Lychee Fruit Puree (About 18 Lychee fruits with shell and seed removed.)
- 3 Teaspoons White. Granulated Sugar
Joy of Baking provides detailed ingredient substitutions:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html
Instructions:
= Wash a lychee under running water from the tap to clean it. Gently squeeze on one side of the lychee or pinch a part of the shell to remove part of the shell. This will make it easier for you to remove the rest. Peel and make sure little specks and flakes of the shell have not got onto your lychee fruit. If it has, just quickly run it under some water. Repeat until you have 18 shelled lychees. Over the bowl of lychee, pick up each lychee and using a knife and pressing down with your thumb on it to gently cut into the lychee fruit and lift up the flesh of the fruit from the seed at the center. You can also do the rest with your fingers. But it's easier to begin with knife to create opening in the fruit. Repeat until all seeds are removed for all 18 lychees.
= Transfer bowl of lychee flesh into blender or food processor and blend until it is relatively smooth without any large chunks of flesh - This is the lychee fruit puree.
= Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a bowl. Let it sit for 1 minute to allow the gelatin to 'bloom' (soften and expand a little).
= In the meantime, place lychee fruit puree in a small saucepan over medium heat, adding sugar and stir gently. Once the mixture has just started to boil, remove from heat, and place the gelatin into the mixture. Mix until all gelatin has dissolved.
= Run mixture through strainer into another bowl or large measuring cup to remove any left over grains or fruit pieces. You may also leave if you like. I do this procedure for a smooth jelly.
= Pour into a large square pan lined with aluminum foil (size depends on how thin you want your jelly garnish to be. The larger the pan the thinner the jelly will end up. Just don't make it too thick or the jelly may be too heavy and slide off the cream cheese frosting.)
= Place in fridge and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until solid. (This step can be done when you are have frosted cake already.) Remove from fridge and lift foil off the sides of the pan and take out the jelly from the pan and put on a smooth, flat surface. Using a ruler to measure out the width you want, and use a knife to gently mark the two sides, then using a long knife to slice the jelly into equal strips. Set aside in the fridge to be used later.
===================================================
Lychee Home Made Jam Filling - Ingredients
Adapted From http://cookingupastory.com/small-batch-fresh-strawberry-jam
***NOTE: I halved this recipe since I did not need that much lychee jam.
- 16-17 Lychees (1 Cup Lychees shelled and seeded.)
- 1/3 Cup White Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Instructions:
= Chill a small plate or bowl in the freezer or over ice water.
= Prepare a clean or newly purchased jam jar that has a nice, tight seal on it. In a large, dense bowl place a sauce dish upside down on the bottom of the bowl. Place jar on top. Fill with water and cover, then bring to boil for about 10 minutes. I do this just to remove the germs on the jam jar, this is NOT the sealing process. I just need a clean jar to store the lychees as they chill in the fridge as I make the cake and frosting.
= In a large wide saucepan, bring lychees, sugar and lemon juice to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
= Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam as necessary (as foam will give foamy taste to jam, but there was not much in mine.)
= Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes until mixture begins to look syrupy and thickens slightly. I cooked mine for 9 minutes, but time may vary depending on stove strength and type.
= Remove cold plate from fridge and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of hot fruit mixture onto the cold plate, and let sit for 30 seconds. Tip plate to one side. The jam should be a soft gel that moves slightly. If it is thin and runs down the side of the plate, return the saucepan to heat and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Don't forget to chill another plate.
= Remove from heat and repeat the test.
= Once it has reached the right consistency, remove from heat. Take out the jar from the water and gently wipe with some paper towel until dry. Be careful it may be really hot. Transfer jam to the jar and seal tightly and place in fridge to chill. This recipe uses a minimal amount of sugar so the jam needs to be refrigerated in order to prevent mold from forming, especially since it's summer here at the moment! It should keep for 2-3 weeks this way.
**Makes 1 1/2 Cups of Jam.
This lychee jam is very sweet.
For more information on how to properly store jam visit the original recipe site. It is quite complicated LOL
===================================================
Butter Cake - Ingredients
Adapted From: http://www.joyofbaking.com/WhiteCake.html
- 2 Large Eggs (Separated)
- 1 3/4 Cups (175 grams) Sifted Cake Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup (113 grams) Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
- 3/4 + 1/4 Cup (150 grams & 50 grams) Granulated White Sugar, Divided.
- 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup (120 ml) Milk (I use Whole Milk)
- 1/8 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
Instructions:
= While eggs are still cold separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using. About 30 minutes, or less if its hot weather.
= Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour TWO - 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pans. **Do NOT use spring form or this batter will leak all over your oven from the bottom of the pan. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper cut out to fit. Grease and flour the parchment paper.
= In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
= In a bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
= With the mixer on low speed, (I do it by hand with a rubber spatula to prevent over mixing) alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
= In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tarter and continue beating until soft peaks form (When you lift up the egg whites they will form a peak for a few seconds and fall back seamlessly). Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form (when you lift the mixer, the egg whites will stand and hold its peak shape). With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined.
** Folding process is when you scoop the batter from bottom up to surface and let it gently slide back down into the batter. You may turn the bowl as you do this process, and make sure there are no pockets left on the bottom. Do not over mix or you will deflate the batter.
= Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or cake scraper, or even the back of a spoon.
= Bake in preheated oven for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (Mine took 20 minutes). You can always check at the minimum time point and if the skewer comes out wet just return to oven and bake until peak time and check again.
= Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier. And you may be like me worried about the texture and taste changes of the cake, but believe me it is fine :)
===================================================
Cream Cheese Frosting - Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup (113 grams) Unsalted butter, Room Temperature
- 1 - 8 Ounces (227 grams) Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 2 1/2 Cups (290 grams) Confectioners (Icing or Powdered) Sugar, Sifted.
- Zest of 1 Lemon or Orange (Outer Skin of Lemon or Orange.) Avoid white part near the flesh as it is bitter and leaves bad taste. (I used lemon zest)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions:
= Cream the butter and cream cheese together until nice and smooth with no lumps.
= Add the confectioners sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
= Add the zest and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.
= Set aside about 1 Cup of the frosting for later piping purposes.
===================================================
Antique Triangular Chocolate Garnish - Ingredients
- 200 + 50 grams of white chocolate (1 Pack), Divided & Coarsely Chopped.
Instructions:
= On a small sheet of paper draw out the antique long triangular design that you like. Make sure you measure the cake pan radius, to know how long your design needs to be in length.
= Lay the design under a large sheet of baking paper. Trace the design several times until you have several copies of the design on the large sheet of baking paper. Lay another sheet of baking paper around the same size over the top, and clip with paper clips or anything of the sorts to help hold the paper in place. Place the two sheets of baking paper that are clipped together on a large flat tray for easy transport later on.
= Fill one bowl or pot with small amounts of water (1/2 inch height of water is more than enough). In a larger glass bowl or steel bowl sit it over the top of the bowl with water, and turn on the stove to low heat. Place the coarsely chopped white chocolate into the top bowl, in my case, the glass bowl. Let sit for a few minutes until you can see the chocolate pieces are starting to melt a fair bit. Stir gently every now and then.
** White chocolate is much more sensitive than other chocolates to heat, and scorches very easily. So try to be patient rather than regretting over wasted chocolate LOL.
= Once the white chocolate has melted completely, remove from heat, being careful to not let the steam get into the chocolate. Add in the 50 grams of left over white chocolate and stir until melted completely. This is a procedure called seeding - a type of tempering of chocolate. If you want to do it even more precise you need to use a thermometer to check the temperature throughout the process. I usually just do by feeling and you can tell if the chocolate sets hard as a nice glossy shine, and has a clean snap to it like it originally was before it was melted, you know the tempering was done pretty well.
= Place piping tip in piping bag, and the fold out a bit of the piping bag and place the bag in a cup. This will make it stay in place as you add chocolate or frosting to it. For me I prefer to just use a ziplock bag and cut off one corner after putting in the melted chocolate. And you can dispose of it once you're done.
= Fill the bag you are using, twist to get all the air out (for ziplock, make sure you get most of the air out before you zip the bag, or if you twist with air inside you might pop the bag.) and then pipe by tracing over design on the large clean sheet of baking paper with the design under it.
**Chocolate comes out of the piping bag fairly smoothly and fast, so do not squeeze too much and begin to ease off early before you come to the end of the design or even as you lift up the piping bag swiftly, you may still be left with a long trail of chocolate. In this case, just swiftly follow any part of the design that is long and straight again, and let the excess chocolate you squeezed out fuse into the design again.
= As you pipe, you want the less used hand at the front with palm facing up, thumbs out supporting the piping bag. Then have your most often used hand near the twisted part of the piping bag towards the other end, and use that hand to gently squeeze and control the pressure. Keep the chocolate a small height away from the baking paper, and let the chocolate drape down onto the paper as you follow the design - this will help you understand when is it necessary for you to stop squeezing.
= Take the tray with the chocolate designs and put into fridge to chill for a few minutes. It should set very soon after a few minutes. Cover in glad wrap so water vapor won't get onto the chocolate.
===================================================
Assemblage of Cake
=
=
Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with about 1/4 cup of strawberry sauce or your favorite jam. Next, spread about 3/4 cup of the frosting on top of the sauce or jam. Place the next cake layer, top of the cake facing down, onto the filling. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Just before serving garnish the top of the cake with fresh berries.
Makes one - 8 inch (20 cm) two layer cake.
No comments:
Post a Comment