Fixing the unfixable

[Abra]

I seem to always be getting into baking jams, which never happens to me on the hot side. Here's another "please help, group bake" question. I've been up to my ears in red currants. This particular mountain of them

was destined for legourmet's Swabian red currant cake.

But, I wanted to make smaller individual cakes that I could take to out of town friends. I doubled the recipe and got 8 individual cakes plus a dozen small tarts. So far, so good. After baking, however, it's another story. Although the pans are nonstick, and I greased them well, evidently I put too much of the meringue topping into the pan

so that the meringue stuck to the edges and made a messy, broken cake. Now, picking those currants was hard work, and so was de-stemming them, and the cake itself has a number of steps, so I really don't want to give up on these.

First I tried a glaze of creme de cassis, which although it's red, came out beige.

Looks worse, if anything, and still looks impossible to transport. So then I decided to try a marzipan wrap, and adding color to the glaze.

This is just with the marzipan edges left rough, and is awfully girlie.

Here I tried trimming the marzipan edges, but hey, is this even any better? Is marzipan the solution, anyway? And if so, what's the secret to having no powdered sugar showing after I roll it out - rolling on a silpat?

But really, you real bakers, is there any way I can make these look less rustic, and make sure they can travel well, say for about 6 hours in the car? I need to say that the cakes are already on the verge of being too sweet, so burying them in frosting isn't the solution. And if I were going to serve them at home, I'd probably sit them in a puddle of creme Anglaise and call it a night. But, perversely, I'm trying to travel with them, and therein lies my currant crisis. Sorry, I couldn't resist that!

[K8memphis]

My recommendation is embrace the rustic-ness. Or you could do something with whipped cream. I think they look amazing.

One idea is to ice the sides with the buttercream of your choice and press something into that for more of a contained look.

You could use any number of things, coconut, toasted coconut, chopped nuts, candied chopped nuts, chopped chocolate, white or any color, umm, seeds, sesame, ground cookies, sprinkles, glitter etc etc etc.

I would pipe a small (with a small cut cone) border around the top - white. But not to hide the kibble & bits -- just to draw the eye to the perimeter. Just so the eye settles on the lyrical little border & not the rustic meringue.

Or you could just squirt glaze all over the edges & down the sides in a squiggly random pattern.

Whatever you do just be sure to put me on the list for one

edited to say: Powder sugar covereth a multitude of sins.

Edited July 20, 2006 by K8memphis (log)

[alanamoana]

i second what k8 said, but it might be difficult to mask with whipped cream if you plan on transporting them to give to people...a bit perishable. because it is german, whipped cream with quark or even creme fraiche and mask the cake, sliced toasted almonds around the sides.

i might have turned the cakes upside down and then wrapped in marzipan. that way, you're dealing with a smooth top and sides until you get to the topping which would now be the base. then you could just 10X the top after wrapping the sides in marzipan.

edited to add: to be very martha stewart-like, you could find some really nice complementary tissue paper and wrap it all around the sides and allow it to blossom above (like you did with the marzipan, only taller, to hide the rustic edges) and tie with a wide ribbon. that way, it looks festive. you can then 10x the top.

Edited July 20, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[Abra]

I can still turn them over if that's a better plan - I have the ones I want to take in the freezer now, awaiting inspiration.

[K8memphis]

edited to add:  to be very martha stewart-like, you could find some really nice complementary tissue paper and wrap it all around the sides and allow it to blossom above (like you did with the marzipan, only taller, to hide the rustic edges) and tie with a wide ribbon.  that way, it looks festive.  you can then 10x the top.

←

Oooh, I like this idea! Maybe line the tissue paper with paper lace doilies!! Pretty pretty pretty.

If you do the powdered sugar thing, cut out a star or a leaf or a heart, or a music note or some dots to represent the currants or something out of paper & lay it on top of the cake and sprinkle the powdered sugar then remove the paper and you will have a beautiful top of the cake. Or cut out an outline of the object--that's cool too then sprinkle. Umm, I mean you could even lay one of the doilies on there too.

Or or or if you decide to ice* the cakes & have some real lace, lay that on there. Do you have a nice squirt bottle you can use for food??? Put some lemon extract or vodka or everclear and a bit of food color and spritz that on the top--then remove the lace--it will make the top look like lace. But test it on your meringue first so it doesn't dissolve it or anything. (and then you would get mad at me & I won't get my cake I am on the list aren't I ??)

And and and don't forget you can color powdered sugar with powdered food color if you have some--you can make a two toned effect on the top of the cake. Put your silhouette on there, sprinkle, shift the silhouette and sprinkle again.

But make sure they are well defrosted so they don't sweat & liquify the powdered sugar.

You would have to use a crusting buttercream for this to work or cover with fondant or marzipan.

[Badiane]

I don't know why you are obsessing, they are super fabulous looking! Embrace the rustic look. They are gorgeous. A dusting of confectioner's sugar and you are done. No one is going to think they look anything less than beautiful. Trust me, in a world of substandard pre-processed baked goods, a homemade rustic treat is hands down going to win every single time.

[Kouign Aman]

They are beautiful.

To travel, can they be slipped back in their (now clean) baking pans?

For serving, a dollop of whipped cream and a scattering of fresh currents on the top (like carelessly draping a "throw" across the couch). If you really want to hide the edges, you could pipe the cream decoratively, but I think they look quite marvy as they are.

My mouth is watering. Sheesh! Red currrants.. whimper....

do you get black currants too?

Or half-whip the cream (no sweetening) and use it as a lovely soft frosting dripping off the edges?

Obviously, traveling with whipped cream presents its own challenges.

Edited July 20, 2006 by Kouign Aman (log)

[JeanneCake]

edited to add:  to be very martha stewart-like, you could find some really nice complementary tissue paper and wrap it all around the sides and allow it to blossom above (like you did with the marzipan, only taller, to hide the rustic edges) and tie with a wide ribbon.  that way, it looks festive.  you can then 10x the top.

←

Or wrap the sides in a clear acetate strip, and tie with ribbon - put a few sprigs of currants on top and 10x it....... I like all of K8's suggestions and the one about masking the sides with toasted almonds. They look delicious, don't stress over what you might see as a less than flawless finish but to our eyes is an invitation to dig in!!

ETA: you could spread an apple or red currant jam on the sides to make the almonds cling if you didn't want to use buttercream.

Edited July 20, 2006 by JeanneCake (log)

[Kouign Aman]

acetate and ribbon - made me wonder if you could wrap it in a bittersweet chocolate ribbon? Perhaps just around the top bit, where the jagged parts show?

Or pat the sides with bittersweet chocolate shavings?

[Abra]

I don't have acetate, and don't know how to make ribbon. Is that modeling chocolate? It's corn syrup and chocolate, right? I have some good white chocolate - but then, why wouldn't I just try some sort of ribbon effect with the marzipan?

It's not just me. Even my husband says they're "not pretty." Well, he likes the green marzipan one. I do get it, though, that everybody says I need to dust with powdered sugar!

Edited July 21, 2006 by Abra (log)

[K8memphis]

Don't forget that if the surface gets moist (from thawing) the powdered sugar dissolves.

[Abra]

Right. And I keep forgetting to ask - will a marzipan wrap freeze, or would I have to do it after they thaw, then keep at room temp (suboptimal in terms of timing)?

[LindaK]

They're lovely homebaked cakes, beautiful as is. Perhaps warmed up for service, with a bit of creme fraiche or unsweetened whipped cream. Garnish with some fresh mint. Stay away from frou-frou with these beauties.

[dvs]

i'm NO baker... but couldn't you just wrap the perimeter w/ ribbon to present and give a card w/ ideas to decorate & serve? (thawed, heated, creme anglese, whipped cream, ice cream...)

Edited July 21, 2006 by dvs (log)

[CanadianBakin']

I'm with the rest who say they look scrumptious as is. I think they look very "Martha" and I'd be thrilled to be served one. The idea of 10X dusted on top with a spoonful of whipped cream and a "throw" of fresh berries sounds beautiful!

[etalanian]

I think they look delicious! You can probably trim the meringue overhang with a pair of kitchen scissors if you want to get a less rustic look, but they really look lovely as is.

Eileen

[K8memphis]

I think I would take small (as in 4-6 inches) paper lace doilies and press then against the sides and hold them in place with hat pins or t-pins untill I could wrap a red ribbon around, tie it in a bow and remove the pins. That would give a very pretty non-sweet impact.

[Abra]

Ok, now that I've gathered a ton of good advice here (including some hilarious words from one member who chose to email a comment to the effect of "quit trying to add lipstick to a pig") I will tackle the rest of the cakes this morning. I'm still hoping to find a way to leave a little currant showing at the sides, like a truth-window, but I'm starting to think that's not possible. I'll post the final result later this morning. Thanks so much for all your support!

[wawairis]

Hell, I'd eat it, but then again I'm a sucker for a dessert. How about if you keep the cakes intact until you reach your destination and then make a trifle? Layer the cake with alternate layers of whipped cream and maybe some almonds in the nice clear bowl to show off the pretty colors.

[Abra]

Sometimes, all you can do is all you can do. I followed all of your advice to 10x the top. I spent I don't want to admit how much time cutting out a stencil of a currant cluster to stencil on top, only to discover that there wasn't enough contrast with the meringue for the image to make sense. I trimmed the meringue with scissors - great suggestion, etalanian! I wanted to use a doily, but couldn't find any, thereby revealing myself to be a total amateur. I loved the idea of ribbon, but perversely insisted on making my ribbon from marzipan. For your part in this creation, have a bite. Here, have the whole thing!

[K8memphis]

Gimme a fork!

Umm, I thought about this when I was writing, and I said sprinkle, but I didn't detail it correctly. If you put the powdered sugar in a sifter or strainer you can get a finer covering. Hold it over your cake and just tap the side and it covers nicely.

The people who get these cakes are gonna LOVE 'em. How totally sweet of you!

[Abra]

K8, I did, of course, tap the sugar through a strainer. Can't tell, huh?

[K8memphis]

Of course you did, yes, of course I can tell. I wrote that for any others who may never have applied powdered sugar before.

How on earth did you get it first through a strainer then into lumpy piles like that???

(((((I mean that in the nicest way of course.)))))

Edited July 22, 2006 by K8memphis (log)

[Abra]

That's an extreme close-up, and it's a humid day. Also, I probably put more sugar than was strictly necessary on top.

Lumpy piles, lipstick on a pig, yeah, I can take it all without shame!