Kitchen Project #58: For the love of layer cakes
Ft. Six of the most incredible bakers and pastry chefs!
Hello,
Welcome to a very special edition of Kitchen Projects, my recipe development newsletter.
With International Women’s Day coming up on Tuesday, I’m proud of this very special edition of the newsletter ft. layer cake deep dive via imagination of six incredible bakers. To finish off, I’ll share my take on coffee and walnut cake.
On KP+, I’m honoured be sharing a recipe for a ridiculously gorgeous Blood Orange and Pistachio cake from Tarunima of My Little Cake Tin. Subscribing is easy and is just £5 a month and you’ll get access to all the KP+ archive and support the the writing every week. I hope to see you there:
Alright, let’s do this.
Love
Nicola
Love letters to layer cakes
I’m the first to say that I am not the best layer cake baker in the world. Luckily, I do know some of the best layer cake bakers in the world! I am thrilled today to be bringing together six incredible bakers working in the industry today. With International Women’s Day coming up on Tuesday, I’m honoured to share some wonderful insights from these bakers (artists!!!), who have shared their cake philosophy along with practical tips into flavour. There’s nothing I love more than delving into the imagination and creative minds of the truly talented, each interview reads like a true love letter to layer cakes! I know that baking layer cakes can feel intimidating, so I hope you’ll find some solace in wisdom shared here.
There’s no doubt that you are all too aware of the devastating and evolving crisis in Ukraine. There are incredible fundraising efforts happening across the world. If you are wanting to contribute but not sure how to be useful, bake sales can be a wonderful ways to raise money - whether it’s bringing in cakes to the office or getting involved with a larger scale event, I hope these interviews inspire you to take to your kitchen. Whether it’s to ease anxiety, or to raise money, or just to feel normal for a moment - I know baking helps things feel calmer.
To finish today’s newsletter off, I’ll be talking you through a crowd pleasing coffee & walnut layer cake that I hope you’ll love! I know I do.
Meghan Holyoake, Lily Vanilli
Meghan Holyoake is the head baker at Lily Vanilli. I first met Meghan working at Dominique Ansel - she is a bonafide patisserie pro, but for the past few years she has focused her talents at building out of this world layer cakes. I’ve seen Meghan decorating in person and she is the real deal - she wields a piping bag like a magic wand.
Do you have a cake philosophy? Where do you get your inspiration?
Cake has to taste as good as it looks! Nothing is worse than tucking into a good looking cake to unveil a dry and flavourless sponge! I find inspiration all around me and most often subconsciously through Instagram. But I love taking designs and concepts from fashion brands and letting that inspire my cake design.
What is your approach to flavour for layer cakes?
Not too many flavours, I like to keep it simple throughout the cake, essentially enhancing a classic cake with good ingredients and good vanilla! (Vanilla is the salt equivalent in baking)
Do you have a favourite decorating trick/technique?
When it comes to piping, always practise off the cake to gain confidence before going straight on- and best to have your final coated cake chilled from the fridge, so if anything goes wrong you can just wipe it off!
What is the most practical advice you’ve got about building a successful layer cake?
Patience is key. Have the sponges cooled completely before thinking about layering them, and be patient inbetween crumb coating and final coating, being patient always pays off at the end
Do you have a favourite piece of equipment for cake making?
My turntable! Couldn't be without it. Stay away from plastic ones and invest in a metal/aluminium one. I got mine from amazon 4 years ago for less than £40 and it’s still going strong.
What’s the most memorable cake you’ve ever made? / Your favourite cake?
Probably when I made my sisters wedding cake. I'm based in London and she was getting married on the Isle of Wight, so logistically it was a nightmare- not to mention setting up the cake on a beach whilst also having bridesmaid duties! I was very honoured to be a part of the day and to see my loved ones enjoying their slices- priceless moments.
You can follow Meghan’s wonderful cakes via her Instagram @Holyoake_Patisserie
Natasha Pickowicz
Natasha Pickowicz is a pastry chef tour de force who frequently rewrites the pastry rule book with her phenomenal desserts. She came up through pastry kitchens in the US and North America, eventually creating running pastry program for the much-loved Cafe Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar in New York. When 2020 closed her kitchen, she created the touring pastry party pop-up ‘Never Ending Taste’, bringing joy around NYC with her whimsical and expressive bakes that are rooted in technique, deep knowledge of pastry and love of the world around her. Her debut book is in the works, too! (I cannot WAIT.)
Do you have a cake philosophy? Where do you get your inspiration?
The goal is to focus on clean, not-too-sweet flavors and harmonious, supple textures. Almost all of my layer cakes are a variation on a thin round of sponge cake, saturated with flavorful syrups, and stacked with creamy, airy fillings. I like the ratio of thin cake layers to creamy fillings to be 1:1—there is just nothing better than pulling the side of your fork down a slice of cake and feeling it pierce the tender cake! It’s the same kind of ASMR I get from slicing mushrooms— it is the best sensation.
I can definitely tell you what is antithetical to my cake philosophy: you will never find a butter-based cake in my layer cakes (too rich, and gets too dry too quickly!). One of my original inspirations is the classic tiramisu. The key to a perfect bite is the balanced mix of textures from the creamy mascarpone to the soaked ladyfingers. As a tiramisu rests, the flavors mingle and marry, creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts. The overall sensation is of creaminess, anchored with a bit of crumb from the cake. I find that you cannot get that divine effect if you work with cakes that are dry or cut too thick, or have too many overly sweet components.
What is your approach to flavour for layer cakes?
Although I love classic flavor combinations for layer cakes (hazelnut and chocolate! Vanilla bean and citrus!), they are a wonderful venue to practice more out-of-the box ingredient pairings. I love investigating super savory flavors in cakes—squash, mushroom, parsnip, sunchokes, and tomato can all be expressed in an understated way in cake form.
The most important thing, to me, is that nothing is too sweet. You do need quite a bit of sugar to build a stable buttercream to coat the final cake, so I like to really hold back on sugar as much as possible to give all of the other flavors as much of a chance as possible to be vibrant and expressive. I also love working with more neutral-tasting sponges—like a plain Genoise sponge—and then infusing the cake with additional flavor through soaks made with good milk, booze, tea, or other infusions.
Do you have a favourite decorating trick/technique?
I prefer to look to nature for unusual and unexpected decorations. I have a small vegetable garden and I’m constantly getting inspiration for cake decorating with what I grow. Vegetable blossoms are lovely (like eggplant, pepper, and okra blossoms) but so are their leaves and tendrils, and of course the fruit itself—I love a sprinkling of tomatoes or fairytale eggplant on a layer cake!
I also am susceptible to the purchase of bodega flowers, but beware pesticides, especially with more commercial blooms like roses. For that, you may be better off visiting your local farmers market and purchasing directly from a flower farm that grows without chemicals. I also like foraging for natural decorations like grasses, branches, leaves, shells, and more. Just give everything a good wash and always check online in case you aren’t sure what something is— once I was in Wyoming for a wedding and thought it would be cute to decorate a cake with flowers I found while hiking in the Grand Tetons. Good thing someone saw the cake before I finished, because some of the flowers were poisonous!
What is the most practical advice you’ve got about building a successful layer cake?
Time. Time time time! Give yourself PLENTY of time, so the cake is stable and you don’t feel rushed. It makes all the difference! I’ll make the cake layers and fillings on Day 1, then let them rest overnight. (It’s also good for the cake, which will dry out a bit, therefore allowing it to absorb more of the soak later). Then I’ll build the cake on Day 2, and let it rest in the fridge or freezer. I frost and decorate the cake on Day 3! I also think that cake improves as it ages. The flavours become more mingled and delicious. So I love eating a layer cake up to 4 or 5 days after it’s been built!
Do you have a favourite piece of equipment for cake making?
I bake all of my cake layers in shallow half sheet trays. That way I never have a cake layer taller than 1.5 centimeters. Also, baking in a half sheet tray allows me to control how big or small I want each cake layer to be, and it’s easy to piece together the scraps into a Frankenstein-esque middle layer, which nobody will see or notice anyway.
What’s the most memorable cake you’ve ever made? / Your favourite cake?
I made the birthday cake for Hilary Clinton one year! I did a little research in advance and found out her favorite flavor (chocolate) and her favorite flower (hydrangea). That was a surreal moment for sure, and a tremendous honor.
You can follow all of Natasha’s adventures @NatashaPickowickz
Tarunima Sinha, My Little Cake Tin
Tarunima is the owner of My Little Cake Tin. Tarunima is self-taught and is one of the most talented, deft bakers that I know. Her natural and intuitive talent shines through with her bold flavour and decorative combinations which, impressively, are always immediately recognisable as a unique ‘My Little Cake Tin’ design. I can’t help but smile when I see Tarunima’s technicolour cakes that seem to explode joyfully out of my phone screen.
Do you have a cake philosophy? Where do you get your inspiration?
A layered cake has to be as beautiful to look at, as it is delicious to eat. I am a self taught baker and my background has been in design. For me merging these 2 worlds has been my cake making journey. Flavours, colours, textures, seasonality and my Indian heritage all contribute to the process. I am inspired by everything around me. It could be a building with architectural detail, or the patterns from vintage textiles, or the flavours from something I ate, or even walking past a florist and the colours that draw my attention.
What is your approach to flavour for layer cakes?
Flavour is the key to a good cake. It should be a joy to eat and balanced from the first to the last bite. I prefer to work with in season produce. By doing so, it already tastes better. I always use the best quality ingredients I can source - from flour, butter, eggs, nuts and flavourings. These are the building blocks for all my cakes. Occasionally I add flavours borrowed from my Indian heritage - like saffron, rose or cardamom.
Do you have a favourite cake decorating trick or technique?
Dowelling a layered cake is one of the secret tricks of successful cake making. It stops the cake from sliding and keeps the layers in place. Wooden and plastic dowels are cheap and easily available from cake supply stores.
What is the most practical advice for building a successful layered cake
Chilling the cake down before starting the process of layering is important. A chilled cake is easier to work with and build upon. Once the cake is semi cool, I wrap it well in cling film and chill the cake in the fridge for a few hours. By doing this, you lock in the moisture in the cake and secondly the cake firms up, making it easier to work with.
Do you have a favourite piece of cake making equipment?
Well I actually have 4 ! A step palette knife, a small spirit level, a solid turntable and a metal cake scraper. They are indispensable to get a good finish on the cake and make the process easier. All inexpensive equipment but they contribute to the successful construction of a cake.
What is your most memorable or favourite cake?
I have done so many cakes over the years, that this is a really difficult question to answer! However, creating a pistachio sponge has been the most rewarding and memorable of them all, as it pairs extremely well with the flavours I like to work with - my homemade organic rose jam, Alphonso mango, pineapple and passion fruit compotes, citrus curds and summer berries.
Get inspired by Tarunima and follow her beautiful baking journey here @MyLittleCakeTin. Tarunima has shared *that* recipe for Blood Orange and Pistachio cake on KP+ - click here to read it.
Pam, Lemon Tree Cakes
Pam is the owner and baker of Lemon Tree cakes, though she should be better described as an artist; Her cakes are incredible sculptural works of art, seeming to defy physics, with meticulous attention to detail. All of Pam’s work is of exquisite taste and you can tell that every inch is carefully considered and completed - a true feast for the senses.
Do you have a cake philosophy? Where do you get your inspiration?
A lot of my inspiration comes from abstract paintings, pottery and ceramic sculptures. I love combining all these different elements to create unusual textures on a cake. I want to always strike a balance between what is inside the cake in terms of flavour and outside in terms of design.
What is your approach to flavour for layer cakes?
I love how pastry chefs approach their creations and I am very much inspired by that when it comes to developing flavour combinations for cakes. Finding ingredients I have never used before and understanding how they work and taste on their own and how those can be included in my cakes is something I love to experiment with. Making sure I use quality ingredients is also very important because it really does affect the taste of your cakes.
Do you have a favourite decorating trick/technique?
I mainly work with fondant when designing my cakes and I have to say fondant is such a versatile medium to work with. You can colour it, paint on it, texture it, frill it, mould it, The possibilities are endless.
What is the most practical advice you’ve got about building a successful layer cake?
When it comes to building layers I cannot stress enough the importance of having all your cake layers levelled to the same height. Always bake the day before so the cake has time to settle, as a fresh cake is a fragile thing. An Agbay cake leveller is my go to for perfect layers. I also love Swiss meringue buttercream for cakes as it is the perfect texture to use between your cake layers. Chilling your cake after filling, crum coating and then the final coating is equally important.
Do you have a favourite piece of equipment for cake making?
I swear by my Agbay cake leveller. It gives me the perfect layers every single time. A sturdy turn table is a really good tool to have.
What’s the most memorable cake you’ve ever made? / Your favourite cake?
I think every cake I make is special to me. Playing a small part in someone’s big day is such a privilege, I cherish all those moments.
Follow Pam’s baking adventures on Instagram @lemontreecakesuk
Rose Wilde, RedBread, LA
Rose Wilde is a kinetic ball of cake-fuelled energy - her passion for locally sourced ingredients and divine flair for decorations and flavour combinations astound me. I am a huge fan (from afar). Everything about Rose’s bakes feel dynamic - from responding to her environment and the seasons, I always feel like her cakes are somehow dancing, even in a still photograph.
Do you have a cake philosophy? Where do you get your inspiration?
I believe cake is for everyone, anyday and any meal. (Hello breakfast cake!). There is every argument that you don't need cake to live, which is exactly why you should indulge often - it is pure pleasure. It turns everything to joy and belongs on every table. I'm inspired by the bounty of my garden and the whole grains from local farms and am very motivated by travel, color theory and art history. We always eat with our eyes and cake is ethereal art - story, painting, abstraction, sculpture - meant to be destroyed and consumed. And memory, memory is very powerful.
What is your approach to flavour for layer cakes?
Fresh produce, more cream vibes than chocolate, dramatic florals, preserving constantly all year round from jamming, candying to dehydrating powders. Obsessed with making dehydrated powders for colouring cakes naturally while building flavour, so easy to fold in buttercream or throw at a finished cake. Cakes should be fresh, moist, and not too sweet. Salt has a strong place here.
Do you have a favourite decorating trick/technique?
Decorating is always an evolution, right now I am very into supersizing classic piping and weaving savory into cake. Huge bloops of buttercream, XL ruffles placed eschew, LUX cup cakes, classic but off kilter. Using nontraditional flowers, herbs, sticks, leafy greens and vegetables in decorating. Produce we eat shares its scientific family with flowers, and everything that we eat has a flower first. I love mixing these together to create unexpected drama, is it a salad? Is it a cake? I have a full thesis prepared that salad and cake are the same thing. DM me.
What is the most practical advice you’ve got about building a successful layer cake?
1) Layers are your friend. Having more thin layers makes baking faster. Once baked the cake is lighter so in building with soft buttercream it is more stable and less likely to slide or collapse. Assuming you didn't overbake, thin layers stay more moist when sandwiched with jam, curd, custard or cream. 2) It's buttercream not duct tape that holds the world together, it can repair anything on a cake or a finger that accidentally gouged the side when you moved it. Always keep a little at room temp till the very end for any of these mishaps. 3) Find your favorite recipes and rif nonstop on your favourite flavours. Have fun!
Do you have a favourite piece of equipment for cake making?
All hail the offset spatula, big and small. You can do it all, smooth wet batter in a bake, pop the cake out of the tin, spread buttercream and create dramatic swoops for holding yummy curd or fruit in decorating. I have 6 nearby at all times.
What’s the most memorable cake you’ve ever made? / Your favourite cake?
Made my most memorable cake when I was working at Michelin Starred Rustic Canyon here in Los Angeles as the Pastry Chef, I made a Vegetable Funfetti Cake. The sprinkles were made of parsley stems, julienned beijing (meyer) lemon, rainbow carrots and beets. A classic butter cake with Sonora Wheat from Tehachapi Farms wrapped in a Preserved Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream we had on the menu for a long time. I really honed my enjoyment of crossover here.
Rose’s technicolour dream world can be followed @trosewilde!
Holly Cochrane, Taymount Bakery
Holly Cochrane is a food stylist and the owner of Taymount Bakery, a micro-bakery based in South London. Although her talents expand far beyond cake (have you seen those pastries?!), Holly brings her brilliant scientific mind to elevate layer cakes through flavour and design. Carefully considering her environment and the world around her, Holly perfectly balances nature, science and art in her bakes.
Do you have a cake philosophy? Where do you get your inspiration?
My simply decorated cakes with a focus on the ‘natural’ will always be the Taymount signature. The gardens and allotments around my flat are a huge inspiration - in fact, a customer of mine affectionately refers to Taymount cakes as ‘garden cakes’ and I love that. Watching the seasons change from the window of my work bench - all the colours and different plants growing wildly together - is a joy. Preserve these seasons when you can with Jams, candied peels, dried flowers. They are gifts that keep on giving long after the season has passed AND make you feel like you’re a bonafide member of the WI.
What is your approach to flavour for layer cakes?
The most important thing, in my opinion, is harmony. I always make ‘mini cakes’ from any trim to check the balance of flavours as a whole. With a lemon cake for example, being clever with pairing other flavours can compliment and even showcase the flavour, like using a small amount of a herb like rosemary or basil, or an extract like rose or lilac to bring out the fresh herbaceous and floral notes. I tend to add flavourings during the creaming stage, or into any additional fats being added in later. Fats are the best vehicle in your cake for absorbing flavour, even preserving them during baking.
Do you have a favourite decorating trick/technique?
I don’t go in with a rigid plan, I always do my best work when i’m more relaxed. I lay everything out on a tray and then just go with the flow, keeping texture, size and shape in the back of my mind. I like to work in layers, adding smaller things first, then I add the larger fruit, filling in any gaps with the smaller berries, flowers and leaves. I also think looking at the cake from all angles while decorating is important - it will very rarely be viewed from just one angle! Working on a turntable is great for this - just give it a little spin around every now and then.
What is the most practical advice you’ve got about building a successful layer cakes?
It’s all about temperature, BUT contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that always means working cold. Yes, setting your structure in the fridge with a crumb coat is important, but working with a cake that’s too cold can cause issues too. I will leave a cake in the fridge for 15 minutes max - if it’s too cold, it’ll cause the room temperature buttercream to set whilst you're trying to apply it, making it tricky to spread and giving you an uneven texture. This rule extends to the buttercream itself too - the butter begins to solidify - I often take a blowtorch to the side of the metal mixer bowl whilst it’s running, to warm it up a little mid-decorating.
Do you have a favourite piece of equipment for cake making?
Invaluable in my kit is; small flexible pallet knife - more dextrous for edges and swoops and swirls; long handled tweezers for working with more delicate fruit, leaves or flowers; and a decent turntable.
What’s the most memorable cake you’ve ever made? / Your favourite cake?
Most memorable is probably the first Stout and Black cake I made. Watching the Swiss meringue buttercream turn the most vivid shade of magenta, just from using pureed blackcurrants, and nothing else. It worked with the dark colour and flavour of the cake perfectly. It’s now by far my most requested cake, so mine and my customers favourite.
Follow Holly’s food styling & recipe development @hollyshootsandchefs and Taymount Bakery @TaymountBakery
Today’s recipe
I’ve always believed that the number one function of a cake is to bring joy… so do that! My own philosophy is fully centred around the experience of someone both receiving (visuals) and eating the cake. It’s so special to make a cake for someone so I always make the most of cakes being a total blank canvas and have fun personalising it to the extreme.
I usually begin by thinking about the person and building the flavour from there. Is there a chocolate bar they love? Or a particular flavour they obsess over? How can you express creme brulee via a cake?! Once you have an anchor, I love distilling it and figuring out how to translate that essence into a cake via the base, soaks, fillings etc. I also love taking a classic flavour and figuring out new and more modern ways to translate it. That brings us nicely to today’s recipe: Coffee & Walnut Cake.
Layers of brown butter genoise sponge, coffee soak, roasted walnut & honey infused cream, walnut praline and a coffee-custard buttercream, natch. A great layer cake begins with great base recipes and these are some fantastic ones to get you started!
I love the flavour of the cake to be clearly expressed by the decoration where possible. I’m personally intimidated by the super smooth sided cakes and never invested in a cake turntable, so a great tactic is to use a scatter-gun approach to the outside like we do today with a rough finish and nuts all over the edges. Keep it organic! Always remember… RELAX. DON’T FREAK OUT! We have a plan and just take your time. And don’t forget to clear space in your fridge before you start decorating!
PS. I always think that having good cake box / cake boards is actually so helpful. And remember to use a cake board that is 1 inch bigger than the cake you’re making. Today I used the base of tart tins because I didn’t have any boards (boo). I always find myself scrambling to find them so take the stress out of transportation by having these ready.
Coffee and Walnut cake recipe
Makes 1 x 6inch, 4 layer cake
Brown butter genoise
4 eggs, approx 220g
75g caster sugar
25g dark brown sugar
70g plain flour
30g cornflour / cornstarch
1/4 - 1/2 tsp flaky salt, depending on your tolerance!
50g brown butter, warm (50c is ideal)
Honey & walnut cream
120g walnuts
450g double cream
40g strong honey
1/2 tsp flaky salt
40g milk (this is used later in the recipe!)
Walnut Praline (this is optional and makes a little more than you need)
100g walnuts
80g caster sugar
Coffee custard buttercream
185g whole milk
35g coffee beans OR 5g instant coffee
100g caster sugar
2 egg yolks (35g)
250g butter
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
Coffee Soak
240g strong coffee (french press 45-50g coffee, 240g water!)
15g caster sugar
Method
Day 1: Honey & walnut cream infusion
Roast walnuts in oven at 170c fan for 15-20 minutes until very darkly roasted (but not burnt!) Leave to cool slightly then chop up into smaller pieces
Warm double cream in a saucepan then add the roasted walnuts, honey and salt. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes before transferring into a container and infusing overnight
Day 1: Coffee buttercream infusion (skip this if you are using instant coffee)
Heat whole milk until simmering then add coffee beans. Simmer for 1-2 minutes then cover / transfer into a container and leave overnight to infuse.
Brown butter genoise (genoise deep dive method here)
Pre-heat oven to 170c fan and prepare 2x 6inch cake tins with greaseproof paper
Brown butter in a pan (method here) and leave to cool slightly
Whisk eggs with brown sugar and caster sugar on high speed for 5 minutes, reduce to medium speed for 3 minutes then low speed for 10 minutes to reach perfect ribbon stage
Meanwhile sift cornflour and flour together 3 times - cornflour is clumpy so make sure you don’t skip this!
Pour your ribbon stage eggs into a large bowl - it is easier to fold more gently if the bowl is large. Sift the flours once again onto the egg mixture then add salt, folding very gently with a slicing motion (I like to do a capital D shape - slice through the middle or edge then go around and under!). You can do this in 2-3 stages. Try not to deflate the mixture - by all means go slowly
Make a liaison batter - whisk 2-3 tablespoons of the flour/egg mixture into your melted butter then fold the liaison batter back in. Once homogenous, divide between tins (210g per tin approx)
Drop tin from 20-30cm height to break any large bubbles then bake for 25-30 mins until risen and golden. You can stab with a knife to check it comes out clean
Drop the cake from a 20-30cm height when it comes out of the oven
Cool upside down in the tin on a cooling rack
Once cool, wrap and keep in fridge overnight to firm up
Day 1: Walnut Praline (this is optional!)
Roast walnuts in 170c oven for 15 minutes
Make a dry caramel with the caster sugar, stirring over a medium heat until the sugar is a deep amber
Add in the nuts over a low heat and mix to combine. Leave to cool completely on a silpat
Once cool, blitz in a food processor for 5-7 minutes until totally liquid. Add salt to taste (1/2 tsp is a good start)
Day 2: Assembly
Coffee Soak
Mix strong coffee with sugar and set aside to cool
Coffee custard buttercream
Heat milk (still with coffee beans in if you chose to infuse) til simmering with half of the sugar. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks and rest of the sugar
When simmering, pour half the milk over the egg yolk/sugar mix, whisking the entire time to ensure it doesn’t curdle. Return to the stove on a low heat and stir until it reaches 84c and covers the back of a spoon
Pass through a sieve (if infusing with whole beans) into a bowl then whisk until cool. If you haven’t done the infusion, add the instant coffee now
Once cool, start adding the soft butter, slowly. It will look absolutely disgusting and split but keep going. This is because you are moving between two opposing systems - it begins as a fat suspended in liquid system but by the end you’ve got a liquid suspended in fat system. Yay science! Add salt to taste. This can be made a day in advance the rewhipped
Honey & Walnut cream
Loosen cream (it’ll likely be stiff and cold) by stirring then push through a sieve. Once you’ve got as much as you can out, put the creamy walnuts back into a bowl then add 50g milk to ‘wash’ them and release more infused cream - put through sieve again. Spent walnuts can be washed and then re-dried in the oven and used in biscuits or made into caramelised pieces (but it wont make praline because all the oils have gone/they’re now too wet) or added into cakes, they still have good flavour. If it is so thick you can’t pass it, warm gently on the stove then pass but remember you need to chill completely or it won’t whip
Check flavour - you may want to add a touch more honey or salt depending on the honey you have used
Whip to soft peaks then set aside. Don’t whip until you’re ready to assemble
Final Assembly - If final assembly makes you stressed, you can also build this cake inside a cake tin! Just line with clingfilm then set the built cake in the fridge for an hour before continuing with decoration. You can also just sandwich the two genoise together with the cream in the middle and a few flicks of buttercream on top. Another tactic is to build it layer by layer - do one, put in fridge for 10 mins before continuing with the rest
Divide genoise sponges in half. Take one sponge and soak with 50g coffee. Transfer a little buttercream into a piping bag and pipe around the edge to create a sort of barrier for the cream around 50g. Spread 100g honey/walnut cream into the middle then drizzle (or spiral with piping bag) around 40-50g walnut praline paste
Continue with next three layers. Don’t press down on the layers - genoise is soft, cream is soft, it’s all soft - and every time you add a cake layer, use a palette knife to gently close each layer! Just be gentle and pop into the fridge at any point if it’s feeling dangerous. It might feel like its wobbling - and it probably is - but just keep going!
Finally spread a thin layer of buttercream around the edge of the cake to seal using a bench scraper or a palette knife. If a bit of cream has splurged out, don’t worry! Just work it into the crumb coat and once its basically covered pop into the fridge to chill and set
After about 45 minutes, time to decorate. You can do it however you like, but I decided to pipe a few fat blobs of the buttercream and then used a palette knife to roughly cover. After this, I got my Van Gogh on and use palette knife to press and drag buttercream over the top in little uneven strokes. The cake is finished with a few circles of buttercream filled with praline paste on top (inspired by a cream and curd number by Rose Wilde!) and roasted walnuts decoratively placed around the edges, with a few small white flowers and the leaves.
Assembled cake is happy in the fridge for 5 days, I think! I would say its best overnight so the flavours can mingle and cake softens even further. Leave at room temp for around 20 minutes before cutting with a hot knife - wipe in between cuts for tidy results!
This was so lovely—thank you for always bringing a bit of joy!
So many good tips in this week’s newsletter. And I love the decoration on this coffee walnut cake.