Sunday, May 22, 2011

Happy Birthday Mum


I was so excited to be at home for my mum's birthday, since I missed four of them in the past years. So I decided to make her something super special. Lets be honest here, I am not a cake person (not the ones covered in fondant), but I love this kind - tiny and cute.


Also, I prefer more non-mousse style cakes. To me, there is nothing better than a good nut based biscuit with creamy vanilla mousseline with addition of another flavor. What is mousseline? It is a German buttercream which is made from one part butter to two parts pastry cream. 
The biscuit was a flourless walnut cake adapted from Beatrice at La Tartine Gourmande which is probably something I will be doing from now on. Even baked as it is, it's SO good, super moist, flavorful and there is no flour and just egg whites! (what a great way to use them, I always have so many leftover that in the freezer)




I spread a thin layer of my mum's bitter orange marmalade on each biscuit (there were four layers) and then a layer of mousseline. After the first coat, I let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours after which I gave another coat. At the very end I decorated my baby with some orange blossom flowers, bee pollen (please read this fantastic article on bee pollen HERE and check out Sarah's amazing work) and a few pieces of dill (I know, it sounds unappetizing, but it was just for a bit of color)


Here's the formula for the flourless walnut cake adapted from La Tartine Gourmande:

Ingredients

  • 280g walnuts (semi finely ground)
  • 4 egg whites + additional 2
  • 75g powdered sugar
  • 100g butter at room temp
  • 40g granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (very important!)
Method

  • Preheat the oven at 180C or 350F
  • Grind the walnuts in the food processor or any other nut grinder you have. I ground 2/3 fine and the rest a bit more coarse.
  • Add butter, 2 egg whites, powdered sugar and salt. Using a spatula make a paste. Set aside.
  • In the meantime whip the egg whites and add the granulates sugar. 
  • Fold into the walnut paste and bake in buttered and floured pan, ramekins or on parchment paper in any form you wish. 
  • Baking time depends of the thickness of the batter, but it's usually about 20-30 mins.
  • Let cool, unmold.

Mousseline cream

  • 540g milk
  • 1 vanilla bean 
  • 160g yolks
  • 120g granulated sugar
  • 60g cornstarch
  • 250g butter at room temp (I reduced the amount of butter)
Method

  • Split the bean, scrape out the seeds and put everything together in a heavy bottomed pan with half the sugar. Bring to a boil (don't go anywhere during this time, you know what happens when you leave the kitchen - caramelized milk, we don't want that here)
  • Mix the yolks with rest of the sugar and cornstarch, you can also add a bit of milk so it's easier to combine. 
  • Once the milk comes to a boil, temper the yolks, put back on the heat and with constant whisking on medium heat boil until it thickens.
  • Pour the cream into another bowl, add a few tablespoons of bitter orange marmalade (optional) and buzz with immersion blender. You can also pass it through a sieve if you want it super smooth. Cover with plastic wrap. Let cool.
  • Once cooled, put in the the mixer and add butter gradually using a whisk attachment. Mix until smooth.  
  • Now you're ready to ice the cake! I will not say anything else, but have fun and use your imagination!
Happy Baking!



6 comments:

  1. Prekrasna ti je torta! Jako mi se sviđaju okusi koje si koristila. Ova ideja za ukrašavanje peludom mi je super, imamo svoje pčelarstvo i pelud upravo u tim okruglicama ali nikad mi nije palo na pamet ukrasiti kolač time, odlična ideja!

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  2. Happy Belated Birthday wishes to your mom! :-)

    (Mine was yesterday, I had a rhubarb strudel at D and later lunch with my family at Cafe' Central.)

    I am so glad you have a new blog host, much easier to comment here!
    Much love,
    M.

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  3. Savrsena torta za mamu :-)
    Nikad nisam cula za tu njemacku kremu.

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  4. Predivno Tea!! Sretan rođendan mami :) Sigurno je i njoj koliko i tebi bilo pravo zadovoljstvo napokon te vidit kod kuće na ovu prigodu :)

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  5. prekrasna tortica za mamu!!!

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  6. torta je preprekrasna kao i fotografije. danas sam tek shvatila da ti dugo nisam bila na ovom blogu i da ipak cesce pises nego na starom :).
    tako da se bacam na citanje zaostataka. vec sam uzivala u zagrebackom postu i strukle u hotelu palace su mi najbolje koje sam ikada jela...ako ih radi i dalje isti kuhar :)

    pozdrav iz beca,
    Mare

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