Vanilla Brown Butter Cake With Spring Fruit And Berry Compote Mint Oil And Toasted Marshmallow Sauce Recipes

MY BEST VANILLA CAKE - STAYS MOIST 4 DAYS!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for 20 minutes before starting the batter (Note 8). Place shelf in the middle of the oven.
• Grease 2 x 20cm / 8" cake pans with butter, then line with parchment / baking paper. (Note 9 more pan sizes) Best to use cake pan without loose base, if you can.
• Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Beat eggs for 30 seconds on speed 6 of a Stand Mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or hand beater.
• With the beater still going, pour the sugar in over 45 seconds.
• Then beat for 7 minutes on speed 8, or until tripled in volume and white.
• Heat Milk-Butter: While egg is beating, place butter and milk in a heatproof jug and microwave 2 minutes on high to melt butter (or use stove). Do not let milk bubble and boil (foam ok). Don't do this ahead and let the milk cool (this affects rise).
• Gently add flour: When the egg is whipped, scatter 1/3 flour across surface, then beat on Speed 1 for 5 seconds. Add half remaining flour, then mix on Speed 1 for 5 sec. Add remaining flour, then mix on Speed 1 for 5 - 10 sec until the flour is just mixed in. Once you can't see flour, stop straight away.
• Lighten hot milk with some Egg Batter: Pour hot milk, vanilla and oil into the now empty flour bowl. Add about 1 1/2 cups (2 ladles or so) of the Egg Batter into the Milk-Butter (don't need to be 100% accurate with amount). Use a whisk to mix until smooth - you can be vigorous here. Will look foamy.
• Slowly add milk: Turn beater back on Speed 1 then pour the Milk mixture into the Egg Batter over 15 seconds, then turn beater off.
• Scrape and final mix: Scrape down sides and base of bowl. Beat on Speed 1 for 10 seconds - batter should now be smooth and pourable.
• Pour batter into pans.
• Knock out bubbles: Bang each cake pan on the counter 3 times to knock out big bubbles (Note 10 for why)
• Bake 30 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.
• Remove from oven. Cool in cake pans for 15 minutes, then gently turn out onto cooling racks. If using as layer cakes, cool upside down - slight dome will flatten perfectly. Level cake = neat layers.
• Frost with frosting of choice, or cream and fresh berries or jam. See list of ideas in post!
• Beat butter with paddle attachment in stand mixer for 3 minutes on high until it changes from yellow to almost white, and it becomes fluffy and creamy.
• Add icing sugar / powdered sugar gradually in 3 lots, beating slowly (to avoid a powder storm) then once mostly incorporated, beat on high for a full 3 minutes until fluffy.
• Add vanilla and milk, then beat for a further 30 seconds. Use milk only if needed to make it lovely and soft but still holds it's form (eg for piping). Use immediately. (If you make ahead, refrigerate then beat to re-fluff).

VANILLA-BROWN BUTTER CAKE WITH SPRING FRUIT AND BERRY COMPOTE, MINT OIL AND TOASTED MARSHMALLOW SAUCE

Steps:

• For the vanilla brown butter cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 13-by-18-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the powdered sugar, almond flour, all-purpose flour and egg whites and mix on low until the ingredients combine without any visible lumps, approximately 1 minute.
• Meanwhile, put the butter and scraped vanilla bean seeds in a 2-quart saucepan and cook on high heat, whisking occasionally. As the mixture cooks, the butter will begin to brown and it will start to smell amazing, about 15 minutes! The longer the butter and vanilla stay on the heat, the more "nutty" the final flavor will become. So cook it to your preference. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, reserving the brown butter.
• Turn the stand mixer to the lowest speed and stream the hot brown butter into the batter, mixing for approximately 2 minutes.
• Transfer the cake batter to the prepared baking sheet and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool, then cut into rectangles about 4 inches by 1 1/2 inches.
• For the toasted marshmallow sauce: In a small saucepan, combine the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Add the corn syrup to the sugar/water mixture. If there are any granules of sugar on the side of the saucepan, brush them down using a pastry brush dipped in water.
• Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Mix the egg whites on high speed until soft peaks appear, then turn the mixer down to medium speed.
• Place the saucepan on medium-high heat and cook the sugar mixture to thread stage, approximately 234 degrees F. Turn the stand mixer to high speed and stream in the cooked sugar. Continue to mix the meringue on high speed until the outside of the bowl feels cool to the touch, approximately 5 minutes.
• For the spring fruit and berry compote: Combine the blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, figs, granulated sugar and mint in a mixing bowl and toss together. Let stand at least 5 minutes
• For the mint oil: Put the oil and mint in a blender and blend for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a saucepan, slowly bring to a simmer and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Strain with a fine-mesh strainer, then let cool. Transfer the cooled mixture to a squeeze bottle.
• To assemble: Spoon and drag about 2 tablespoons of the marshmallow onto each plate and toast the top with a kitchen blowtorch. Place a rectangle of cake on top of each, then divide the fruit among the cakes. Decorate the plates with the mint oil from the squeeze bottle.

VANILLA BUTTER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour three 8-inch round pans.
• Combine the buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla in a bowl or large measuring cup and whisk until smooth.
• Combine the sugar, cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
• Place the mixer bowl on the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, begin adding chunks of softened butter and continue blending until the mixture is sandy and no visible chunks of butter remain. Add 1/4 of the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend on low to combine. Raise the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl and beater halfway through beating. Add half of the remaining liquid ingredients to the bowl, blend on low to combine and then scrape the bowl. Add the remaining liquid ingredients and continue to blend on the lowest speed for 2 minutes.
• Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with a few most crumbs stuck to it, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool the layers in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them onto a cooling rack and carefully wrap them in plastic wrap while they cool completely.