Brandy Cake.- This classic cake deserves to be in everyone's repertoire, it's a basic cake with a small crumb, moist and buttery. It lends itself well to additional flavorings like rum, brandy, fruit liqueurs or ?
This recipe makes an 8 inch round or square cake.
Ingredients:
110 g butter - room temperature
90 g sugar
2 whole eggs, I used 3 because they were small - room temperature
4 Tbsp Brandy (for the cake)
5 Tbsp Brandy for soaking
110 g cake flour, I used All Purpose
1/2 tsp Baking powder
Pinch of salt
20 g Almond flour (optional, if not using add 20 g more AP flour)
1- Make sure you have all your ingredients close by, measured and ready to use. Insure your butter is softened and your eggs are room temperature.
2- In a small bowl beat the eggs until well combined and add the brandy, a little at a time.
3- In another bowl with a colander to place the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift it.
4- Pre-heat your oven to 170 C or 330 F. Prepare your pan with parchment paper or butter and flour well.
5- Cream the butter. Preferably with a mixer or a hand one, if not, whisk it until it's almost white and fluffy. It must be really well creamed so it will help the eggs incorporate.
6- Add the sugar to the batter in 3 additions, be sure it's well combined before adding more.
7- Add the egg and brandy mix to the batter in 3 or 4 additional and once again, make sure it's well mixed and fluffy. This is needed so it doesn't separate.
8- Now you will add the dry ingredients you sifted before, once more in 4 or 5 additions, being careful to mix everything really well.
9- Put your batter into the prepared pan. Slam the mold on the table to release any air bubbles and to insure the batter fills all the corners and places.
10- Place the mold into the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 - 45 minutes. I would check at 20 minutes to make sure it's not browning too soon. You can always put aluminum foil on top to stop the browning. Rotate the mold around the middle point to allow for cold or hot spots in the oven. If the cake looks golden by 30 minutes you can test the cake with a skewer to see if it comes out clean, once it does, remove from the oven to cool.
11- Now take the extra 5 Tbsp of brandy and with a pastry brush put it on the cake so it will get soaked up. This is done as soon as it's out of the oven and still hot. The remaining brandy will be put on the cake once it's cooled and before frosting it.
NOTE: If you're going after a classic soaked cake, then soak it and wrap it up in plastic wrap really well and do this for 7 or 8 days (or more...)
You can add dried fruits, like raisins, apple, prunes, cherries and even nuts more like a fruit cake.
Frosting or no? I made some Brandy Frosting but you could use any you like.
BRANDY FROSTING:
250 g butter - softened at room temperature
500 g powdered sugar
90 ml brandy
1.- Butter in the mixer bowl on low speed until soft.
2.- Add the sugar and mix until fully combined. Add a little at a time so it will mix well.
3.- Once the butter and sugar are combined, add the brandy, a tsp at a time so it will combine and not break.
4.- Adding brandy to the frosting might make it soft, but once placed in the fridge it will firm back up.
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