Last weekend was spent in Blekinge region (South of Sweden) as we were visiting my parents-in-law. Patrik and I have arranged some of the wedding and christening issues like looked at the party location, talked to the priest, booked a photographer and test baked a wedding cake.
Pretty unusual to bake a wedding cake for own wedding without any experience in baking wedding cakes. But that is so typical me. The disease is called ''I can it myself'' :)
I found the recipe in Therese Wikström's recipe book Tillfällen att njuta en liten smula (Occasion to eat a little crumb).
Photo: Prisma
The picture of the cake was bright and gave a feeling of ease, so I fall to bake it.
However, the recipe was not so easy to understand. I missed some explanations and actually got a bit disappointed with the book. Therese Wikström is a well-known Swedish pastry chef, so I expected better descriptions. On the other hand, the recipe is graded as 5, that is the most difficult level of baking - a masterpiece which needs experience.
I gave it a try anyway.
The recipe includes arctic raspberries. I had no idea, where to buy them, so I have changed them with usual raspberries. Furthermore, I made some other adoptions to make it more simple and down to earth for the baking in a usual household. The recipe was for 75 slices, so I had to decrease all the ingredients to make 15 slices. That is more than enough for a test baking. However, it was not so easy to decrease some of the ingredients. That could have been the reason for not a perfect wedding cake as a result.
Wedding cake (15 slices)
Brown bottom
100 g butter
2 big eggs
300 ml sugar
150 ml flour
50 ml cacao
half of orange peel from a big orange
The original recipe included pepper rosé as well, but I skipped them.
Melt butter and add all other ingredients. Stir as little as possible. Pour into buttered form and bake in 175 C for 12 min.
Here I missed the information how big the form should be. Besides, as I decreased the recipe by 5 times, so I totally had no idea how big the baking form should be and took a regular size cake tin. After 12 min the brown bottom was still very muddy, so I baked for 10 min more.
In the end I was not satisfied with it anyway, therefore I will try to bake it several times more.
Elder panacotta
2,5 gelatine sheets
300 cream
0,4 of vanilla stick
1/5 of orange peel from a big orange
200 ml concentrated elder juice
Moisten gelatine sheets in cold water according to the instructions on the package. Boil up cream with vanilla stick and orange peel. Let it stand for 15 min and extract the spices, then filter the cream, mix it with gelatine sheets and elder juice. Pour into a form equal in size to the one you've baked brown bottom and freeze it.
I succeeded with panacotta pretty well. Just found it a bit difficult to release it from the form later on.
The original recipe includes wild strawberry jam cooking description, but I decided to use a home made raspberry jam. That was a mistake. My mother's-in-law jam was natural and probably even without any gelatine. According to the recipe quite many gelatine sheets have to be used to get a firm cake layer of a jam. I will try to cook the jam according to the recipe separately. Just I will use raspberries anyway, as it is not a season for wild strawberries.
(Arctic) raspberry mousse
1,6 gelatine sheet
90 g raspberries
90 g sugar
4 g lemon juice
60 g egg whites
20 g sugar
160 ml cream
10 g lemon juice
This part of the recipe had a very confusing description and did not match in full with the list of ingredients. Some fantasy and own experiences were needed. The mouse became not so firm as it should be and I do not know where the mistake was. Probably the egg whites.
Moisten gelatine sheets in cold water according to the instructions on the package. Blend raspberries, 90 g sugar and 4 g lemon juice together till sugar melts. I used frozen raspberries. Beat egg whites with sugar over boiling water until 60 C and then beat them cold, says the recipe. I beaten the egg whites for a few minutes over the boiling water and had no thermometer to measure if they reached 60 C or not. Then I beaten them for a few minutes till on the table. Maybe I should have beaten them over icy water?
Slightly beat the cream. Melt the moistened gelatine sheets over boiling water. Mix everything to a light and airy mousse. I suppose everything included 10 g of lemon juice as well as it is not mentioned anywhere else in the description.
Sparkling wine jelly
1,6 gelatine sheet
280 ml rose sparkling wine
100 ml sugar
1 drop of red cooking colour
Moisten gelatine sheets in cold water according to the instructions on the package.
Boil sparkling wine till it reduces to 200 ml. Add sugar and let it melt before gelatine and colour shall be added.
This layer should be prepared when other 4 layers are ready and put together.
Meringues
80 g egg whites
160 g sugar
The day was ending, so I decided to skip this decorative part of the cake and use the ready ones bought in the store. The shape was not as in the recipe, but suited.
Shall have to train baking meringues some other day.
When brown bottom cools down, put panacotta on it, top it with the jam and pour over the mouse. When the mouse is firm, pour the jelly. Meringues should be put around the cake and tied with a nice ribbon.
My layers got very thin. I suppose I had to make 25 slices cake in a regular size cake tin.
100 g butter
2 big eggs
300 ml sugar
150 ml flour
50 ml cacao
half of orange peel from a big orange
Melt butter and add all other ingredients. Stir as little as possible. Pour into buttered form and bake in 175 C for 12 min.
Here I missed the information how big the form should be. Besides, as I decreased the recipe by 5 times, so I totally had no idea how big the baking form should be and took a regular size cake tin. After 12 min the brown bottom was still very muddy, so I baked for 10 min more.
In the end I was not satisfied with it anyway, therefore I will try to bake it several times more.
Elder panacotta
2,5 gelatine sheets
300 cream
0,4 of vanilla stick
1/5 of orange peel from a big orange
200 ml concentrated elder juice
I succeeded with panacotta pretty well. Just found it a bit difficult to release it from the form later on.
The original recipe includes wild strawberry jam cooking description, but I decided to use a home made raspberry jam. That was a mistake. My mother's-in-law jam was natural and probably even without any gelatine. According to the recipe quite many gelatine sheets have to be used to get a firm cake layer of a jam. I will try to cook the jam according to the recipe separately. Just I will use raspberries anyway, as it is not a season for wild strawberries.
(Arctic) raspberry mousse
1,6 gelatine sheet
90 g raspberries
90 g sugar
4 g lemon juice
60 g egg whites
20 g sugar
160 ml cream
10 g lemon juice
This part of the recipe had a very confusing description and did not match in full with the list of ingredients. Some fantasy and own experiences were needed. The mouse became not so firm as it should be and I do not know where the mistake was. Probably the egg whites.
Moisten gelatine sheets in cold water according to the instructions on the package. Blend raspberries, 90 g sugar and 4 g lemon juice together till sugar melts. I used frozen raspberries. Beat egg whites with sugar over boiling water until 60 C and then beat them cold, says the recipe. I beaten the egg whites for a few minutes over the boiling water and had no thermometer to measure if they reached 60 C or not. Then I beaten them for a few minutes till on the table. Maybe I should have beaten them over icy water?
Slightly beat the cream. Melt the moistened gelatine sheets over boiling water. Mix everything to a light and airy mousse. I suppose everything included 10 g of lemon juice as well as it is not mentioned anywhere else in the description.
Sparkling wine jelly
1,6 gelatine sheet
280 ml rose sparkling wine
100 ml sugar
1 drop of red cooking colour
Moisten gelatine sheets in cold water according to the instructions on the package.
Boil sparkling wine till it reduces to 200 ml. Add sugar and let it melt before gelatine and colour shall be added.
This layer should be prepared when other 4 layers are ready and put together.
Meringues
80 g egg whites
160 g sugar
The day was ending, so I decided to skip this decorative part of the cake and use the ready ones bought in the store. The shape was not as in the recipe, but suited.
Shall have to train baking meringues some other day.
When brown bottom cools down, put panacotta on it, top it with the jam and pour over the mouse. When the mouse is firm, pour the jelly. Meringues should be put around the cake and tied with a nice ribbon.
Test baking a cake is a great idea... especially for unique wedding cakes that have never been done before. It will give you insight and you will be able to make adjustments as you see fit.
ReplyDeleteTJ