Yesterday was Brett's birthday, which meant my once-yearly attempt at making this cake. It is my Grandma's recipe and, like all her recipes, only has some pretty non-specific instructions on how to make something really complicated. Last year I totally messed the whole thing up, but this year I think I mastered it! I'm even more proud because I did it while holding a very fussy baby and taking care of a feverish 3 year old at the same time. Happy Birthday Brett!!!CAKE BATTER:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup rich milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
Cream butter with sugar very thoroughly. Add 4 yolks, beating well after each addition. Then add milk and vanilla, beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes more after all ingredients are combined. Spread in 2 greased 9 inch cake pans and set aside.
** I did this last year and found that the above recipe only made two VERY thin cake rounds, so this year I doubled the cake batter recipe and it turned out much better - thicker cakes. It didn't even affect the baking time!
Make the meringue...
MERINGUE:
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Beat egg whites till stiff. While the mixer is still running on high speed, add the sugar slowly (seriously - go SLOWLY because otherwise your meringue will turn to taffy) in a trickle until it is all added. Add vanilla slowly in the same way. Beat another minute after all ingredients are added. Spread meringue on top of the batter in pans. Do this lightly so that it is in uneven peaks and touches sides of pans. On one layer sprinkle the nuts. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.
Set baked cake layers aside to cool in their own pans. Make filling:FILLING:
1/2 pound dried apricots
2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
Simmer apricots in water for about 25 minutes or until tender. Add sugar and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mash. Put in fridge to cool. Whip the cream in a mixer and fold into the apricot mixture once it is cooled to at least room temperature.
Assemble cake: Place the non-nutty cake layer meringue-side-down on a cake plate. Spread 1/4 of the apricot filling on top of this layer. Place second cake layer meringue-side-up on top. Spread remaining apricot filling around outside of cake.
Take it from me: your messy kitchen will totally be worth it. Enjoy!!!
1 comment:
What a creation! I wonder if it would work with berries??? Speaking of which, I have a fantastic open-faced strawb pie recipe (white choc. bottom!) that you should make this summer for a perfect blog afterwards! :)
Post a Comment