Help me plan my birthday cake!

[Ling]

I plan on making my own birthday cake this year, and I'd like to take the opportunity to do some things I haven't done before. I have no cake decorating skills, so I don't know how to decorate my cake. (The extent of my abilities is swirling some white chocolate in some dark chocolate for those swirls...but I'm kind of tired of doing that).

But here's the plan for my birthday cake:

-4 layers of chocolate cake (a rich, moist cake with sour cream in the batter...recipe from Cook's Illustrated 'Best Chocolate cupcake' recipe)

-hazelnut dacquoise

-caramel layer

-chocolate mousse, possibly spiked with liqueur

I'm thinking about just covering the entire cake with ganache if I wuss out on the decorating.

I've never made a dacquoise before--just the soft meringue you put on lemon meringue pies, and Italian meringue. I'm not even quite sure how crispy a dacquoise is supposed to be--ideally, I'm looking for something to add some texture to my cake. Would I sandwich the dacquoise directly between 2 cake layers, or would I put it on top of some mousse? And would the mousse make the dacquoise soggy?

I am thinking about leaving out the caramel...I don't want too much going on in the cake. I also don't really like fruit (even strawberries or raspberries) with chocolate, so that's out.

I'm going to do a trial run for my cake for my friend's housewarming party on September 9th...so I will post pictures of my trial cake and you can all see it and make additional suggestions.

Edited August 28, 2005 by Ling (log)

[chiantiglace]

A few thoughts Yuen.

first with the answers- the dacqquoise. It will soften on the edges alittle but not enough for a concern. Considering this isnt a cake that could sit in a display case for 3 days rather than being devoured by your friends/family it will still hold its texture very well. Also, the great thing about a nut meringue is it has a completely different characteristic as straight meringue. It will be a little softer than meringue because of the oils in the nuts. It's good to use a nice dry "nuflour" for this process but if you can obtain it you can always finely grate/chop/process (depending on texture you want) the nuts for the meringue, leaving a considerable amount of oil left, but all is good. It weighs the meringue down a little, but a lot of the time I like that. I would put the meringue with the cake, instead nicely secured in the filling. I often do 1 layer sponge-filling-dacqouise-thin layer filling-top seal layer, just so the sponge doesnt over power the crunchy meringue.

espresso, citrus, and herb infusions are all good with hazelnut-chocolate mix. Also, if you want to cover it in "ganache" i have a chocolate glaze recipe that will work easier for you with a glossier finish.

[Ling]

A few thoughts Yuen.

first with the answers- the dacqquoise.  It will soften on the edges  alittle but not enough for a concern.  Considering this isnt a cake that could sit in a display case for 3 days rather than being devoured by your friends/family it will still hold its texture very well.  Also, the great thing about a nut meringue is it has a completely different characteristic as straight meringue.  It will be a little softer than meringue because of the oils in the nuts.  It's good to use a nice dry "nuflour" for this process but if you can obtain it you can always finely grate/chop/process (depending on texture you want) the nuts for the meringue, leaving a considerable amount of oil left, but all is good.  It weighs the meringue down a little, but a lot of the time I like that.  I would put the meringue with the cake, instead nicely secured in the filling.  I often do 1 layer sponge-filling-dacqouise-thin layer filling-top seal layer, just so the sponge doesnt over power the crunchy meringue.

espresso, citrus, and herb infusions are all good with hazelnut-chocolate mix. Also, if you want to cover it in "ganache" i have a chocolate glaze recipe that will work easier for you with a glossier finish.

←

Thanks for the reply, and I'm surprised you remembered my Chinese name! But it's Yuen Ling, not Yuen.

Let me see if I got this right--the layering should go:

cake

chocolate Amaretto mousse

dacquoise

chocolate Amaretto mousse

cake (and then repeat)

Is this correct? If so, I think I'll just do 3 cake layers. Also, what do you think about a caramel layer? Do you think there will be too much going on in the cake? I was originally thinking about doing the caramel somewhere in the middle...perhaps 4 layers of cake, with the caramel sandwiching the 2nd and 3rd layer. So in total, that would be 4 layers of mousse, 2 layers of nut dacquoise, 1 layer of caramel, and 4 thin layers of chocolate cake.

Or another option would be buttercream. Should I do:

cake

chocolate Amaretto mousse

dacquoise

chocolate buttercream

cake (then repeat)

If I go this route, I would probably ditch the caramel layer.

And I would love the chocolate glaze recipe!

Edited August 29, 2005 by Ling (log)

[jgarner53]

Ling, what about a caramel buttercream? I love dacquoise and caramel together (did one with plain genoise layers for a friend's wedding, and it came out great).

[Ling]

^Ahhh....you are a genius. OK, so now it's going to be chocolate cake, dacquoise, and caramel buttercream. I think I'll scrap the chocolate mousse...I've done lots of mousse cakes already.

[chiantiglace]

Ah yes, Yuen Ling. I figured Yuen for short, but i suppose in China they dont drop the tail end as we so effortlessly do in America.

What about Caramel Chibouste and Chocolate butterm cream?

Mirror Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 oz gelatin

1 - 1/4 oz chocolate (bittersweeat, preferably 70%^)

4 3/4 oz water

9 oz sugar (granulated)

2-3/4 oz dutch cocoa powder (if you use hersheys or a generic cocoa powder the sheen will be duller and a lot lighter in color)

2-3/4 oz heavy cream

Bloom and melt gelatin

Place chocolate in SS bowl

Bring water, sugar, cocoa powder and cream to a boil over medium heat

Whisk in gelatin and poor over chocolate, allowing to stand for 1 minute

stir together until smooth

Use while still very warm.

[amccomb]

Wow, this sounds amazing! How do we get invited to your birthday party?

My birthday is coming up in November, so I'm thinking of borrowing some of your ideas, if that's ok!

Does anyone have a recipe for the hazelnut dacquoise or the caramel buttercream?

[Ling]

What about Caramel Chibouste and Chocolate butterm cream?

←

Thanks for the mirror chocolate glaze recipe! Is Chibouste pastry cream? I've never made chibouste before...but I've done pastry cream. What's the difference? (And do you have a recipe for that too? )

[chiantiglace]

chibouste is just pastry cream lightened with italian meringue. You can make a caramelized merigue or caramleized sugar pastry cream. Either way. I'm not sure I have a recipe, but it shouldnt be hard to alter a standard vanilla chibouste recipe.

[Ling]

Hmmm...a chibouste sounds like it would go nicely with a thick buttercream and crispy meringue. Thanks for your help--I think I'll do a chibouste layer in my cake.

[rajsuman]

Oh God! I am in a panic mode right now - I want to bake a special cake for my birhtday too, but only have three months to decide . I've had my eye on the Exotic Orange Cake for a while now, so most likely it'll be my birthday cake.

[Ling]

I did the Cook's Illustrated dark chocolate cupcake recipe last night in cake pans, which WAS very good as a cupcake recipe, but unfortunately rose unevenly in the oven in my cake pans. I decided to scrap it at the last minute, even though I levelled the cakes and froze them. I'll just eat them as a snack.

I was going to use this recipe, which is an old standby favourite:

Martha Stewart's Ultimate Chocolate cake recipe

...but decided to try a new one. I'm so glad I did, because this recipe is wonderful! This is my new favourite chocolate cake recipe. (I did not make the ganache).

Double chocolate layer cake (from Epicurious)

Edited September 6, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

I posted this pic in another thread already, but I wanted to show you all my cake and thank you for all your help!

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures...6657&idx=1'

This is what I ended up making, but not using:

French rum buttercream (too rich)

Valrhona pastry cream (a bit lumpy)

Cook's Illustrated chocolate cupcake recipe baked in pans (too crispy along the edge, and rose unevenly)

So I did the Epicurious chocolate cake, an Italian caramel buttercream, almond and pecan dacquoise, and a Valrhona ganache. Thanks chiantiglace, for giving me the mirror glaze recipe--I used it on the cake. And thanks for PMing me with the caramel buttercream recipe, choux!

Everyone loved the cake and were very impressed. I was so happy it turned out well...it tasted good, but I know it's not the prettiest thing to look at... I did try my best though!

Edited September 12, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Steven Blaski]

I posted this pic in another thread already, but I wanted to show you all my cake and thank you for all your help!

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures...6657&idx=1'

This is what I ended up making, but not using:

French rum buttercream (too rich)

Valrhona pastry cream (a bit lumpy)

Cook's Illustrated chocolate cupcake recipe baked in pans (too crispy along the edge, and rose unevenly)

So I did the Epicurious chocolate cake, an Italian caramel buttercream, almond and pecan dacquoise, and a Valrhona ganache. Thanks chiantiglace, for giving me the mirror glaze recipe--I used it on the cake. And thanks for PMing me with the caramel buttercream recipe, choux!

Everyone loved the cake and were very impressed. I was so happy it turned out well...it tasted good, but I know it's not the prettiest thing to look at... I did try my best though!

←

Congrats, Ling and happy birthday! BTW, to ensure a perfectly level layer each time, I recommend investing in Magi-Cake Strips - they're metallic fabric strips that you soak in water then wrap around the pans before baking. They inhibit the doming of the layers. You can get them at most kitchen shops off and online for less than $10.

[Ling]

Here is the link to my other cake pics, including the partially filled cake

[*Deborah*]

Shoot, Lorna! I hadn't been in this forum for a while, and missed your birthday!!

Belated best wishes, and your cake looks very good indeed!

[Ling]

^Actually, my birthday is on the 30th. That was a trial cake I made.

[*Deborah*]

Figures.

[Tepee]

Pressed for time (Mid-Autumn festival), I could only squeeze in a simple cake for my sis's 50th birthday. Chiantiglace's Mirror Chocolate Glaze recipe came at the right time....so here it is...I love it already. Cake is double the brownies recipe from Baker & Spice, Baking with Passion.

To see the gloss,

Edited September 17, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[DiH]

Absolutely beautiful... good job!

What brands of chocolate and cocoa did you use?

Di

[Tepee]

Thank you, Di. Well, I'm from Malaysia, and the chocolate and cocoa we have here is pretty limited. I buy the 'best' available to the masses, which is Van Houten which I think is equivalent to Hershey's? Although we can get Hershey's here, I don't particularly care for the taste.

Oh, I'd like to add....got to taste the brownie cake and it was really good. I was especially happy with it turning out very level and there were no cracks at all.

Edited September 17, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[chiantiglace]

Pressed for time (Mid-Autumn festival), I could only squeeze in a simple cake for my sis's 50th birthday

If it was her 50th birthday, how come the cakes says 25?

looks great by the way.

Edited September 18, 2005 by chiantiglace (log)

[Tepee]

Thks, chiantiglace! There's a 'X 2' at the side, to soften the blow. DH said to do it '100/2".

Sorry to hijack the post, Ling.

[Ling]

no apologies needed....what a beautiful cake you made!