Cranberry Christmas Cake Candied
Cranberries: Place cranberries into a 6-8 cup (1.5 - 2 liter) stainless
steel (or heatproof) bowl. The cranberries are going to be 'steamed'
so you will need a steamer or pot that is large enough to hold the
bowl of cranberries. Fill the large pot with a few inches (5 cm) of
water and bring to a simmer. Then combine the sugar and water in a
small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the boiling syrup over the
cranberries and cover the bowl with a plate. (You need to 'weigh'
the bowl down so it won't move around in the water.) Set the covered
bowl of cranberries into the pot or steamer. Cover the pot and steam
the berries over low heat for about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and
let cool. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the berries sit in
the syrup for 3 to 4 days at room temp. The syrup will become a
little jellied. If using right away, drain the berries before using,
keeping the syrup for some other use.
Chocolate Genoise: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Butter, or spray with a non stick spray, a 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pan and
line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Sift
the flour with the salt and cocoa powder.
In a heatproof
bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar. Place the bowl over a saucepan of
simmering water. Whisking constantly, heat the eggs and sugar until
lukewarm to the touch (this will take about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to
the bowl of
your electric mixer. Beat on high speed (about 3-5 minutes) until the egg
mixture has cooled, tripled in volume, and looks like softly whipped cream (the batter
will fall back into the bowl in a
ribbon-like
pattern). Beat in the vanilla extract.
Then
sift about
one-third of the
flour mixture over the whipped eggs and gently
fold in using a
large rubber spatula or
whisk. Fold in half of the remaining flour, and then
fold in the rest. (Do not over mix or the batter
will deflate). Take about 1 cup of
the batter and fold it into the hot butter mixture. (This lightens the butter mixture.) Then,
with a spatula, gently
fold the butter
mixture completely into the egg batter. Pour into
your prepared pan, smoothing the
top.
Bake until
the cake shrinks
slightly from the edges of the pan and the top springs back when lightly pressed
(about 20 - 25
minutes). (A toothpick
inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.) Cool on a metal rack. When the cake has cooled completely, run a small knife around
the edges
to release the cake. The
genoise
will keep two days in the refrigerator or it can be frozen for a
couple of months.
Drain the cranberries, reserving the syrup. Make a liqueur syrup
by combining 1/3 cup (80 ml) of the drained cranberry syrup with the 2
T Kirsch. Melt
the chocolate and water in a heatproof bowl
placed over
a saucepan of simmering water. Let cool to room temperature. Using a serrated knife,
cut the chocolate genoise, horizontally, into two layers. Turn over the top
layer of the cake (so the top becomes the bottom) and place on
your serving platter. Brush the layer with about 2 T
of the liqueur syrup.
Beat 1/2 cup (120 ml) of
the whipping cream until soft
peaks form. With a rubber spatula or whisk quickly
fold
the cream into the chocolate mixture. Immediately spread the genoise layer
with the cream. Place
enough drained cranberries evenly over the chocolate cream to cover completely. (The remaining cranberries will be used for decorating the top of
the assembled cake.) Moisten the cut-side of
the second genoise layer with 2 T syrup. Gently place cut-side down on top of
chocolate cream. Brush the top layer with
syrup. Beat remaining whipping
cream with the 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 2 T white sugar until
stiff peaks form. Spread a thick layer of whipping cream over entire cake.
Use remaining cream
to
pipe rosettes
on top of cake. Can refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, drain the reserved candied cranberries
and blot with paper towels and place on top of cake.
Serves 10-12.
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Candied Cranberries:
2 cups
(220 grams) fresh
cranberries, washed
1 1/4 cups (250
grams) white
sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml)
water
Chocolate Genoise:
3
tablespoons (42 grams) hot melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup (65
grams) cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (30
grams) unsweetened regular or Dutch-processed
cocoa powder
4 large
eggs
2/3 cup (135
grams) granulated white
sugar
1 teaspoon pure
vanilla extract
Filling and Frosting:
2 1/2 cups (600 ml)
heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons
Kirsch (cherry brandy)
4 ounces (115
grams)
semisweet or bittersweet
chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon
pure
vanilla extract
2 tablespoons
(30 grams) granulated white
sugar
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