Strawberry Torta (Strawberry and Cream Cake)

Recently, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. My mother is Swedish and my parents met in Sweden, so naturally she requested a Swedish dessert. There is nothing more Sweden-in-Summer to me than fresh jordgubbar (strawberries) and fresh whipped cream, lightly sweetened but still a touch of tang. Swedish cooking is about highlighting fresh ingredients while they are still in season, and this cake is really all about highlighting the natural goodness of the strawberries. The cream is just slightly sweetened so as not to overwhelm the berries. Strawberry and Cream torta (cake) is a cross-cultural favorite, and a great way to celebrate Summer, special occasions, or just because. While in traditional Swedish recipes a sponge cake is used, in this recipe a chiffon cake creates a more buttery flavor while keeping the light structure of a sponge cake.

The most intimidating thing about making this cake is torting the cake- or dividing the cake into three layers. Even though it is a tall cake that requires a 2" tall pan or a springform pan, that takes a little precision from an admittedly clumsy person. The first time I made it I went with only two layers, but added mashed strawberry to the top layer, to be topped again with whipped cream. That was pretty good, and certainly was easier to manage with a knife, but I felt the cake to cream ratio could be a little better and that I needed to get comfortable cutting a single cake into three layers. This is particularly true if I ever want to learn how to make princess torta, the royalty of Swedish cakes.

So I went out and got myself a cake leveler. I try not to overdo it on the niche purpose baking goods, I really do. But I will say that this was a wise $7 investment if you're in for the layer cake long-haul. It took all the intimidation away, created nice, flat, even layers with a simple sawing motion. And is thin enough to tuck away in the baking gadgets drawer. I included a video on using the cake leveler below. You want to start just a little below where the top starts to crown (at the lowest point of the cake) for your first layer. If you are using the leveler and are having trouble getting it started, use the knife to start and then start sawing back and forth and gently rotating the cake.

The original recipe for this is from Cook's Illustrated, but I found the way they organized ingredient measurements to be confusing so I adjusted it for a better mis en place. I also am the type of person that always feels very guilty taking up a bunch of pantry space with a bag of cake flour, so I rewrote the recipe for all-purpose flour. If you have cake flour on hand, use 1 1/4 cup cake flour instead of the all purpose flour and omit the cornstarch from the recipe (1 cup cake flour=7/8 cup all purpose flour + 2 tablespoons corn starch). If you want to plan ahead, you can make the cake portion, free it in plastic wrap (at least double wrapped), then thaw 2 hours before you want to make the cake. If you want to make it the night before, leave cutting the cake to right before you are ready to decorate, cover in plastic wrap, and put in fridge for night.

Lastly, this particular cake that got photographed I made when friends brought over raspberries from their garden. So obviously I put the raspberries on the cake. You don't mess around with that. There's also raspberry in the Frambois we used (Chambourd) in place of Kirsch, due to Frambois being a little easier to locate, so it all works out.

 

Ingredients

 

For the cake

1 cup and 1 1/2 tablespoons All Purpose flour (If using cake flour, use 1 1/4 cup cake flour and omit the cornstarch)
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 egg yolks, room temperature
3 egg whites, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

plain bread crumbs (optional)

For the Strawberry Filling
2 pounds fresh strawberries (medium or large, about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
5- 6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Kirsch or a Frambois like Chambourd
pinch table salt
 

For the Whipped Cream   

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/8 teaspoon table salt 

2 cups heavy cream (more local the better)

Instructions 

1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and line with a very light dusting of bread crumbs, (or flour if you don't want to be as Swedish about it) round 9 by 2-inch straight sided cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. 
2. Set three tablespoons of the sugar aside for use later. 
3. In medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and rest of the sugar in mixing bowl. 
4. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks, butter, water, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.
5. In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. 
6. With machine running, gradually add the reserved 3 tablespoons sugar. 
7. Increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. 
8. With a rubber spatula, stir one-third of whites into yolk batter to lighten. 
9. Add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. 
10. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. 
11. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours, during which you can complete the filling and the cream.
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. FOR THE STRAWBERRY FILLING: Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. 
13. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 
14. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). 
15. In workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). 
16. In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Frambois until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. 
17. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled. If you want to wait to whip the cream and decorate right before serving, you can pause here.

1. FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM: When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. 
2. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 3 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).

1. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: If using a large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. If only making a two layer cake, slice in half with knife. If using a leveler, set the leveler slightly below where the cake starts to crown at the lowest part of the cake if your oven is uneven to cut the first layer. Halve the remaining cake.
2. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate bottom side up and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. 
3. Pour one half of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. 
4. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge, reaching the tips of the strawberry ring. 
5. Place middle cake layer (or top layer if only doing two layers) on top and press down gently Whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge. 
6. Repeat with 20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream.
7. Gently press last cake layer upside down on top. If doing only two layers, go to step 28.
8. Spread remaining whipped cream over top.
9. Decorate with remaining cut strawberries. 
10. Serve, or chill for up to 4 hours.

Triple Layer Guiness Cake (Chocolate Stout Cake) with Bailey's Frosting and Whiskey Ganache

Every St. Patrick's Day, I break out a Guinness recipe. Mostly this is because I'm a dark chocolate person, and Guinness, much like coffee, makes good chocolate take on a darker, slightly more bitter and complex taste. Add to that a sense of satisfaction at boozy cakes, and car bomb cake is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. In the past I've made Car Bomb Cupcakes, but this year I went for the full-on cake, decorated to look like the top of an iconic pint glass. I also did not use Guinness this year, but opted instead for Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. The world of fantastic stouts is too great too always use Guinness, especially with the crazy St. Patrick's day mark up.

I have to admit that I had grand plans to take detailed photos of the stacking and icing of the cake, which I immediately forgot in the moment of icing. These pictures are from day three of this cake's life, after it had been hidden under foil overnight, and thus does not do the cake justice. This is a bummer. But trust me, the icing is not so hard as it seems, as you only need to rough ice this cake. You are making both the chocolate ganache and the Bailey's buttercream, but they use different methods. You don't have to cream the butter for the ganache, and the amounts come out perfectly to ice the center layers and sides in the chocolate ganache and use all of the buttercream for the top of the cake. 

This recipe makes three layers in 8" cake pans, or 2 layers in 9" cake pans. If you are like me and get very anxious about evenly weighing your cake pans/ do not have three cake pans so need to make them in waves, I have found that 2 lbs. for each layer should be about right (1 lbs 15 3/4 oz if you are using large instead of extra large eggs) for an 8" cake. Make sure, if you are making the 9" pan, that your cake pan is at least 2" deep. If you only want to use a single can of Guinness (weighing in a 14.9 oz), you can top off the cake with water or cold coffee (as a substitute for the espresso powder). Or you can enjoy the rest of that smooth 2nd Duck Rabbit milk stout during the cooking of the cake.

Chocolate Milk Stout Cake (Guinness Cake)

Ingredients

Stout Cake
2 cups stout or dark beer, such as Guinness
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups Dutch-process cocoa
4 cups All purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 extra large eggs
8 oz sour cream


Chocolate Whiskey Ganache
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 -4 tablespoons whiskey (to taste)
1 teaspoon espresso powder

Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting
 3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue 

1/4 cup Baileys - 1 airplane bottle's worth, plus more to taste

Additional milk or cream for blending if necessary.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. Cut three round parchment paper circles that fit neatly in the bottom of 3 8" cake pans or 2 9" cake pans.
3. Grease and flour three 8" or two 9" cake pans, and line them with the parchment paper circles.
4. For the cake: Place the stout, espresso powder and butter in a large, heavy saucepan, and heat until the butter melts.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the cocoa powder.
6. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
7. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
8. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the eggs, vanilla and sour cream on medium for about a minute.
9. Add the stout-cocoa mixture, mixing to combine.Use a batter guard if you have one.
10. Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time and mix together at slow speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again for 1 minute. 
11.  Divide the batter equally among the prepared pans. (See above for weighing hints.) Drop the pan a couple times against the top of the counter to even out batter and let any air bubbles escape prior to baking.
12. Bake the layers for 35-38 minutes for 8" pans, or 45 to 50 minutes for 9" pans, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. 
13. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of their pans and returning to the rack to finish cooling completely before frosting. If you are reusing a cake pan, wait an additional 10 minutes for the empty pan to cool before rinsing and re-greasing. 
14. For the whiskey ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl along with the espresso powder if using.
15. Bring the cream to a simmer in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, stirring frequently and watching to make sure not to scald the cream.
16. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is completely smooth and melted. The mixture will start out looking almost a little separated before chocolate melts and blends. 
17. Stir in the whiskey and vanilla. Refrigerate until the icing is spreadable, stirring occasionally, about an hour and a half. If you do not stir the edges will get overly stiff and have to be reincorporated during assembly.
18.  For the Bailey's Irish Buttercream: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
19. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread or thicker, drizzle in the Baileys (or cream if you are doing the non-alcoholic option) and whip it until combined and frosting is correct texture. 
20. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Adjust for taste and desired degree of alcohol.
21. To assemble: If all of your cakes are rather domed, trim one cake layer to have a flat top, if necessary.
22. Place the layer upside down on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread 1/3 of the chocolate whiskey icing over just the top of the layer, starting with a large mound of icing in the middle of the cake, and moving your spreader around in a circular motion to spread icing all the way to the edges of the layer. Don't worry if it spills over the edges of the cake a little, you'll get to fix that later.
23. Top with another cake layer, top side down, and repeat the process. If you baked three layers, add that one also.
24. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides of the cake. You can gently press the layers closer together if the stacking feels a little iffy, but be very careful to keep the cake straight. To clean up your mess on the edge of the serving plate, using a paper towel dipped in water to carefully remove any chocolate.
25. Top the top layer of the cake with a generous layer of the Bailey's buttercream frosting, making sure that the edge of the Bailey's covers the top of the edge of whiskey ganache. 
26. Store in fridge until ready to serve. Remember that the top layer of buttercream will not stiffen as much as the ganache will.
    

Swedish Visiting Cake (Swedish Almond Cake)

Almost every Northern European culture features some version of a traditional almond cake. This cake is so good, simple, and elegant that it needs no frosting other than a light dusting of sugar, and when served fresh is one of the best things you've ever tasted. It goes with everything and is just the right balance between a light and heavy dessert. This version is Swedish, and I particularly like it because it doesn't require almond flour or almond paste, two ingredients that I love but that can get pricey and more difficult to find.  The story behind Swedish visiting cake is that it is supposed to be simple enough to be started when you see someone coming at the end of the lane and out of the oven and ready to be served by the time tea is ready. This is only slightly far from true. You might want to zest the lemon before you see your guest. But otherwise, yeah, you could do this from start to finish, including all prep, in forty five minutes with ingredients you most likely have on hand.

Now, it needs to be stated that my family is Swedish, and it would be very tempting to pass this off as a long running family recipe that my Swedish grandparents made. But actually, it is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking cookbook, with slight alterations. When I first made it for my Swedish mother, she said, "we never made cake when people visited for tea. You'd bake cookies, and then have cookies stored in the freezer to bring out at a moment's notice for guests." And sometimes you would bring those cookies when you went to visit others. Well, this cake is also brought around when you visit others (carries nicely in a cast iron skillet). It  stores well for up to a week, and is just as delicious two days later as it is served warm. Basically, I think my Mormor in particular was more into cookies than cake and that is that. But the idea is the same, as is the importance of constantly having little desserts available for guests who come for tea, a problem the Swedes have put a good deal of time into solving.

One cake is best cut into 8 slices. It serves well with tea (obviously), but also light ice creams like vanilla and with red berries such as strawberries or raspberries. 

Swedish Visiting Cake

Ingredients

1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
About 1/4 cup sliced almonds


Instructions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Heavily butter a seasoned 9-inch cast-iron skillet or other heavy ovenproof skillet, a 9-inch cake pan or even a pie pan.
3. Pour the sugar into a medium bowl.  Add the lemon zest and blend and toss the zest and sugar together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic and lemony. Congrats, you've just made lemon sugar.
4. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until well blended.  This is your only levener for the cake, so don't rush it.
5. Whisk in the salt and the extracts.  
6. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in the flour.  
7. Finally, fold in the melted butter. 
8. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula, evenly spreading the batter to the sides.  
9. Scatter the sliced almonds over the top and sprinkle with a little sugar (it should take between 2-3 small spoonfuls).  If you're using a cake or pie pan, place the pan on a baking sheet.
10. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it is golden and the sugar crisps on the outside; the inside will remain moist, almost damp. If you are cooking multiple cakes, rotate once during baking, and remember to check both cakes for done-ness, as a cast iron skillet and a cake pan cook a little differently.  
11. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then run a thin knife around the sides of the cake to loosen it.  You can serve the cake warm or cooled, directly from the skillet or turned out onto a serving plate.