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Pink Guava Spice Cake with Rum Simple Syrup and Swiss Buttercream1 cake Rebecca Moesinger, Chef/Owner of 45 Surfside Bakery and Café, Nantucket, MA |
| • | 2 3/4 oz. The Perfect Purée Pink Guava Puree, thawed |
| • | 5 oz. cake flour |
| • | 1/4 oz. baking powder (6 grams) |
| • | 1 1/2 oz. brown sugar |
| • | 2 1/2 oz. granulated sugar |
| • | 3 g. salt |
| • | 1/2 tsp. cinnamon |
| • | 1/4 tsp. nutmeg |
| • | 1/4 tsp. allspice |
| • | 2 1/2 oz. vegetable oil |
| • | 2 1/2 oz. egg yolks |
| • | 1 1/4 oz. water |
| For decoration: | |
| • | 8 oz. toasted almonds, plus fresh raspberries, strawberries, kumquats and pomegranate seeds. |
| For the Meringue: | |
| • | 5 oz. egg whites |
| • | 2 1/2 oz. sugar |
| • | 1 1/5 tsp. cream of tartar |
| For the Fruit Glacage: | |
| • | 2 1/2 oz. The Perfect Purée Pink Guava Puree, thawed |
| • | 1/4 oz. (sheet) gelatin (12 grams) |
| • | 1 1/2 oz. sugar |
| • | 1 oz. water |
| • | 1/2 oz. corn syrup |
| For the Simple Syrup: | |
| • | 1 cup water |
| • | 1 1/4 cup of sugar |
| • | 1 oz. of dark rum |
| For the Swiss Buttercream: | |
| • | 8 oz. sugar |
| • | 4 oz. egg whites |
| • | 14 oz. butter, softened |
| • | 1/4 tsp. lemon juice |
| • | 3 g. vanilla extract |
| Method: | |
| 1. | Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. |
| 2. | Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper (do not grease). |
| 3. | Sift together dry ingredients. |
| 4. | Mix wet ingredients. |
| 5. | Combine wet and dry ingredients. |
| 6. | Make the meringue: Whip eggs until soft peaks form then add (stream) sugar and cream of tartar until medium peaks form (be careful not to over-whip). |
| 7. | Fold meringue and cake mixture together and place in oven until cake is baked, about 25 minutes. Cake will be dark beige on top and fingers pressed on top will not make an indent. |
| 8. | Make the fruit glacage: Warm the gelatin (bloom), sugar, corn syrup and water over a double boiler at low temperature (100-105 degrees). Stir in Pink Guava Purée. |
| 9. | Make the simple syrup by heating and cooking ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat for five minutes; cool to room temperature. |
| 10. | Make the Swiss buttercream: Place sugar and egg whites over a double boiler and stir until temperature reaches 120 degrees. Whip until stiff meringue forms then cut butter into 1-inch pieces and add butter piece by piece to meringue. Finish with lemon juice and vanilla. |
| Assemble the cake: | |
| 1. | Cut cooled cake into five layers. |
| 2. | Spread a thin layer (1/16 of an inch) of buttercream onto bottom layer and place another layer on top. |
| 3. | Brush with rum simple syrup. |
| 4. | Repeat until all layers are filled. |
| 5. | Cover cake with buttercream and place in refrigerator until buttercream is set. |
| 6. | Remove cake from refrigerator and smooth glacage (warmed to 100-105 degrees) over the top of the cake. |
| 7. | Finish bottom and top with toasted almonds. Decorate with raspberries, strawberries, kumquats and pomegranate seeds. |