A big beautiful cake that you can bake - recipes

Sunset, May, 1989

Light sponge or chocolate, for a special occasion, for up to 112 people

A large, elegant cake can provide a sumptuous finale to traditional spring celebrations. These tiered versions-designed by baker Carolyn Wail of Bette's Bakeshop in Berkeley-are lovely to took at and exceptionally good tasting.

Sensitive to the needs of the home cook, Weil has scaled cake-baking directions to accommodate any size group. Her knowhow is reflected in the recipes and charts that follow. With them, you can create a 6-inch birthday cake for 4 or a tiered

extravaganza for 112.

She offers two flavors-a light sponge cake filled with a tart lemon curd and frosted with whipped cream, and a rich chocolate torte studded with raspberries and cloaked in dark chocolate.

Time plan: bake, fill, frost

You can bake all the cake layers for either flavor up to I week ahead. Freeze them, unless you serve them within 3 days.

Two to three days before serving, make the lemon curd for the sponge cake or the ganache for the dense chocolate cake.

The next day, fill the lemon cake with the curd, then coat layers with the first round of cream. Hold in the refrigerator as long as overnight. For the chocolate cake, plaster the cake with a layer of cool, spreadable chocolate ganache. A final layer of warm ganache goes on when chocolate is firm-or cake can be chilled in this stage up to 2 days. Once the ganache is firm, layers can be stacked and held in the refrigerator up to overnight.

Frost flowers with sugar as carly as the day before the party.

The day of the party, put the final coat of cream on the lemon cake. Stack cakes if tiered; they can be kept in the refrigerator up to 6 hours.

When a tiered cake is too large to fit in the refrigerator, consider completing each individual layer at home, then stack layers, pipe on trim, and garnish at the serving site. It's often safer to carry the large masterpiece in individual parts.

What equipment you'll need

These cakes require round cake pans at least 2 inches deep. To make sure the larger pans will fit, measure your oven first. You'll find larger pans at cake-decorating supply stores (look in the yellow pages) or through mail-order catalogues. Also available through cake supply specialists are doilies, hardboard rounds, corrugated cardboard rounds, cooking parchment (also sold in supermarkets, near the waxed paper), and 1/4-inch wooden dowels (also sold in hardware stores). You can cut dowels with pruning shears.

Before you begin, make room in your refrigerator. Larger cake layers take up lots of space. Also, clean out strong-smelling foods; the cakes absorb odors readily.

How to multiply the recipes

First, determine the number of servings you'll need. A serving is a 2-inch square or wedge; plan for a few extras. Next, using the charts that follow, decide on the size and quantity of layers. Yield for each batch of batter varies slightly with type of mixer and baker's folding technique. Check chart for amount of batter required to fill pans.

Organize and measure your ingredients. We've limited the largest batch size (4 x basic recipe) to about 20 cups. You'll need at least a 6-quart bowl for that amount. This is more than enough to fill the largest pan.

When separating eggs, crack each individually into a small bowl in case a yolk should break; separate yolk and white, then add to those already separated.

For maximum volume, don't whip more than 6 egg whites at a time (you don't need to rinse bowl and beaters after each round). You can, however, combine all the egg yolk mixture in a single bowl if you have one large enough. Add whites, as whipped, to yolk mixture.

Lemon Sponge Cake

For amounts, pan sizes, and baking times, refer to charts.

Butter the bottom of a round cake pan or pans. Line bottom with cooking parchment or with waxed paper. Butter paper and dust with flour.

In a bowl (2 to 3 qt. for 1 x recipe), stir together extra-large egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and lemon peel. Set aside.

Measure extra-large egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar, and cake flour In a large bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, beat 6 whites (about 7/8 cup) and 1/4 teaspoon of the cream of tartar until mixture will hold very soft peaks, Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beatinguntil completely dissolved (rub whites between fingers to see if mixture feels smooth) and whites hold stiff, shiny peaks. Add whites to yolk mixture and sift 1 cup flour over whites; gently fold in. Repeat to whip remaining whites, and add remaining flour.

Spread batter into cake pans, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake in a 350[deg] oven until tops spring back when lightly touched. Bake on only 1 oven rack at a time if

layer is larger than 10 inches.

Set cakes on racks to cool. Cut around edges of cakes to release. Invert layers onto matching-size corrugated cardboard rounds. Peel off paper. If made ahead, wrap airtight and freeze up to 1 week.

With a long serrated knife, cut each layer in half horizontally (step 1 on page 209); as a cutting guide, push toothpicks around cake sides to mark. Brush off loose crumbs. Lift off top half. Spread cut surface with lemon curd (recipe follows) to within 1/2 inch of cake edge (step 2), using the amount specified for layer size. Replace top layer, cut side down, on filling. Repeat with remaining layers.