My take on the Diplomat Cake

[vogelap]

THE DIPLOMAT CAKE

The Diplomat Cake is a tempting concoction made up of three layers of puff pastry and two layers of sponge cake soaked in rum then layered with a rum buttercream icing.

EDIT: My friend brought me back a slice of this delicious cake from his trip to Canada. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to create my own version of it, which I have done, below. This is a very sweet cake so cut the slices small! Because of the puff pastry layers, use a sawing motion when cutting the slices.

I am posting this recipe for your review & comment.

PROCEDURE:

1. Prepare 3 rounds of docked puff pastry.

2. Make standard genoise.

3. Make rum simple syrup.

4. Make rum buttercream.

5. Cut 2 layers out of genoise.

6. Assemble cake.

PUFF PASTRY:

1 pk. Puff Pastry dough, thawed if frozen (Pepperidge Farm is fine)

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the thawed puff pastry dough to a thin sheet (no more than 1/8 inch thick).

3. Cut three 9-inch rounds out of the puff pastry.

4. Dock the puff pastry rounds with a fork to prevent blistering.

5. Place the puff pastry on a baking sheet.

6. Put the puff pastry into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Chilling it helps to prevent shrinkage during baking.

7. Bake at 400 until brown and crisp, about 10-12 minutes.

8. Cool completely on a wire rack.

GENOISE:

1 lb. 2 oz. Eggs

12 oz. Sugar

0.25 oz. Vanilla Extract

12 oz. Cake Flour

4 oz. (optional) Unsalted Butter, melted

NOTE: This makes two 9-inch cakes. Freeze one cake for another use.

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Grease the bottom (but not the sides) of a 9-inch round baking pan.

3. Combine the eggs and sugar and warm to about 110 degrees by stirring over a hot water bath. A warmed foam gains greater volume.

4. With the whip attachment of a mixer, beat the warmed eggs at high speed until they are very light and thick. This may take as long as 10 to 15 minutes if the quantity is large.

5. Fold in the sifted flour in three or four stages, being careful not to deflate the foam. Many bakers do this by hand, even for large batches. Fold gently until all the flour is blended in.

6. Immediately pan and bake the batter. Delays will cause loss of volume. Bake until done, about 20 minutes. Do not open the oven or disturb the cakes until they have finished rising and are partially browned.

7. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. While the cake is still slightly warm, turn out onto rack to cool completely.

RUM SIMPLE SYRUP:

1 cup rum (light or dark)

1 cup granulated sugar

NOTE: You will not use all of this mixture in the preparation of the Diplomat Cake. This makes enough for two complete Diplomat Cakes, at least.

1. Combine rum and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

RUM BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

1 lb. Unsalted Butter, softened

1/2 lb. Emulsified Shortening (Crisco)

(or 2 parts butter to 1 part high-ratio shortening)

2 lb. Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

2 oz. Egg whites

2 TB. Rum (light or dark) (more to taste)

1 oz. (optional) Water

1. Using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar until well blended and soft.

2. Add the egg whites, lemon juice, and rum. Blend at medium speed until well blended.

3. Mix at high speed until light and fluffy.

4. For a softer buttercream, blend in the water (optional).

ASSEMBLY ORDER:

Top to bottom:

Rum Buttercream -- decorative icing

Puff Pastry

Rum Buttercream

Genoise

Rum Buttercream

Puff Pastry

Rum Buttercream

Genoise

Rum Buttercream

Puff Pastry

ASSEMBLY:

1. Add bottom round of prepared puff pastry.

2. Frost with thin layer of rum buttercream.

3. Add bottom layer of genoise.

4. Brush rum simple syrup over genoise to moisten.

5. Add thin layer of orange marmalade, if using.

6. Frost with thin layer of rum buttercream.

7. Add middle round of prepared puff pastry.

8. Frost with thin layer of rum buttercream.

9. Add middle layer of genoise.

10. Brush rum simple syrup over genoise to moisten.

11. Frost with thin layer of rum buttercream.

12. Add top round of prepared puff pastry.

13. Frost entire cake with rum buttercream.

14. Decorate and serve.

Edited July 19, 2004 by vogelap (log)

[vogelap]

Dang. All these people on here. All these views.

And not one single comment?

[Ladybug]

How about a picture? Suppose you were a teetotaler - what would you sub for the rum? Seems to me it's a vital ingredient.

[vogelap]

Oh gosh... I'm not sure what to sub for rum... Is there a non-alcoholic rum flavoring that's decent?

Next time I make it, I'll snap a picture! Thanks for the suggestion.

[Stone]

Do you find that this preparation, while outwardly complete on the surface, often fails to fulfill the necessary requirements of most situations in which it's truly needed? That underneat the decorative icing, the soft sponge just isn't up to the job?

[jgarner53]

Suppose you were a teetotaler - what would you sub for the rum?

It would change the nature of the cake completely, but I should think that you could go for a fruit flavor (apricot, orange, raspberry, lemon, or even almond, or a combination thereof). It wouldn't be a Diplomat cake any longer, but it would probably still be quite tasty!

[CanadianBakin']

I'm bumping this as there has been some conversation about this cake on one of the Canadian forums and I wanted to see if anyone has tried it and what they thought. vogelap has since updated the recipe a bit on his own site www.overtherhine.com. I haven't taken a close look at the two but one change I noticed was all butter in the buttercream instead of shortening and butter.

There were very few links online for this cake so I was wondering if it is a Canadian creation that has been overlooked. It's apparently a very popular cake in Vancouver, BC.

So, has anyone tried this recipe or something very close?

[K8memphis]

This sounds dangerously delicious - I've never heard of this cake before. And wow I've never heard of making rum syrup with all rum. I'm going to start gathering ingredients and try this. Sounds purely amazing - I love rum cake!!

Thanks for bumping this up, CanadianBakin'

and

Thanks to Vogelap for an intriguing recipe!

[vogelap]

Thanks, everyone. Please let me know your comments -- this recipe is still under development, so your comments are most welcome.

Also, check this link for the revised recipe, since I cannot edit it here.

[CanadianBakin']

I just talked to the people who would be helping me eat this cake and although they like the buttercream and cake they aren't keen on rum. One of them suggested Kahlua might be nice. I know it won't be a proper Diplomat cake but I would still get to taste it's buttery goodness. Any opinions on whether the Kahlua would work and would I use it the same strength as rum?

[hayasaka.k]

Hm... This happens to be the first time I've heard of a Diplomat using buttercream, sounds incredibly sweet and heavy. I'm not a big fan of sweet and heavy, but I've always known them to have pastry cream between the (2-4 layers of ) puff.

Edited to add: I'm in Richmond, BC btw. I just realized my stats blurb didn't display my location.

Edited January 10, 2005 by hayasaka.k (log)

[alacarte]

Why is it called Diplomat Cake? What's the story behind it?

[DaBoo]

I know this is a really old thread but I wanted to post an update:  

First, some background:  I grew up in Vancouver and my grandparents knew Mrs Notte of Notte's Bon Ton. Every birthday when I was a kid, you got to choose which Bon Ton cake you wanted and my dad and brother always chose the Diplomat. I now don't live in Vancouver but have been known to transport a Diplomat across the country as my airplane carry on  to take one home. 

So I was very excited to find this thread!

For two years I've been planning to make this and test out your recipe but things keep getting in the way. I finally did it yesterday. 

IT WAS EXCEPTIONAL!

The link to your recipe updates doesn't work anymore so I improvised several things. My husband says I nailed an exact replica of the Bon Ton Diplomat. 

 

Thanks so much Vogelap for going to all the work to deconstruct the cake and post your recipe. 

And for those not in Vancouver but planning to try it out -- it really doesn't take long. (A true Diplomat doesn't have jam in it, but does have buttercream roses and other accents in it. And crumble up the leftover cake and puff pastry when you trim the cakes for the sides!)

Aside from my lame roses, it worked out great. I will also try to post a couple pictures. 

(I'm not an expert cake decorator and this is my first attempt at buttercream decorating so keep that in mind when you view the photos!)

[Beebs]

Notte's Bon Ton! I love their Diplomat Cake! I think I need a Diplomat Cake right now.