All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [81]
3. With the mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually, beating until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
4. Add the egg yolks, two at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for 1 extra minute. Blend in the vanilla extract.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add 1 cup of the crumb mixture along with ⅓ cup of milk and mix to blend in. Repeat until all the crumb mixture and milk are blended in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 10 more seconds. Set the batter aside.
6. Set up the mixer with a clean, dry mixing bowl and whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and kick the mixer up to medium-high. Beat until the egg whites reach the firm peak stage. Do not overbeat.
7. Fold a quarter of the egg whites into the batter, taking about 5 full rotations of the bowl. Fold in the remaining egg whites, about 10 full turns.
8. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, and smooth the surface with a spatula or wooden spoon.
9. Center the pans near the middle of the rack and bake for 25 or 30 minutes, or until the cake layers begin to come away from the sides of the pan and are springy to the touch.
10. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto the cake rack to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE FILLING AND FROSTING
11. Wash and dry your mixing bowl and whisk. Chill them in the freezer for 5 minutes.
12. Pour the cream into the chilled bowl and whip on medium-high speed for 1 or 2 minutes. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa, lower the speed to medium speed, and beat until the cream begins to thicken.
13. Add the coffee and Kalúha. Continue whipping until the cream reaches the soft peak stage, then remove from the mixer. Whisk by hand until the cream is thick. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.
TO CONSTRUCT THE CAKE
14. Fit a pastry bag with a no. 5 plain tube nozzle and fill the bag one-third full with the mocha whipped cream. Place the bottom cake layer on the serving plate.
15. Starting ½ inch from the edge of the cake, pipe a circle of cream around the layer. Fill the center with more cream, smoothing the surface with a large metal spatula.
16. Empty the remaining cream into the pastry bag. On the crown layer, pipe ½-inch dots, beginning at the outer edge. Each dot should touch the preceding one, forming a ring. Continue working toward the center of the cake until the entire surface is covered.
Note: You can also apply frosting with a spatula and skip the fancy pastry bag stuff.
17. Put the ¾ teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa in a finemesh strainer, and gently tap it to sprinkle the cocoa across the top of the cake. Add raspberries, if desired, in a decorative pattern. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and leave in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cake
Michele Norris told me about this strange humming sound she kept hearing the day I brought this cake in. There she was, typing away at her computer, writing an introduction to an interview she’d done with Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau, and she hears a series of “mmmmmmm’s” passing by her door. She heard actual language after the “mmmmmmm’s”, along the lines of “MmmmmmmGreg! You have got to try some of this cake!” “Mmmmmmdid Susan get a slice of this cake?” “Mmmmmmmthis is the best cake Melissa’s ever done!”
Well, the “mmmmmm’s” have it. Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cake is rich, thick (like a torte), very chocolaty, and best when offset by whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
This recipe comes from James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Karen Barker, the author of Sweet Stuff. It was one of the recipes I tried when the Cake Project began, and back then I pegged it as the penultimate pain-in-the-BEE-hind cake because it requires servitude—extra time in the kitchen to make mint syrup, a ganache, and chocolate fudge sauce.
But a funny thing happened between the first time I made Dark