I think that the gentlemen bakers from Baked do a fantastic job with layer cakes. The "Tricolor Cake" from Baked Occasions -- this week's Baked Sunday Mornings recipe -- is no exception. It's the supersized version of the Italian tricolor cookie: three layers of almond sponge cake filled with raspberry jam and covered in chocolate ganache. The cookbook version has alternating red and green layers and I've made the cake twice before for our holiday party.
But since it's spring, I decided to make this a St. Patrick's Day cake with a green color scheme. To make the sponge cake, you cream butter with sugar; add eggs, followed by chopped almond paste and almond extract; and alternately add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and milk. I tried to create an ombre color scheme. I weighed out the entire batch of batter before adding a little green gel paste color; took out a third of light green batter and poured it into a buttered and floured 8-inch pan; added more food color to the remaining batter and put half of it into a second pan; and then added more food color to final third. As the cakes were in the oven I noticed the bottle of almond extract sitting on the counter and I realized that I had forgotten to add it. I hoped that all the almond paste would make the cake sufficiently almond-y. I baked the cakes and let them cool completely before leveling them.
After I leveled the cakes I realized that I hadn't done a very good job with the ombre -- two of the layers were close to the same color, so it looked like the one darker layer was just a screw up. I filled the cake layers with seedless raspberry jam and crumb coated them with chocolate ganache. The ganache was very thick; it's comprised of 12 ounces of chocolate but only six tablespoons of heavy cream. The only way that I would get the ganache somewhat smooth was to use my fingers because the heat from my hands helped soften it slightly to make it moldable.
I chilled the crumb-coated cake before applying the final chocolate glaze, which is made from dark chocolate, cream, and light corn syrup. The ganache was quite cold when I applied the glaze (the cake had probably been in the fridge for about 25 minutes) and so the glaze set upon contact with the chilled ganache and the glaze finish wasn't completely smooth. I sprinkled some green shamrock sprinkles on top before the glaze set and also piped a border with some of the leftover glaze. I left the cake in the fridge overnight and the chocolate glaze became streaky after being chilled, which you can see in the photo above. The streaking problem resolved after bringing the cake back to room temperature.
I really like chocolate, but I almost never like cakes covered in chocolate ganache -- unless it's whipped ganache, which is a totally different animal. I think it's all too easy for ganache to drown out the flavor of cake, and if the ganache has ever been chilled, the texture can become irreversibly clunky. I didn't particularly like the ganache coating on this cake. However, I absolutely loved the tender almond sponge cake, especially in combination with the raspberry jam. The cake was quite almond-y, but having made the cake properly before, I know that it's even better with the boost of almond extract.
I know that whole point of this cake is to retain the character of an Italian rainbow cookie, but I think that I would prefer it with buttercream -- possibly chocolate, but almond or even something fruity would be nice. Regardless of the wrapping, the combination of the this almond cake with raspberry jam is one of my favorites.
Recipe: "Tricolor Cake" from Baked Occasions by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
Previous Post: "Baked Sunday Mornings: Baked Tricolor Cookies," November 24, 2013.
But since it's spring, I decided to make this a St. Patrick's Day cake with a green color scheme. To make the sponge cake, you cream butter with sugar; add eggs, followed by chopped almond paste and almond extract; and alternately add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and milk. I tried to create an ombre color scheme. I weighed out the entire batch of batter before adding a little green gel paste color; took out a third of light green batter and poured it into a buttered and floured 8-inch pan; added more food color to the remaining batter and put half of it into a second pan; and then added more food color to final third. As the cakes were in the oven I noticed the bottle of almond extract sitting on the counter and I realized that I had forgotten to add it. I hoped that all the almond paste would make the cake sufficiently almond-y. I baked the cakes and let them cool completely before leveling them.
I chilled the crumb-coated cake before applying the final chocolate glaze, which is made from dark chocolate, cream, and light corn syrup. The ganache was quite cold when I applied the glaze (the cake had probably been in the fridge for about 25 minutes) and so the glaze set upon contact with the chilled ganache and the glaze finish wasn't completely smooth. I sprinkled some green shamrock sprinkles on top before the glaze set and also piped a border with some of the leftover glaze. I left the cake in the fridge overnight and the chocolate glaze became streaky after being chilled, which you can see in the photo above. The streaking problem resolved after bringing the cake back to room temperature.
I know that whole point of this cake is to retain the character of an Italian rainbow cookie, but I think that I would prefer it with buttercream -- possibly chocolate, but almond or even something fruity would be nice. Regardless of the wrapping, the combination of the this almond cake with raspberry jam is one of my favorites.
Recipe: "Tricolor Cake" from Baked Occasions by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
Previous Post: "Baked Sunday Mornings: Baked Tricolor Cookies," November 24, 2013.
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