White Forest Cake ~ Christmas Special 2020 !!

Wishing all a very Happy Christmas !!

Hope all are staying safe at home like other festivities this year and are enjoying X' mas at home.We too are visiting relatives and friends after a very long time since covid lock down. Enjoy my little treat too - A White forest Cake. 

If you noticed its been a long time since I posted a frosting cake and the reason was very obvious that I wasn't getting good whipping cream and I wasn't visiting any bake stores. All other bake items were available online except the whipping cream and that was disappointing. After trying out a few frosting cakes with Amul fresh cream I was totally disappointed to try frosting again here as it was runny and wasn't getting the right consistency. But recently, a store was opened at a walk able distance from home and I decided to land there. I think majority of Indians have started baking and frosting cakes at home these days after covid lock down. I didn't find much luck finding stores near by and so I kept postponing until finally landed in that shop here. This time for Christmas I thought to give the white forest cake a try and am to have tried this snow beauty.

I'm a person not fond of strong colors that are added to frosting cakes as its all additional chemicals. But then if you are into baking business, then you can't avoid them completely as well. Baking for our dear ones doesn't need any colors and I think white forest is the best treat to avoid all colors. The sponge cake that I prepared from scratch can be used for all frosting cakes- a keeper, please bookmark and keep for your other sponge cake bases as well. The sponge cake is so very soft and delicate but has crumbs though so adding a crumb coat and refrigerating is important in this cake. I saw many recipes online to bake the sponge cake but came up with my own measures of making the sponge cake which was perfect. The availability of these non-diary whipped creams are so easy these days to whip and spread that I now realize how more and more ladies in Kerala have turned to home bakers. And these whipped creams have all sugar,stabilizers, flavors in them already, all we need is to whip the cream to stiff peaks. Sounds so easy and so it is, friends. This white forest cake is simply melt in mouth. Am so happy with the outcome and my H gave me full marks to this cake which was the biggest reward. He even told the cake tastes exactly like the one from our famous bake shops here.I was also fully satisfied with baking and frosting this cake except the part that I have no much experience in piping and so was finding it a bit difficult to stabilize my hands. However the experience of baking this cake was simply superb. Loved it totally. 

Preparation time ~ 35 minutes

Baking time ~ 25 minutes

Frosting time ~ 20 minutes

Author ~ Julie 

Serves ~ 8' frosted cake 

Ingredients 

for sponge cake

maida 3/4 cup

corn flour 1 tbsp

baking powder 3/4 tsp

baking soda 1/4 tsp

salt a pinch

powdered sugar 3/4 cup

eggs 3

vanilla essence 1 tsp

any neutral oil 2 tbsp

for soaking 

sugar 1/2 cup

water 1 cup

for frosting

*whipping cream 2 cups

*white compound chocolate 150 gms

glazed cherries 5-6

Method

How to make sponge cake?

• Sift the flours with baking powder, baking soda, salt thrice and keep aside.
• In another bowl, add the eggs and powdered sugar, beat until creamy and pale (may take around 5 minutes). Add in the oil and vanilla essence, mix well.

• Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F and line an 8" tray with parchment paper and oil the sides, dust with flour and keep ready.
• To this, add the sifted flour mixture in three to four batches and combine well using a spatula without much deflating the air from the beaten egg mixture. 

• Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and tap the cake tin several times(20-25) to release the trapped air bubbles. Then place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Insert a tooth pick in the center of the pan and check if done (Mine was done in 25 minutes, I pre-heat the oven by using the both rods on. Initial bake time was changed to lower rod along for 5 minutes and then changed back to both rods on).
• Cool the cake on a wire rack and transfer out from the pan. Cover with a parchment paper once cooled completely and then wrap with a cling wrap or aluminium foil. I left overnight before frosting.

How to make frosting?

• I chilled the beater blades and bowl in the fridge overnight and thawed the cream in the fridge overnight(earlier it was in the freezer).
• Remove the blades, bowl and cream from the fridge. Pour the cream to the bowl. With the beater blades attached, beat the cream for 4-5 minutes until it turns stiff peaks. The test to make sure it's done is by tilting the bowl upside down and find that the cream doesn't move at all and stays stiff.

• Immediately transfer the cream to the refrigerator till use by covering with a lid or cling wrap.

How to assemble the cake?

• Make a sugar syrup using 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup water. Put this on a stove and heat till the sugar is dissolved. Put off stove and leave to cool completely.
• Grate the compound chocolate over a plate and keep aside.

• Once the cake is cooled, the cake can be cut in two or three layers as per the height of the cake. My cake was best for a two layer cake but my kids wanted to make it a three layer so I some how managed to cut it in three. Use a serrated bread knife or twine to cut the layers. I used serrated knife. Be very careful when you cut the cake in layers as the cake is very soft and delicate.

• Then place a dollop of cream on the cake base and place the base on the turn table. Place the first layer of the cake. Add pieces of parchment paper over the sides of the cake all around to get a neat finish at the end. Add sugar syrup on the first layer and then place the whipped cream on top of this layer and spread using a offset spatula. Add chocolate shavings on top or add cut cherries too.
• Add the second layer and pour sugar syrup on this layer. Add the cream on this layer followed with chocolate shavings. Finally place the third layer, add the sugar syrup and spread the cream on the sides. Spread gently because you may get crumbs on the offset spatula. Once you have finished a crumb coat refrigerate the cake for half to an hour before you add more layers of frosting.
• After an hour, remove and add more cream to cover the sides and top. Using a scraper or offset spatula, give a neat finish. Then add chocolate shavings on top and sides. 

• Finally remove the parchment paper placed on the base of the cake. Scoop out a little cream to pipe the rosette and place cherries on top else the cream may slip and fall from the chocolate shavings.
• Pipe in the rosette using a piping bag and place cherries on top. Also give a design on the base of the cake.
• Refrigerate the cake for 3-4 hours before you slice and enjoy !!

NOTES

* The ideal pan size for this cake is 6' or 7'. If you are using a 6', then use a high pan. I had a 6" which is low height and so didn't use that. Bake in a 7' will give the perfect size cake for this measure. I didn't have a 7' pan and so used 8' pan. The 8' pan was a bit tricky to cut three layers as the height of the cake wasn't much.

* The cream available these days in market is non diary and also the cream contains all sugar and flavorings added so there is no need to add any. Colours must be added extra if using. In this case I need not use color.

* I have used Rich brand whipping cream and used Morde white compound chocolate just in case if you would like to know.

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