Strawberry Cloud Cream Cake
You can make this without the lattice band but I like to go all out. Recipes are from “The Cake Bible” except for the ganache, which is from a Colette Peters cake-decorating book. This is definitely worth the time and many steps it takes you. Hey, this is how we like to spend our time anyway, right?
Golden Luxury Butter Cake:
6 ounces white chocolate
6 large egg yolks
1C. milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla
3C. sifted cake flour
1C. and 3T. sugar
1 T. + 1 1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
9 T. unsalted butter, softened
2 9-inch by 1 1/2 inch pans, greased w/shortening and flour
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Melt the white chocolate, set aside
• In a medium bowl lightly combine the yolks, 1/4 C. of the milk and vanilla
• In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend.
• Add the butter and remaining 3/4 C. milk. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.
• Gradually add the egg mixture in three batches beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
• Add the melted white chocolate and beat to incorporate.
• Scrape the batter into pans and smooth surface w/spatula. The pans will be a little more than 1/2 full.
• Bake 25-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean from center and top springs back from pressing lightly in the center.
• Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 min. then invert onto cooling racks.
Strawberry Fruit Cloud Cream: Mixing Strawberry Puree and Whipped Cream
20 ounces frozen strawberries
2 t. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 C. heavy cream
7 Tablespoons sugar
• Refrigerate your mixing bowl and beater while making puree.
Strawberry Puree:
• In a fine strainer/colander suspended over a deep bowl allow the berries to thaw. This can take a couple hours so plan ahead. This will drain juice from berries; press them if necessary (usually is, I use a potato masher) to extract juice (and remove seeds if you care about that.) You should have close to 1/1/4 C. juice.
• Puree what is left of the berries in blender or processor. You should have 1C.of puree, and set aside.
• In a small saucepan (or microwave on high power, using 4C. heat proof glass to allow for bubbling) boil the juice only until reduced to 1/4C.
• Mix together the puree, juice reduction, lemon juice and sugar until all the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until cool.
• In the chilled bowl, beat the cream until it mounds softly when dropped from a spoon. Add the puree and beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.
Chocolate Ganache:
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
8 ounces heavy cream.
• Place chocolate in large metal or glass bowl. Heat the cream in saucepan just to the boiling point. Pour cream over chocolate making sure all chocolate is covered. Cover bowl and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Whisk chocolate until dark and shiny, this can be used immediately for a glaze over the cake if you want but I like more of a frosting so I let it cool until desired consistency for icing a cake.
When the cake is cooled, frost tops of both layers (not the sides) with ganache, use cloud cream for filling between layers and frost sides of cake with cloud cream. Top with cloud cream design and then add lattice band.
For Chocolate Lattice band (if you wanna get fancy):
• You will need: disposable pastry bag*, wax paper cut 29 inches X 3inches high
• Melt 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• Fill a disposable pastry bag and snip a tiny bit from the corner, *if you don’t have a pastry bag, use zip lock bag, seal, and snip one bottom corner off. Allow the chocolate to thicken a little so it will fall smoothly from the back, you can add a drop of Glycerin after melting for a more fluid look.
• Holding the bag about 4 inches above wax paper, pipe chocolate in a fluid line making a lattice, filigree or loopy design of your choice and work quickly. Let the chocolate dull so it is still pliable but not hard. Wrap around the cake and refrigerate until chocolate is firm and carefully peel off the wax paper.
