I have always loved white chocolate more than the milk chocolate. So the very thought of having a white chocolate topping on a cake made this a must try for me. What makes
this cake so much similar to the white forest wedges you have enjoyed at
your favourite cafe` or bakery is that, you could make it look exactly
like that one and taste like that one too.... It is so very amazing that
this could be put together easily and for people who love to surprise
their loved ones, this is the challenge. With this simple recipe you
could easily make the best white forest cake and woo your loved ones.
What more, this cake is a pure vegan cake so does well for the eggless
eaters too..... Please plan to start the process, a day and a half
ahead.
Without bragging more about this recipe, lets get to it, get your baking
supplies ready and wear your apron and oven mittens. Here we go. I have
divided the recipe into 4 parts. Part 1 - Basic vegan sponge cake.
Part 2 - Soaking syrup. Part 3 - Preparing the frosting . Part 4 -
Assembling
PART 1
Basic Vegan Sponge Cake
Preparation Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Preparation Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
All Purpose Flour / Refined Flour / Maida – 2 and 1/4 cup
Baking soda – 1.5 tsp
Salt – 3/8 tsp
Cooking oil – ½ cup + ¼ cup
Warm water – 1.5 cup
Vinegar – 1.5 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 2 tsp
Sugar – 1.5 cups
Items needed
Measuring cups and spoons
8 " Cake tin
Foil for lining the cake tin / cooking spray
A medium bowl for mixing the dry ingredients
A balloon whisk / a sieve
A large bowl to mix the wet ingredients and the final cake mix
1. In a medium bowl, mix thoroughly the maida, baking soda and salt. If possible, sieve them thrice for even mixing.
2. Add sugar to the mixed dry ingredients and mix once again.
3. Combine and mix the wet ingredients separately in another large bowl
4. Switch on the oven for preheating at 180 degrees C
5. Fold the dry ingredients in the wet mixture until even.
6. Pour into a greased / foil lined baking pan and bake for 40 minutes / until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. If the top has risen too much, scrap off the portions to make it flat, since we will be using frosting on this.
8. Allow the cake to cool completely before proceeding to soak the cake.
NOTE : If you have an oven that does not have a provision to keep the top and bottom heating elements on at the same time, first choose to bake the cake using the bottom heating element till the cake rises and is almost done ( about 30 minutes) , then transfer it to the upper rack and turn on the upper heating element for 10 minutes till the top portion of the cake is done. I have this problem, hence this comment. :-(
PART 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 5 minutes
Soaking syrup
Ingredients
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Water - 1/2 Cup
Cherry syrup drained from a can of red cherries ( Place the cherries back to use later)
Items needed
A vessel to make the sugar syrup
Procedure
1. Cut the cooled sponge cake into three layers. Now there are multiple techniques that you could use to achieve even layers. ( I will give a detailed post on the same a little later)
2. Once you have the three layers, use a pastry brush and smear the cherry syrup on each of the layers.
3. Don't over do it though else your cake will get too soft and may not stand the test of time. It might break midway.
4. Incase you think the cherry syrup from the can is not enough, you may need to make the sugar syrup.
5. The key is to use cold syrups. So in case you are making the sugar
syrup after running out of cherry syrup, make sure you cool it
sufficiently before using it for soaking.
6. Keep stirring the sugar and the water mixture till it reaches a
slightly syrupy consistency( approx : 3 minutes on a high flame)
7. Once all the layers have been soaked, put them together and let them
lie in the refrigerator for half a day atleast. Works best if you could
let all the flavours mature for a day.
PART 3
Preparing the frosting
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Whipping cream - 3 cups(If the whipping cream does not have added sugar you will need to add sugar)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (preferably powdered)
Items Needed
A large bowl to whip the cream
Beater
Procedure
1. Chill the beater blades and the bowl in the refrigerator for 4- 6 hours. Preferably a stainless steel bowl but melamine also works well.
2. If the whipping cream does not have added sugar, mix the sugar and the whipping cream.
3. Else, whip the cream till it holds stiff peaks. This take anywhere between 8 - 10 minutes.
4. Once done, proceed to assemble the cake.
PART 4
Assembling
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
Frosting prepared in step 3
Cherries from the can chopped into halves or pieces
Chocolate gratings, chocolate rolls prepared from a bar of white chocolate at room temperature.
Full cherries for garnishing
Items needed
Icing Set with flower / shells nozzle
Frosting Spatula
Procedure
1. Take out the individual layers that have soaked. On top of the bottom
most layer, spread a uniform layer of the frosting. The second layer
will press the first layer and press some frosting to the sides so
spread as much giving room for this. Ideally you should have a 1/4 inch
thickness of the frosting.
2. Spread the 1/2 of the cut cherries on the frosting.
3. Place the second layer on the first layer aligning it with the bottom most layer.
4. Repeat the procedure above.
5. Now place the top layer above the second layer.
6. Spread a layer of frosting above the top layer and on the sides of
the cake. (Have a bowl of ice cold water while doing this. This way the
frosting won't stick to the spatula)
7. Finally make sure the entire frosting is smooth. To achieve a even
frosting, dip the spatula in ice cold water every three to four strokes.
8. Using a suitable icing nozzle, pipe some designs around the cake, now
let creativity take over, use the chocolate gratings and model the cake
the way you want. You could also use the whole cherries set aside to
give it that final look.
Your delicious White Forest Cake is ready to devour. :-)
In case you are looking to reduce or increase the quantity try this blog. - http://www.cakesandmore.in/2014/01/a-basic-baking-conversions-chart.html
In case you are looking to reduce or increase the quantity try this blog. - http://www.cakesandmore.in/2014/01/a-basic-baking-conversions-chart.html
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