Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake Recipes

BERRY CHANTILLY CAKE

Steps:

• Note: It's VERY important that your cold ingredients are at room temperature or slightly warmed. See video for tips. Heat oven to 335º F/168º C - 350º F/177º C. I tend to use lower setting to prevent my cakes from getting too dark on the outside before the inside is done baking.
• Place 4oz of the milk and oil in a separate bowl or cup and set aside
• Combine remaining milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and room temp eggs in a separate measuring cup and set aside
• Measure out dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and place them into the stand mixer bowl.
• Attach the paddle to the mixer, and turn on the slowest speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers). Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added. Let mix until batter resembles coarse sand.
• Add milk/oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (speed 4 on my KitchenAid) and mix for 2 full minutes. Do not skip this step or your cake will not rise.
• Add in 1/3 of your milk/egg mixture. Repeat 2 more times until batter is just combined. Don't forget to scrape your bowl.
• I always start by baking for 25 minutes for 8" and smaller cakes and 30 minutes for 9" and larger cakes and then checking for doneness. If the cakes are still really jiggly, I add another 5 minutes. I check every 5 minutes after that until I'm close and then it's every 2 minutes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.
• Remove the cake pan from the oven and "tap" it lightly on the counter once to remove air from the cake and keep it from shrinking un-evenly.
• Place cakes on a cooling rack and press down the dome immediately with an oven mitt covered hand. After cakes have cooled for 10 minutes or the pans are cool enough to touch, flip the cakes over and remove from the pans onto the cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
• Once the cakes are chilled in the refrigerator (about an hour for this size, longer for larger cakes), tort, fill and crumb coat all at once. If you do not plan on crumb coating the same day, you can leave the wrapped cakes on the countertop. Chilling can dry out your cakes before they are iced, so avoid keeping them in the refrigerator longer than necessary. Cakes can be frozen in freezer bags for later use as well.
• Cream together the softened butter, cream cheese and mascarpone cheese together until smooth.
• Add in the powdered sugar and continue creaming until combined
• Whip the whipped cream to soft peaks. Add in the pudding mix to stabilize the whipped cream and whip until just combined. Add in the vanilla and almond extract. Peaks should be firm but not curdled. This happens quickly so watch your cream closely! Check out the stabilized whipped cream recipe to see other options to use besides instant pudding mix.
• Fold your cream cheese mixture and whipped cream together to make your frosting.
• Place the berries in a medium saucepan with 2.5 oz of sugar and bring to a simmer.
• Combine the cornstarch with the cold water to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the bubbling berries.
• Cook a few minutes until the mixture is thick (1-2 minutes). Remove the berries from the heat and stir in the zest of one lemon and your lemon juice.
• Cool berry filling before using.

BERRY LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 10-inch round cake pans; line with parchment. Butter parchment, then dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla seeds. In a separate bowl, toss together blueberries and cornstarch.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until well combined. Continue beating while gradually adding butter until mixture is crumbly, about 3 minutes.
• Slowly add half of milk mixture; increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add remaining half of milk mixture, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat until incorporated, about 1 minute more. Remove bowl from mixer; fold in blueberries.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, spreading to edges with a small offset spatula. Tap pans on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean and tops are lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool completely. Turn cakes out of pans and remove parchment.
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 6 egg whites, and a pinch of salt in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch and feels completely smooth when rubbed between fingertips, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk on low speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture has cooled completely, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; add 4 sticks butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking until fully incorporated after each addition. (Don't worry if buttercream appears curdled after all of butter has been added; it will become smooth again with beating.) Whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
• Switch to paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until air bubbles are eliminated, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand at room temperature. Repeat process twice more with remaining ingredients, using the same amounts each time, then combining all three batches of buttercream in the large bowl and covering with plastic. Remove 2 cups buttercream; set aside.
• Fold jam into large bowl of buttercream. Add burgundy food color, a drop at a time, until desired color is reached.
• Assembly:Place a cake layer, bottom-side down, on a cake stand or serving platter. Spread about 1 1/2 cups buttercream over it; top with a second cake layer, bottom-side down, and another 1 1/2 cups buttercream. Finish with a third cake layer, bottom-side up. Evenly spread top and sides of cake with a 1/2-inch thickness of buttercream, smoothing with an offset spatula.
• Divide remaining buttercream among three bowls, then lighten each with some of the reserved 2 cups white buttercream, creating different shades. Transfer to pastry bags fitted with open and closed star tips in a variety of sizes. Pipe swirls and rosettes of buttercream on top of cake. Frosted cake can be refrigerated overnight; bring to room temperature and top with berries before serving.