Please help with a special cake for a crowd

[skipper10]

I do more cooking than baking, but almost each member of our huge family has their favorite cake that they ask me to make for special occasions.

Since she was a little girl my niece always loved Jacques Pepin's "Orange Vacherin Jeannette with Orange Cream Filling." It is basically a meringue cake with whipped cream filling and, now that she is older, with a bit more of Grand Marnier. For us the cake is fabulous, it tastes great, looks festive and because it is frozen it does not require last minute attention. In other words, I can have wine with our guests without worrying that in twenty minutes I have to flambe or torch or invert, etc. I would not take this cake to serve at a friend's house, especially in the summer, but it is so perfect to serve at home.

My baby niece graduated from college in May and was accepted to a medical school of her choice. Of course, we had a party and I made "her" cake for 80+ people. I "baked" 8 meringue layers in three-quarter-sheet pans. Two days before the party I made two 4-layer cakes, decorated and froze them.

I bought a thick 24x48 inch board at the Home Depot, covered it with several layers of butcher paper. An hour before serving I placed the cakes on the board short sides together, so it looked like one long cake, a little touch-up with freshly whipped cream and two young men carried the cake into the room to the sound of improvised drum beat. It was so much fun. ( If I figure out how, I will post the picture.)

Her friends are still talking about it, well, not just her friends.

...And here is my current problem, or more accurately, challenge: come Labor Day weekend, my favorite aunt and uncle are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. She hopes for a "special" cake. They expect around 250 relatives, neighbors and friends. The cake has to look, but most importantly taste very good. The weather could be hot and humid and although they have a huge house, with so many people the space will be tight.

I would prefer that the cake could be served frozen as my niece's cake or gently defrosted without the use of refrigerator. (Am I unreasonable?) My aunt has a brand new empty freezer at this stage dedicated to "her" cake, but there will be no fridge space that day.

I figured out that if I use my Restaurant Depot board, and place three slightly trimmed three-quarter-sheet cakes long sides together I will have enough cake for all. Please, tell me - am I wrong?

Since ice-cream cake is inappropriate for this occasion, what can I make? I am afraid to make meringue in August because of humidity and because of all the egg yolks already in my freezer. java script:emoticon(':wacko:')

smilie

The cake does not have to look as if Martha Stewart's staff made it, but it should look good, although taste is more important: I want it to taste as if Rose Levy Beranbaum, Jacques Torres and Roland Mesnier were consulted. What to make? Where to look? I am going out of my mind.

Any ideas and advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

PS: For those familiar with JP's "Orange Vacherin Jeannette with Orange Cream Filling" I must confess that years ago after a few tries I gave up on his instructions of adding granulated sugar very quickly and beating only a few seconds because I could never get the meringue to come out as good as my regular meringue.

[sugarseattle]

here's a few random ideas...

have you thought about an "unfrosted" cake such as a bunch of pound cakes perhaps with a bowl of whipped cream on the side and some fresh fruit (i bet you can get some pretty awesome peaches in the south!) you could even flavor the cake with grand marnier and orange zest.

you can usually purchase "just whites" in the supermarket by the milk and avoid the surplus of yolks.

the best way to make meringue consistently is to put the whites and sugar over a bain marie until the sugar melts and then beat the whites. if this is your way, you're golden.

[skipper10]

the best way to make meringue consistently is to put the whites and sugar over a bain marie until the sugar melts and then beat the whites. if this is your way, you're golden.

I've never heard of the bain marie method for meringue. I am going to try it tomorrow. Thank you for sharing. What exactly do you mean by "over" a bain marie? I usually immerse the bottom inch or two of the bowl or a pot in hot water in bain marie.

I am afraid that unfrosted cake won't fly. She never had a wedding cake 60 years ago, she says she does not want a wedding cake now, she just wants a cake as special as my niece's was.

[JeanneCake]

The method SugarSeattle is describing is for a Swiss Meringue (versus Italian Meringue and French Meringue). In a swiss meringue, you heat the whites and sugar (usually to about 160) and then beat until it increases in volume, usually about triple. With italian meringue, the whites are beaten (sometimes with sugar) and then a hot sugar syrup is added to the beaten whites. With french meringue, you beat the whites, sometimes with a little acid (lemon juice or cream of tartar) to help protect them from overbeating, (to me, this also gives them a little more stretch but I could be imagining that) and you add sugar (sometimes a combination of granulated and confectioner's, sometimes just one or the other) and beat til the whites are glossy.

So, the short answer is yes, you put some water in a pan, bring it to a simmer and then put the bowl with the whites and sugar over it. The water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl, and it shouldn't boil (at least not furiously!). An active simmer is ok

What about just making your niece's cake again, but vary the flavoring. What about a strawberry version? You could still use the Grand Marnier with it (Strawberry Grand Marnier is a hugely popular combination in my neck of the woods), maybe some fresh berries for garnish? I thought your original idea was pretty terrific....

If you are still thinking along the lines of meringue because your family so loves that Vacherin cake, what about a marjolaine? It's similar - meringue layered with buttercream and ganache. I have a cinnamon coffee version on my dessert menu - chocolate cake, layer of coffee buttercream, then an almond dacquoise and a layer of chocolate ganache with a little bit of cinnamon. Then the whole thing is glazed with ganache, decorated with coffee bean candies and either sugared almonds or chocolate curls on the sides.....

[Lisa Shock]

Along the lines of using cakes that do not need icing, how about a display of cakes made with those fancy bundt molds that look like castles and cathedrals and such? You could make an impressive display of cakes made as pound cake in various flavors: vanilla, chocolate chip, orange, raspberry, lemon, coffee. My personal favorite unfrosted cake is RLB's Chocolate Domingo cake from the Cake Bible.

You can make the cakes in advance at your leisure, freeze them, and then just take to the event. From your description, they will be thawed out in an hour or so.

To increase the available space, look for cake stands with bases small enough to fit within the hole in a cake, and have cake around the base as well as on cakes stands. Fresh flowers and lemon leaves could help with the decor.

Pitchers of sauces could be served alongside: anglaise, raspberry coulis, caramel, etc. The sauces need to stay cool, but can be served in pint pitchers that you display in bowls of ice.

[greenbean]

So, the short answer is yes, you put some water in a pan, bring it to a simmer and then put the bowl with the whites and sugar over it.  The water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl, and it shouldn't boil (at least not furiously!). 

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I was actually taught the opposite, that bain marie bowls should touch the water, for better control. Since steam must be 212F, the temp hitting the bowl will always be at least that high. On the other hand, if you put the bowl in the water, you can use a lower flame. I have always immersed my bowls for chocolate, meringues, pate a bombes, etc. with no problem. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for this idea, my pastry instructor, a CMPC, told us.

[LindaK]

This suggestion may or may not suit your occasion, but here it is:

the best "frozen" cake I've ever served to a crowd (40+) was a "jellyroll" style chocolate cake filled with vanilla ice cream (with fresh raspberries sprinkled on top before rolling) and served with raspberry sauce and whipped cream.

I baked, filled, and rolled five of the cakes and the sauce in advance, and took them out of the freezer about 1/2 hour before serving. just prior to presentation, whipped lots of cream and had the sauce and a bowl of fresh berries ready. Decorated one of the rolls on a platter and used it for the birthday song w/ candles. Back in the kitchen, the others were sliced, plated with the sauce, a dollop of cream and berry garnish, and served to guests. Absolutely delicious, very pretty, and simple to execute, and everyone licked their plates clean.

FYI, I used the cocoa souffle roll recipe from Birnabaum's Cake Bible with good store bought vanilla ice cream. Each half-sheet cake served 8-10, so you'd have to make quite a few cakes to serve 250 guests. But they can easily be baked, filled, and trimmed in advance. It wouldn't be one big cake, but if you brought out a parade of them, I think it would have a nice "wow" factor.

good luck!