All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [41]
12. Reduce the mixer to medium speed and add the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until just blended. Add the spices and mix briefly. You should now have stiff peaks; be careful not to beat the meringue too much.
13. Using a spatula, gently mound the meringue on top of the batter in the cake pan. Use the back of a tablespoon to spread out the meringue evenly.
14. Center the pan on the rack (which, you remember, is in the lower third of the oven) and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and tests done. You may get a little meringue “cling” on your cake tester—ignore it. You’re looking for the telltale wet batter cling, which by now, veteran of oh-so-many cakes, you know so well.
15. Allow the cake to cool in the pan, then remove the springform sides.
Now, Carole Walter adds this information: meringue-topped cakes will become soggy if air does not circulate around them. I made this cake the day before I took it into work. Instead of locking it tightly in my cake carry overnight, I propped the carry’s lid up about ½ inch from the bottom, and ATC did not suffer a soggy cake.
Honey Spice Cake with Rum Glaze
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YOU’ll NEED
A 12-cup Bundt or 10-inch tube pan
A whisk attachment and extra bowl for mixer
A large spatula
FOR THE CAKE
½ cup sugar
1½ sticks (¾cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
⅔ cup clover honey
3 large egg yolks (see Tip)
2⅓ cups cake flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt
4 large egg whites (see Tip)
FOR THE GLAZE
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
1½tablespoons rum (light or dark)
Tip: Oh yes, you read this right: You’re going to need 4 large eggs and you’re going to have to separate them, but you’re only going to use the yolks from 3 of them.
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the Bundt or tube pan.
2. Set aside ¼ cup of the sugar.
3. Cream the butter with the mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the honey and the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and beat on high speed until smooth.
4. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together.
6. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add half of the flour mixture to the batter, followed by ½ cup of the yogurt, blending well after each addition. Repeat so that all of the flour mixture and yogurt are blended in. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until smooth.
7. Here’s where having that whisk attachment and second bowl for your mixer comes in handy: Exchange the paddle or beaters for the whisk, and substitute a clean bowl for the one with the batter.
8. Beat the egg whites on medium-high speed to the soft peak stage.
9. Gradually add the reserved ¼ cup of sugar, then beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
10. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. This is the exact same folding technique you learned on page 62. The key here is to continue rotating the bowl until all the egg whites are incorporated. Don’t be overly aggressive: You do not want to deflate the egg whites, but you do want to incorporate them into the batter evenly. It may take up to 15 full rotations of the bowl before this is done.
11. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the cake tests done.
12. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan; then unmold onto a cake rack. Allow to cool completely before finishing with the glaze.
TO MAKE THE GLAZE
13. In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar and rum together to make a stiff glaze. If you’d like it looser, water it down with a teaspoon or so of milk.
TO FINISH THE CAKE
14. Put a plate under the cake and drizzle the glaze over the cake. Allow it to harden before serving.