Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Rose's Heavenly Cakes (12 page)
Glaze the Cake
Set the cake on a serving plate. Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides and pool slightly on the serving plate.
Serve with a dollop of lightly sweetened, lightly
Whipped Cream
.
One small Bundt-style cake and 2 cupcakes; serves 6 to 8
40 to 50 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for the cupcakes)
This terrific cake was adapted from pastry chef Claudia Fleming's gift to her customers when she was at 11 Madison Park. At the end of dinner, she presented it for the diner to enjoy for breakfast the next morning. I love how the cocoa streusel becomes chocolaty during baking and forms an attractive undulating layer in the middle of each slice of cake. If desired, you can make a total of twelve cupcakes instead of using the tube pan.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado | 3 tablespoons, firmly packed | 1.5 | 40 |
unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder | 2 tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons (sifted before measuring) | 0.5 | 12 |
cinnamon | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
Make the Chocolate Streusel Filling
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon. Use a fork or your finger tips to break up the sugar, if necessary.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
bleached all-purpose flour | 1¾ cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off) | 7 | 200 |
baking powder | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
baking soda | ¼ plus 1/8 teaspoon | . | . |
salt | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 8 tablespoons (1 stick) | 4 | 113 |
superfine sugar | 1 cup | 7 | 200 |
1 large egg, at room temperature | 3 tablespoons | 1.7 | 50 |
1 large egg white, at room temperature | 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) | 1 | 30 |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
sour cream | 1 cup | 8.5 | 242 |
Special Equipment
One 6-cup fluted metal tube pan, coated with baking spray with flour | 2 cupcake liners set in ramekins or custard cups
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C (325°F/160°C if using a dark pan).
Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt just until lightly combined.
Make the Batter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Beat in the sugar slowly, taking about 2 minutes to beat it in, and then beat for another 2 minutes. With the mixer off, pour in the egg, egg white, and vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl onto the egg mixture. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
With the mixer off between additions, add the flour mixture together with the sour cream in three parts. Beat each addition starting on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, then raise the speed to medium and beat for 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners to fill half full. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of the streusel filling and drop a spoonful of batter on top. Use a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the batter. The batter should fill the liner almost to the top.
Using a silicone spatula or spoon, scrape about half of the remaining batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula. Sprinkle the remaining streusel filling evenly over the batter, making a ring around the center of the batter to keep most of the streusel away from the outside and inside edges. Drop the remaining batter in large blobs over the filling and spread it evenly.
Bake the Cake and Cupcakes
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for the cupcakes), or until the cake just begins to come away from the sides of the pan. In the cupcake liners, the cakes should spring back when pressed lightly in the center.
Cool and Unmold the Cakes
Let the cakes cool on wire racks in their pan and liners for 10 minutes. With a small metal spatula, loosen the top edges of the large cake and invert it onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Cool completely.
Note
The firm and dense crumb is moist but less rich than my
Apple-Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
due to double the sour cream, balanced by less butter. This high amount of liquid necessitates the method of creaming the sugar and butter that enables the flour to remain less coated with the butter and to be able to absorb the extra liquid effectively.
8 to 10
50 to 60 minutes
This unusual cake was inspired by one I tasted in Sweden. During baking, a layer of almond cream and pear sinks almost to the bottom and becomes the top when unmolded. The pear adds luscious moisture to the crumb; the almond cream imbues it with lovely flavor. I especially love this cake served shortly after cooling, when the crust is still crunchy and the crumb is at its softest. However, it is still delicious for at least two days after baking.
14 tablespoons/8 ounces/227 grams
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
almond paste | 3 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon | 2 | 56 |
superfine sugar | ¼ cup plus 1½ teaspoons | 2 | 56 |
unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C); see | 4 tablespoons (½ stick) | 2 | 57 |
1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten (see | 3 tablespoons (1.5 fluid ounces) | 1.7 | 50 |
pure vanilla extract | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
bleached all-purpose flour | 1½ tablespoons | 0.5 | 14 |
Make the Almond Cream filling
In a food processor, pulse the almond paste and sugar until the almond paste is in fine particles. Add the butter and pulse until incorporated. Scrape down the sides. Add the egg, vanilla, and flour and pulse just until incorporated. It will be a soft cream. (To make in a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the almond paste and sugar on low speed. Add the butter and continue mixing until incorporated. Add the egg, vanilla, and flour and mix just until incorporated.) The cream can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week and frozen for up to 1 month.
Note
To prevent separation while mixing, the butter and eggs must not be cold. Almond cream thins if overmixed and during baking will melt into the batter and prevent the pears from sinking adequately into the cake.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
1 Bartlett pear | . | 7.7 | 200 |
lemon juice, freshly squeezed | 2 teaspoons | . | . |
1 large egg, at room temperature | 3 tablespoons (1.5 fluid ounces) | 1.7 | 50 |
about 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature | 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) | 1.3 | 37 |
sour cream | 2/3 cup, divided | 5.6 | 160 |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
cake flour (or bleached all-purpose flour) | 2 cups (or 1¾ cups), sifted into the cup and leveled off | 7 | 200 |
superfine sugar | 1 cup | 7 | 200 |
baking powder | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
baking soda | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
salt | ¾ teaspoon | . | . |
unsalted butter (65° to 75°F/19° to 23°C) | 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) | 6 | 170 |
Special Equipment
One 10-cup fluted metal tube pan, coated with baking spray with flour
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C (325°F/160°C if using a dark pan).
Prepare the Pear Slices
Just before mixing the batter, peel, core, and slice the pear about 1/8 inch thick (about 1½ cups/7 ounces/200 grams). Sprinkle with the lemon juice.
Mix the Liquid Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, yolks, 3 tablespoons of the sour cream, and the vanilla just until lightly combined.
Make the Batter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining sour cream and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan. With a small metal spatula, smooth the surface evenly and make a continuous shallow depression about ¼ inch deep in a circle around the middle of the batter; this is so the almond cream won't touch the edges of the pan or center tube. Spoon the almond cream into the depression. Top with two overlapping rows of pear slices.
Bake the Cake
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted between the tube and the side comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.
Cool and Unmold the Cake
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the cake by jiggling it up and down until it moves slightly. Invert it onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Cool completely. Meanwhile, wash and dry the pan. Place it on top of the cake and invert the cake into the pan. Place a serving plate on top and reinvert the cake onto the plate.
