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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 60 Minutes |
Ready In: 60 Minutes Servings: 8 |
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I lovely cake any time of year. A little labor intensive but worth the effort in the end. Ingredients:
for the cake layers |
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened |
2 cups sugar |
1 teaspoon vanilla (clear keeps the cake very white) |
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (clear keeps the cake very white) |
3 cups all-purpose flour |
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder |
1/2 teaspoon salt |
1 cup full-fat milk |
7 large egg whites |
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar |
filling and frosting |
2 cups sugar |
3/4 cup water |
8 large egg whites |
2 teaspoons clear vanilla |
1/2 cup finely chopped dried figs (plus 3 whole dried figs for garnish) |
1 cup pecans, toasted lightly and chopped fine |
1/2 cup raisins, chopped |
1/2 cup dried or candied cherries |
Directions:
1. Grease and flour 3 or 4 9-inch round cake pans.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract.
3. In a different bowl, stir together the flour, the baking powder, and the salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in batches alternately with the milk, until well combined.
4. In another large bowl beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they just hold stiff peaks, stir one third of them into the batter, and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared pans, smoothing the tops, and bake the cake layers, in batches if necessary, in the middle of a preheated 325°F. oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
6. Let the cake layers cool in the pans on racks for 5 minutes, turn them out onto the racks, and let them cool completely. The cake layers may be made 1 week in advance and kept wrapped well in plastic wrap and frozen. Let the layers thaw before proceeding with the recipe.
7. Frosting:
8. In a small saucepan combine the sugar and the water, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and boil the syrup until it registers 248°F. on a candy thermometer. Pour sugar mixture into a tempered glass measuring cup. (I suggest this because the pot is very, very hot and heavy!. Transfering the sugar to a glass mesauring cups is lighter, cooler, and easier to pour from.)
9. While the syrup is boiling, in a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks and with the mixer running add the hot syrup in a stream. (DO NOT DUMP THE HOT SUGAR MIXURE DIRECTLY INTO YOUR EGG WHITES! This will cause your egg whites to deflate. However, if this happens all is not lost! Keep mixing the egg whites and they will come back eventually.)
10. Beat in the vanilla and beat the icing until it is cool - about 10-15 minutes. Transfer 2-3 cups of the icing to a bowl, reserving the remaining icing, and fold in the figs, pecans, cherries, and raisins.
11. Arrange 1 of the cake layers, flat side up, on a serving plate, spread it with half the dried-fruit icing, and top the filling with another cake layer, flat side down. Spread the top layer with the remaining dried-fruit icing and top the filling with the remaining cake layer. Spread the top and side of the cake with the reserved plain icing .To garnish, either leave the top of the cake plain, sprinkle with pecans, or to do what I did, take a dried fig and flatten it. Using a very sharp paring knife, cut a W out of the top. This will become your tulip! Use log pieces of pecans for the stems. For the ribbon I used big dried cherries that I cut into a strip, and two that I flattened and cut a V out of.
12. Refrigerate the cake until you're ready to eat it. The frosting is very light and sticky at room temperature. When it's refrigerated it gets firm and sets a bit better.
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