food hits and misses

We're a bit sick of cake, quite frankly. It's birthday season, plus I'm starting another course, and the thought of eating more than a single slice of any cake I make is quite uninviting. Lucky for me, there are a few ways to get rid of unwanted cake, and most of them are pretty appealing.

We've had trifle twice. Interestingly I hated trifle when I was little, but have found making it with a vanilla bean custard makes it something else altogether. Still, a person doesn't want trifle every week any more than they want cake every second day. So today, I looked to the Italians for inspiration and have turned a vanilla genoise sponge into a tiramisu style dessert. Any plain cake would do the job - just make sure it's a flavour that blends well with coffee.

Too much cake tiramisu

Sponge layer

8 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 cups SR flour
2 tbspn custard powder
2 tbspn butter, melted

Filling

2 cups cream cheese
2 cups cream
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup marsala
1 cup espresso

Method

For the sponge Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius and grease and flour a large rectangular baking pan. Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and doubled in volume. Check the sugar has dissolved by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingers. If it feels grainy, continue beating until all dissolved. Sift together the flour and custard powder. Fold into the egg mixture. Finally add the melted butter, folding to minimise loss of volume. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until the edges have shrunk from the sides and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool before turning out, then set aside for a day to allow the cake to dry out a little.

For the filling Whip the cream and cream cheese together until peaks form. Meanwhile, whip the egg whites and sugar together until frothy. Place over a saucepan of simmering water, and continue beating while gradually adding around half the marsala. Continue beating until the sugar has dissolved and the zabaglione mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon. Add a little bit at a time to the cream mixture, beating until fluffy, and still thick enough to leave a trail when removing the beaters. Any remaining zabaglione can be used as a dessert sauce. Mix the remaining marsala with the espresso, using more or less wine to taste.

To assemble Slice the cake into at least two layers. Place a layer in a large baking or serving dish. Brush with coffee mix, allowing the cake to soak up a good amount. Top with around a third of the cream mix. Add the remaining cake layer, brushed with coffee. Top with the rest of the cream mix and refrigerate. Serve sprinkled with cocoa or finely grated chocolate.

My first attempt at sponge cake was pretty good but in need of some tweaking. The coffee flavour really didn't come through and I could taste the egg, despite assurances from everyone else that it was perfectly fine. This time I tweaked the recipe a bit to include some of the other ingredients I've seen online. The result was much better, a bit sweeter without being cloying, and still with the light texture you want from a sponge cake.



As it was a birthday cake, I decorated it with butter cream frosting and sprinkles on the side, butter cream frosting between the layers, and fondant icing on top. I think it would be much nicer with fresh whipped cream and strawberries, or perhaps a passionfruit glaze and whipped cream. I'll be making the basic recipe again and trying it out with loads of variations as it's really pretty easy when you've got a good mixer.

Vanilla sponge

4 eggs, separated
pinch of salt
3/4 cup of castor sugar
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 cup wheaten cornflour
1 tspn cream of tartar
1 tbspn custard powder
1/2 tspn bicarb soda

Method

Preheat the oven to 175 Celsius. Grease and flour two 20 cm sandwich pans. Beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the sugar has dissolved and the whites are stiff. Fold in the yolks and vanilla, being careful not to lose volume from the whites. Sift the remaining dry ingredients at least three times. Gently fold through the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans and bake 20 - 25 minutes until sides have shrunk from the edges of the pans.

I've been asked to make a sponge for a birthday - something I've never done before but have been meaning to do for a while now. I started off wondering just how hard it could be; I've had cake fails in the past, but mostly when I've been inventing a recipe. Then I read this article and started to think perhaps it wouldn't be as easy as I had thought. This group certainly has some strong opinions on just how a sponge should look and taste.



Anyway, I got up early this morning and gave it a shot. I'm happy to say I got two beautifully risen sponges that tasted pretty good for a first effort.

Here's the recipe I followed:

Coffee Sponge

4 eggs, separated
pinch of salt
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 tspn coffee essence
1 cup wheaten corn flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tspn bicarb soda

Method

Preheat the oven to 175 Celsius. Grease and flour two 20 cm sandwich pans. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar and bicarb three times, incorporating as much air as possible. Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the egg yolks and coffee essence. Fold the flour in to the egg mix, being careful not to lose any air from the eggs. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the cake has come away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pans before inverting. Sandwich with whipped cream and ice.