Cakes

i gave up on the whole day by day thing. this is a whole unit at once. it is a little out of order, but you wouldn't know that if i hadn't told you.


Genoise

genoise is a very classic cake that is only leavened by the air whipped into the eggs. we whisked these eggs by hand, and i was pretty sure that my arm was going to fall off. we never have to do it by hand again.

it is 3 layers of the cake, soaked with simple syrup, filled with raspberry jam, and frosted with buttercream.

Angel Food Cake

good angel food cake is just one of the pleasures of life.

look how tall it is.

Dacquoise

dacquoises are meringues with nut flour folded in. this one has five layers of dacquoise with almond flour and is iced with a coffee buttercream. so it is crunchy layers between soft buttercream.


it was ok, but that is A LOT of buttercream.



Lemon Cakes

these are like pound cake with some pieces of lemon in them. they have a little powdered sugar, lemony glaze.


these are good for breakfast if you are too tired from, say, beating eggs for a genoise until you lose an arm to go to the grocery store for yogurt.



Left to Right: White and Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake, Cassis Miroir, Charlotte Royale
(sorry for the combined picture, but doesn't it look fancy like a bakery all together?)

the chocolate mousse cake is the one with the brown flowers on the outside. that is a piece of thin cake around the outside. i piped the chocolate dough onto a silpat, froze it, then spread the white cake dough over it and baked it. then when it cooled, the picture peeled off with the cake. inside is white and dark chocolate mousse, and there is whipped cream and chocolate curls on top.


the purple one is a cassis (black currant) miroir. the striped part is a jaoth black currant mousse and topped with a black currant glaze. it is very refreshing. the white stars were piped with white chocolate.

the swirly one (some people say it looks like a brain, but it doesn't look like my brain) is a charlotte royale. the swirls are joconde cake rolled with apricot jam. slices of the swirl were used to line a dome mold. there is a slice of genoise on the bottom. inside is a hazelnut mousse.


Carrot Cake

we had one american day. you can see chocolate cupcakes we made in the background, too.


this is a nice recipe-- very moist and carroty. it has cream cheese icing, of course. and i made those tiny marzipan carrots on top.

i took the carrot cake and the three cakes above to megan's work.


Sacher Tort

this cake is named for the hotel in austria that makes it (and has a copyright or something for it). it is a chocolate cake, with apricot nappage then it is glazed with chocolate.

and it always says sacher.


Marjolaine

this cake is out of control.


it is made using the same meringues (rectangles instead of circles) as the dacquoise above. from bottom to top: chocolate genoise, chocolate ganache, meringue, creme d'or, meringue, praline buttercream, meringue, whipped cream, meringue. that whole business is covered with praline buttercream THEN it is glazed with a chocolate mixture (because i'm not sure there was quite enough going on). i used a metal spatula to make that diamond pattern, and decorated it with some hazelnuts.


Charlotte Russe

this one has lady fingers around the outside and a lady finger disk on the bottom. i love lady fingers, and i ate a lot of the ones i had left over.

it is full of pear bavarian with whipped cream and chocolate curls on top. this thing is weirdly delicious. it is just light and fantastic.


Dobos Cake

this one is five thin layers of dobos cake (like the layer sliced on the top, minus the caramel) with chocolate butter cream. then the final layer has the caramel.

the cake layers are flat, but they are made with some sour cream and are light and fluffy and flexible. this cake is good like cake and chocolate butter cream should be.


Chocolate Ganache Cake

this one is chocolate genoise, filled with ganache, covered in ganache, and glazed with chocolate. it is decorated with white chocolate and candied rose petals. fancy.

maybe this picture of the inside is blurry because i was shaking from too much chocolate. maybe.

is there anything not to like?


Flourless Chocolate Cake

ok, i know-- this "cake" looks like a pile of sticks, but inside is a (6 inch) flourless chocolate cake. the cake is made with almond flour and is very moist but not too dense. i think it is delicious.

the cake is covered in creme d'or, and then it is covered with chocolate meringue logs. these logs were in long strips, and they were broken to make them look like this. my chef said that the logs taste like count chocula, and they kind of do. my other chef said that this cake reminds him of the flintstones.


this cake is so weird, i took a picture of the top, too.




so, if i put all of these in a bakery case, would you buy a cake?