HCB: Whipped Cream Cake
Monday, February 22, 2010
I’m not a great fan of ice cream. I like it, if its there I will eat it, depending on the flavor that’s being offered, because you know I can be fickle with my choices as well. Plus, ice creams now a days are just so over-the-top sweet. What ever happen to mild balance flavor, creamy soft ice creams?
Oh yeah, that’s called GELATO.
And if there is a type of food I will fight you over is Gelato. When I lived in in the northern part of Italy. I found the most creamiest, soft gelato that existed. For them it’s all about using full fat creams and mild flavors when making any gelato. And the results is a little piece of heaven in a cup. And while I love most of the gelato flavors, my favorite was always the “Fior di Latte” (FYOR dee LAH-tay) - which is literally translated to “flower of milk”. The ingredient is cream, yummy cream, period. Whipped and then cooled into this wonderfully subtle ice cold, soft natural sweet cream flavor.
I adore it.
And you may wonder why I'm talking about Gelato when the title of this post is Cake. I know, I know, but my rambling has a point.
This week the HCB group gave us a free choice. We could choose any cake that has been baked before by the group or that you have past up. Having come into the baking group a bit late, I have missed quite a bit cakes on the list. So this was hard - so very, very hard… SIDE NOTE here: I move to remove the “Free Choices” in the future because it’s just too hard to choose.
After much deliveration, I narrow it down to two contenders the Chocolate Streussel Coffee Cake and the Whipped Cream Cake. I was so torn, that by Thursday, I convince myself, I will do both of them! Plenty of the other bakers have done it. I’m super-baker! Why the hell not? I can do this.
Umh, yeah, nope, did not happen. Because life happens that is why, and suddenly I was too busy to even think straight or care about baking. So, I contemplated passing this one by, until Tom gave me the guilt trip and asked what I was baking this week? And when I showed him where I was stuck on the choices, he told me "let me clarify it for you" and pointed to the Whipped Cream Cake.
Score for me. Because, it was the easiest one to do, and the one that I can share the actual recipe with everyone since Rose’s has it posted in her blog here.
The recipe calls for 40% high-butterfat heavy cream, I was able to find 38% in an Asian market (no joke), I figure that being off by 2 was good enough.
And the steps were pretty straight forward. I measure everything and put it in order to be used, then I started to whipped the cream in the Kitchen Aid and had one of these internal dialogues filled with doubts “will it double?, "I need to make sure to gradually increase it, careful, careful”, "does it look like the book said?". All that internal talking (and constant re-reading of the receipe) paid off because not only did it double up, but those stiff peaks were a sight to see.
Then in the eggs went. And my crispy white batter turned into a soft buttery cream color (my eggs are bought from the local Hispanic market, and I swear the yolks on these eggs are a bright yellow-orange color that its to die for, and the flavor, lets not even talk about that!). So I’m creaming and sure enough it turned into a homemade mayonnaise consistency that Rose said it would. The sugar went in next, and then I folded the dry ingredients, with a balloon whisk.
And I panic a bit at this point, because it seems to curdle on me for a bit and I was like “oh, oh...” so, I speed up the process of folding the rest of the dry and dumped the whole thing in the pan, making sure I smoothed the top well and into the oven it went. I may or may not have made the sign of the cross, to you know ask the power above to bless it and not deflate or something, I just did not have it in me for a do over.
The next 25 minutes waiting for the cake, where spent riveted to the TV watching some of the Olympic Games. Has anyone been caught up in the curling competition too? There is something oddly relaxing about seeing that stone glide across that smooth surface.
At the 25 minutes mark, the house started to smell delicious. I checked the cake, but it was not done yet. Another 10 minutes of that bake goodness and out it came.
And it was perfection in a pan. Light color, with a hit of a crack all around and soon it started to shrink from the side of the pan, like it was suppose to.
I let it cool off for 10 more minutes and then flipped it and at that moment that cake won the gold medal for the smoothes unmolding to date.
I took Rose’s advice and simply dusted it with some powdered sugar.
And remember the gelato story?
Well this cake, when done took me back to eating that creamy, soft gelato. When I took that first bite, I was transported to my days in Italy. Under an umbrella in the middle of a piazza, eating a scoop of “Fior di Latte” and watching those good-looking Italian men. It was light, not sweet. Just perfect! Like eating whipped cream from a spoon, this cake just melts in your mouth. It was amazing.
My grandmother was right. Sometimes LESS is MORE.
Tom’s verdict was less poetic. He took a bite, gobbled it up and then cut another piece, ran to the refrigerator and topped that slice with some of the leftover Orange Curd from the True Genoise cake.
Yes, people we are still eating that curd!
Reader Comments (15)
I picked this one too! It was a big hit at work today. Great photography!!! :)
I'm glad you liked it. That was definitely a good one. I baked mine in a rose shaped pan at the time. Isn't it interesting how tastes can bring up memories? The same thing happened to me. The first bite reminded me of my fav butter cake that I ate as a kid, and it was store bought even. In Europe most baked goods use real butter unlike here, but I'm not complaining cuz I can bake it myself. HA! Btw, lemon gelato was always my fav :)
Brilliant topping this cake with orange curd! Your cake looks lovely.
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Your cake looks wonderful. Great pictures!
I am looking for a good gelato recipe (chocolate is my fav) any recommendations?
OK, you've convinced me. I've got to try this one again--mine was dry and didn't unmold well from the pan. Your description is sending me back to the kitchen on this one.
Guys, as always, very humbled that you took the time to stop by and made such wonderful comments... I'm highly addictive to comments!
Vicki.. leave it Tom to think of those combinations, it had not crossed my mind at all, to tell you the truth I'm a bit over the orange curd.
Hanaa: I know what you mean, anything that I eat in Europe no matter how I duplicated it here does not taste the same. And I know its because of the ingredients. Over there, they are fresher, richer and just plain better... specially the pastries. God, don't get me stared with my love affair with Biñez (profiterole) filled with every cream imaginable!
Mendy: I won't lied, I have not venture in trying to make my own Gelato, I'm afraid that I will scared myself for life if it does not come out good, Maybe we should all buy a gelato book and do a gelato-along? But, I did see an episode of Barefoot Contessa in the Food Network about 2 weeks ago where she was making a chocolate gelato with Bacis (another favorite of mine), you may want to do a search for it there. It look fav.
Nancy: I'm thinking the trick is the heavy cream? Mine was 38% butterfat, so maybe that was the reason it came out so soft and not dry at all. In fact, today its even better, the powdered sugar as sort of been sucked by the cake and it as this sugar crust... oh, BRB, I'm going to get another piece.
WOW..certainly looks heavenly!! Your photos are awesome! I've not made Gelato before but i've made icecream and it is not difficult..and the result is awesome. Try David Lebovitz's recipes..his ice-cream never fails..i've tried a couple of his and they are all great!
I made this cake because it sounded too good to be true with so little ingredients!
However I had great problems getting the cake out of the cake pan (I have a non-stick pan which I had lightly sprayed with cooking oil prior to pouring in the cake batter). The cake tasted great despite it's rather SAD appearance!!
Please can you give me a pointer or two so that mine will turn out as beautiful as your's and Rose's!
Evelyn, I used the spray from Baker's Joy http://www.bakersjoy.com/about.html with flour... I think that is the trick, it has to have the "flour". And unlike all the other cakes that I have made so far where Rose tells you to unmold! unmold as soon as you take the cake out of the oven... in this case the cake had to sit for a bit before doing that... so who knows.
Please tell me where I may find this recipe, I need to make this cake! Thank you, Mary Beth
Mary Beth... I have posted the link in the post where you can find the recipe... but here is the link: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2010/01/whipped_cream_cake.html#more
I love your photos. As usual.
Gorgeous, gorgeous cake. I loved this one loads... and you are right, it does taste like Fior di Latte. My favourtie gelato flavour also! A shame it isn't more popular.
gorgeous cake and photos, as always. this cake was so darn good; i almost miss it!
i was so sad when i ate the last of my orange curd.
and i am a total curling addict!
You've convinced me now! I have to buy this book!!
Oh this cake looks lovely. I'm planning on making it this weekend, but I'm wondering if you think it lends itself well to having some raspberries folded into the batter? I plan on serving it with lemon curd as well. thanks so much!