Monday, September 1, 2014

Rosie Makes Mr. Hawthorne A Birthday Cake.

       August 31 is Mr. Hawthorne's birthday.
I'm tossing around ideas as to what type cake to make.
I decided on an Angel Food Cake, doctored up,
with maybe a hint of a tiramisu angle --
a bunch of whipped cream, a coffee caramel sauce,
some chocolate pudding thrown in,
and a drizzling of bittersweet chocolate.

Yeah...
That sounds like a good direction in which to go.

Angel Food Cake
1 1/4 cups egg whites (about 9 large eggs)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup sugar 

 Place egg whites in large bowl.
Let come to room temperature for maximum volume.

Heat oven to 350°.
Sift 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup cake flour twice.
Set aside.

Beat egg whites at medium speed.
When frothy, add in cream of tartar, extracts, and salt.
Beat until soft peaks form,
then add in the rest of the sugar, a tablespoon or so at a time, 
beating at high speed until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time.

Spoon into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.
Cut through batter to remove air pockets,
then smooth top.
Bake about 30-35 minutes until lightly browned.
Immediately invert pan on wire rack.
Cool completely.

 
Here's the texture you want.
You want the beaters to leave tracks...

Smooth the top.
Bake.
And...
... There you go!
I have your basic Angel Food Cake.
 

Then I had a great idea.
Infuse the Angel Food cake with coffee syrup!
I had a half cup of leftover coffee from breakfast.
I stirred in 1/4 cup sugar and brought it to a boil,
stirring to dissolve.
 I skewered my cake.
Multiple times.

 Then I poured the coffee syrup all over top.
Ahhhh...

STOP!
THINK!
WHAT WOULD SANDRA LEE DO
WITH AN ANGEL FOOD CAKE???

Now, let's take it away from what Sandra Lee would do -
which would be stuffing the hole within an inch of its life
with a canned mixture of hurt-your-teeth-sweet icing
that she's "dolled up" with pumpkin pie spice and Cool Whip.

I'm taking Mr. H's B-Day cake somewhere else.
I'm thinking along a tiramisu line. 
With coffee flavor.
And a coffee caramel component.
And bitterweet chocolate drizzled around. 
And chocolate pudding pockets.
And whupped cream throughout.

Yup.
That'll work.

Let's start on the Coffee Caramel Sauce.
While the Angel Food cake cooked,
I put together a Coffee Caramel Sauce:

Coffee Caramel Sauce
1 tsp ground coffee
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 TB unsalted butter
Mix all together.
Bring to boil.
Reduce to simmer.
Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Set aside until ready to assemble.
 
That's the ticket!

On to Chocolate Pudding!
The great thing about making chocolate pudding,
is that I'm using 4 yolks leftover 
from making the egg white Angel Food cake.
Look in the background.
Already, I'm thinking TRIFLE!
TIRAMISU!!
SOMETHING!!!
Chocolate Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups skim milk
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
2 TB unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan,
whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa.
Slowly, a tablespoon at a time,
whisk in the milk/cream, then the yolks, one at a time.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly,
until mixture thickens. 
 Reduce heat to low.
Whisk one more minute.
Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
Place plastic wrap on top of pudding and refrigerate.


Now, I'm ready to assemble

Forefront, I have my sliced and diced Angel Food Cake.
From left to right, above,
I have melted bittersweet chocolate,
coffee caramel sauce,
chocolate pudding,
and whipped cream.

For the whipped cream,
I used a pint of cream,
about 1/4 cup sugar,
and 1 tsp vanilla.

When I beat cream,
I always put my bowl and beaters in the freezer first.
Cold makes for better whipped cream.
A vein of coffee syrup in a torn piece of Angel Food cake.
From the spears I stuck in.



I'm assembling.
I have my Not-A-Trifling-Matter-Bowl
and I've layered the browned cubes of Angel Food Cake 
around the outside.
Then I plopped whipped cream in the middle.

I drizzled it with melted bittersweet chocolate.

I kept layering.
With Angel Food cake cubes,
Coffee Caramel Sauce,
Whipped Cream,
Chocolate Pudding,
And Melted Bittersweet Chocolate.
This, despite its looks, is amazingly light.


You really should come here
RIGHT NOW
and eat some of this.



DEE-VINE!
You ain't gonna believe how good this is!

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