Mission's Ultra Fancy Valentine's Day Champagne Cake
A day late and a dollar short, because I was still messing around with the recipe yesterday. Please note that there are still some measurements that I’m a little shaky on, as I only just finalised this recipe, so you may need to play with the champagne and the flour.
Cake:
- 4-5 large strawberries, or an equivalent amount of raspberries or rhubarb
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup neutral oil such as canola or sunflower oil
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 ½ TBS honey, plus another spoonful
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- dash cream of tartar
- ¼ cup sour cream or plain unsweetened yoghurt, scant
- 1 ¼ cup champagne* plus another ½ cup
- 3 ½ cups flour
- ½ TBS white vinegar
- opt: cardamom, ground coriander seeds
Preheat oven to 350F. In mixer, begin beating egg whites. Add cream of tartar when reach soft peaks; keep beating to stiff peaks.
Using a blender or food processor, chop up strawberries with a spoonful of honey.
In a separate bowl, cream together butter, oil, and sugar. Beat in egg yolks, 1 ½ TBS honey, and almond extract, followed by salt and pepper. Mix in sour cream. Sift together remaining dry ingredients and add in thirds, alternating with 1 ¼ cup champagne. Add vinegar last before folding in egg whites.
Divide batter between two 9 inch round pans, oiled and well floured or lined with parchment paper. Gently swirl in strawberry mixture. Bake for 30-40min or until inserted toothpick comes out cleanly. If desired, sprinkle cardamom and coriander over top of the cakes after 5 minutes of baking.
Immediately after removing from the oven, use the toothpick to make 10-15 small randomly placed holes in the top of the cake and pour ¼ cup champagne over each. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.
Filling:
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ½ ounce white chocolate
- 3-4 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup butter or margarine
- ½ TBS champagne
- powdered sugar
- 1 strawberry (or equivalent amount raspberries or rhubarb), chopped into thin slices
Begin whipping cream with spices. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in microwave. Beat with cream cheese and butter. Beat in powdered sugar until is the consistency of a slightly runny frosting. When whipped cream reaches soft peaks, add champagne; continue beating until has just reached stiff peaks. Fold frosting mixture into cream.
Spread mixture on top of first cake layer. Sprinkle fruit evenly over top and gently set next cake layer on top. Place in cool area for at least 15 minutes prior to frosting.
Frosting:
For my frosting I just did a pretty standard American buttercream with a touch of rose water and some pink food dye, but I think anything lightly floral would work well with the cream-and-fruit-and-wine combo that’s going on here. I drizzled just the tiniest touch of melted white chocolate in a sort of random pattern on top, but I think topping with fruit would’ve been a better touch.
Notes:
This is a very pretty, very delicate, cake. If you wanted to slice each layer in half to make it a four layer cake, I think that would work very well, but it’s pretty fantastic just as two.
I made this with strawberries, but honestly I think something with a little more tartness to it would really take it to the next level. Rhubarb would be outstanding, I think, and raspberries sort of split the distance between them. On the other hand, strawberries and wine are such a classic combination that it’s really hard to go wrong with it. I guess it all depends on what sort of flavor profile you’re going for?
*While this is by no means a cake-on-a-budget, there’s no need to break the bank on your baking wine. I used a combination of Cremant I brought back from Alsace and some dirt cheap chenin blanc, but really any semi-dry (preferably sparkling) white wine should work. Stay away from moscatos and rieslings; while this is a pretty forgiving recipe, it’s plenty sweet already without using a sweet wine. Otherwise, though, just get a wine that’s cheap, not too sweet, and that you’ll drink the rest of once you’re done baking.
If you make it, please let me know! I’d love to hear back from you on this one, especially about the aforementioned shaky measurements.
Cross posted from tumblr!