This is my Thanksgiving Day cake. This is a very versatile cake and easy to do. After having it for eight years, on my way to the supermarket I lost the original recipe! Luckily I remembered how to do the cake batter for this spongy cake, but the white chocolate frosting it called for, I could not remember at all. I chose to do it with MERINGUE since I wanted an easy and white frosting that will hold well until tomorrow. As it's to celebrate Thanksgiving I used cranberry sauce mix with strawberry jam to decorate this cake, however you can use strawberry jam or any other flavor you wish. I gave it a tropical touch by using coconut flakes mixed with meringue for the filling.
Recipe for a Spongy Cake with Nuts
Ingredients:
For Cake
4 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1 ½ cups of sugar
½ cup butter or margarine cut up in cubes
1 cup hot milk
2½ ups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped almond, walnuts or pecans
For Frosting:
1 cup of sugar
¼ cup water
3- 4 egg whites (4 oz or ½ cup)
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 ml)
To decorate
⅔ cups shredded fresh coconut
cranberry jam (sauce)
dry fruits
walnuts or pecans
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.
2. To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for at least 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Stir the butter or margarine pieces into the hot milk until the butter has melted. Combine the flour with the baking powder. Add lf 2 cup of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, beating slowly. Add half the hot milk mixture, 1 cup of the flour mixture, then the remaining hot milk, beating. After each addition. Add the remaining flour mixture and the vanilla. Beat well. Fold in the nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake the layers in the 350°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pans. Remove the cakes from the pans and cool completely on wire racks.
4. To make the frosting: In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar with the water. Bring the mixture to boiling and boil for 7 minutes or until it is syrup thickens. (Undissolved sugar will make the frosting grainy.) Make sure to scrape down the sides of the saucepan.
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar with an electric mixer until foamy. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites, beating constantly at the highest speed for 4 to 6 minutes or until the frosting is stiff enough to spread and cooled. Use a rubber spatula to guide the egg whites toward the beaters and scrape down the sides of the bowl to be sure that the frosting is evenly mixed. Beat in the vanilla. The finished frosting should be smooth and fluffy, yet hold stiff peaks.
6. Place a cake layer on a cake plate; spread with about 1 cup of frosting and sprinkle with ⅓ cup of coconut. Repeat with the remaining layers.
Serves 12
Note:
a) The cake can be frosted and filled with a wide variety of flavors. My favorite fillings are vanilla custard and praline.
b) The recipe for the meringue frosting half of the Dominican frosting recipe shown in this blog.
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