Basic Procedures and Common Mistakes
The following paragraphs provide a detailed, step-by-step, illustrated review of the most common mistakes in cakemaking,
from egg-beating to assembling and decorating. It is intended for novices or those who would like to check and
possibly deepen their cake-making knowledge. There are warnings about possible mistakes, instructions on how to avoid
them, and practical advice and tricks that save time and simplify work. Even experienced cooks can benefit from reading
these sections to become familiar with the techniques I use.
Below is a list of the procedures I will describe in this section.
Beating (Whipping) Egg Yolks
Underbeating egg yolks is one of the most common mistakes in cake-baking. The temperature of egg yolks is not crucial, so they can be kept in the refrigerator until needed. To prevent egg yolks from drying and to keep them fresh, make sure to cover them and not add any other ingredient to them. Egg yolks are easy to beat and very difficult to overbeat. There is a simple test, called the ribbon test, to determine whether egg yolks are properly beaten.
Beat egg yolks and sugar in a small mixing bowl (any kind – plastic, glass, or metal) with a hand-held electric mixer at high speed for about 4-5 minutes (see photos). The batter will turn pale in color, thicken, and almost double in volume. Then, turn off the mixer and lift the beaters out of the mixing bowl. If the batter flows slowly back into the mixing bowl in one continuous wide ribbon from both beaters, as shown in the last photo, the egg yolks are beaten properly. This is called beating egg yolks to ribbon stage. If, on the other hand, the batter flows down in two ribbons, one from each beater, as in the fourth photo, or if there is one ribbon for a moment, but it quickly separates into two, beat more. The ribbon has to be wide, flow slowly, and dissolve slowly when it reaches the surface of the egg yolks in the mixing bowl.
Most recipes instruct to beat egg yolks before beating egg whites (the whites can be warming to room temperature meanwhile), but easier recipes advise the reverse procedure, to eliminate cleaning the beaters.
Beating (Whipping) Egg Whites
Egg whites should always be brought to room temperature before beating because cold egg whites cannot produce maximum volume. There are several ways to warm eggs to room temperature. One is to set whole eggs on the counter and let them warm up for at least half an hour. A faster way is to leave the eggs immersed in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Another way, and my preferred method, is to separate the yolks from the whites (eggs are easier to separate when they are cold) and place the bowl with egg whites into a larger bowl filled with warm water for 5-10 minutes.
Overbeating egg whites is one of the most common mistakes in cake-making. Egg whites are easy to beat and are also easy to overbeat.
Sometimes egg whites cannot be beaten at all to the appropriate consistency because fat contamination prevents them from foaming. Egg yolks contain a lot of fat, so do not drop any piece of egg yolk into the egg whites during egg separation. Also, thoroughly clean the mixing bowl and beaters before use so they do not introduce any fat themselves. It is safer to use a metal or glass mixing bowl because it is difficult to clean fat from plastic. Even a little bit of fat may be enough to prevent egg whites from foaming.
The process of beating egg whites usually starts with the egg whites as the only ingredient and finishes with the addition of sugar. Sugar stabilizes the foam. Sometimes I add other ingredients before I start beating. Meringues, for example, benefit from a few drops of lemon juice to help the whites foam better and taste better. Another example is when I want egg whites beaten to a softer medium-firm stage (explained below), as in the Sachertorte. I add about one teaspoon of sugar per 6 egg whites to help control the stiffness. Sugar slows down the foaming process and makes it easier to recognize when to stop beating. All necessary additives are clearly listed in the recipes.
Once you start beating egg whites and they start foaming, it is very important to recognize when to start adding sugar and when to stop beating them. If egg whites are overbeaten, they are ruined and useless. It is also important to understand that, for different types of cakes, beaten egg whites require different stages of firmness. For sponge cakes, egg whites should be beaten to the medium-firm stage. Any further beating makes them more difficult to work with, jeopardizes the process of baking, and may result in a collapsed, thinner, or less spongy cake. For meringues, the desired stage is the stiff peak stage. In order to decide when to stop beating, recognize the following stages of beaten egg whites (also shown in the photos below):
Folding and Lightening
Once the egg whites are beaten to the desired stage, they have to be combined with dry ingredients or with another batter of denser consistency. This can be tricky because simple mixing can deflate the beaten egg whites and the precious air bubbles will be lost. This is easily avoided by:
When combining egg whites with a denser batter, the denser batter first has to be lightened (brought to a lighter
density), as illustrated in the first row of photos. Place some of the egg-whites batter (about one third) into the bowl with
the denser batter (photo 1) and fold the egg whites into the denser batter as described above (photo 2). Some of the air
bubbles in the egg whites will be lost, but the denser batter will become lightened and it will be possible to fold it back
into the rest of the egg whites in only one step, with minimal air bubble loss (photo 3). This technique ensures minimal
manipulation of the batter and produces the best volume. A very common mistake in cake-baking is to omit the step of
lightening, which can easily result in a collapsed batter.
Dry ingredients should be folded into batter in batches, preferably two to four (photos 6, 7, 8 and photos 2, 3 in the following section). Each batch of dry ingredients should be sifted or sprinkled into a very thin layer over the whole surface of the batter and then carefully folded into the batter. Make sure to use the gentle folding technique described above. It also helps if the batter bowl is wide (large). This enables sifting or sprinkling a larger amount of dry ingredients in each batch, thus decreasing the number of batches. The less the batter is manipulated, the less it will deflate and the greater the final volume. The resulting mixture is not stable and should be transferred into a baking pan (last photo) and baked in a preheated oven immediately after being prepared.
Preparing Meringue Cakes
Meringue cakes, such as the Baiser Torte, are made from egg whites only (the leftover yolks are usually used to make fillings). Bake them directly on aluminum foil, which should be peeled off once they are baked and completely cooled. Parchment or wax paper works well also. Meringues should be baked on low heat, so that they actually dry. To improve the drying process, meringues are usually baked on a cookie sheet or pan turned upside down (covered with aluminum foil or parchment or wax paper), which allows for more air circulation around the cake.
There are two types of meringues: crunchy and soft. Crunchy meringue is usually baked in thin layers; soft meringue is baked in one thick layer. To make thin meringue layers, use the pans turned upside down (photos 4, 5). Soft and thick meringue cakes are usually baked in pans turned right side up, otherwise they lose their shape in the process of baking. Crunchy meringue requires more sugar than soft meringue and is baked longer, but the procedure for making both kinds is exactly the same.
To make meringue (either crunchy or soft), the first step is to beat egg whites to the stiff peak stage so the sugar dissolves (feel it between your fingers), the trails of the beaters are very distinct and fine, the batter is very glossy and stiff, and the beaters start to splatter a thread-like pattern (see the section on beating egg whites). The mixing bowl can then be turned upside down and the batter will not move (photo 1).
If the recipe calls for both confectioners’ and granulated sugar, granulated sugar should be added first to make sure it dissolves properly. Beat for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the number of eggs and amount of sugar.
Due to the high sugar content, meringue batter is very stable (the more sugar the batter has, the more stable it will be). It can remain for hours at room temperature before baking (do not put it in the refrigerator because it will collect moisture, which will make it difficult to bake/dry). This batter can also be piped from a pastry bag into different shapes (some pipe disks onto baking paper on which circles of desired diameters had previously been drawn). I prefer to spread the batter onto the baking paper/foil with a spoon or spatula (photos 4, 5).
If the meringue calls for grated nuts (photos 2, 3), add them at the end, using the technique of folding discussed
above. Spread a thin layer of nuts over the entire surface of the batter and gently fold them with a spatula or big metal
spoon. Repeat in two to four batches until all nuts are folded into the batter. Use the same spatula or spoon to spread the
batter evenly onto the pan (photos 4, 5).
Adding nuts shortens the life and stability of meringue batter. Almonds are the least fatty nuts, so almond meringue batter is reasonably stable. Walnuts contain more fat than almonds, hence adding them makes meringue batter less stable. When making more than one oven-load of walnut meringue, keep in mind that this batter cannot wait for more than an hour to be baked and plan accordingly. (Make new batter for each oven-load or add walnuts into a batch just before it is to be baked.)
To bake meringues, set the oven to a low temperature of about 225°F/ 110°C and preferably to convection mode (enable fan-blown air circulation). Crunchy meringues should be dried for a longer time, while softer meringues bake in less time (approximate baking times are given in each recipe). If you have only a radiant-mode oven (the usual type without a fan), you can keep the oven door slightly open during baking to ensure better air circulation. (This does not work with gas ovens, though.) Baked meringues can remain in the oven after the oven is turned off, until they cool. This final step dries them out even more. Let the meringue completely cool after baking before peeling off the aluminum foil from its bottom (photo 6).
Correct oven temperature is very important for baking meringues. If the temperature is too low, the drying process will take a long time. On the other hand, if the oven temperature is too high, the meringue may melt and be ruined especially if it stays in the oven set to a high temperature for a long time. Luckily, there is a way to tell if the oven temperature is too high – the meringue will start to darken or even turn brown on the outside (an indication that the sugar is caramelizing). If this happens, immediately lower the oven temperature. Meringue baked on too high a temperature will be chewy on the inside with a peeling and separating crust. Depending on the time spent in the oven, its middle may have even completely melted away.
Soft meringue stays soft after baking. Beneath its thin, dry crust lies a soft, marshmallow-like interior. Its batter has less sugar and is less stable than the crunchy kind, so it has to go into the oven shortly after being prepared. It is usually baked in one thick layer. During the baking process, it first rises and then falls back to its original volume. If the temperature drops too quickly (for example, if the oven door is opened too soon), it will crack. Bake it at the same low temperature as crunchy meringue but for a shorter time. When I bake a thick meringue cake, I bake it in a pan right side up so that it does not lose its shape. However, there are recipes that call for baking thick meringue on a cookie sheet such as the Australian version of the Pavlova cake.
Whipping Cream
I always thought that the only mistake one could make in whipping cream was to overwhip it, but I was proved wrong the first summer after I came to Boston for graduate studies. My Austrian housemate and I were desperately using one package of cream after another, but we could not whip it stiffer than the consistency of pancake batter. Finally we analyzed the situation and concluded that the only difference from our European experience was the excessive heat and humidity in our kitchen. In the middle of the night, we packed the mixer, bowl, and cream and drove to our university. In the air-conditioned graduate-school kitchen, we had our cream whipped in no time. We learned that it helps to chill everything before whipping, including the bowl and beaters.
Whipping cream and heavy cream are sold in stores in liquid form. Both can be used to make whipped cream.
Cream should be whipped firmly enough so it is manageable to work with and does not deflate after a couple of hours, but
also softly enough so it has a light and smooth structure. It is very easy to overwhip to the point that it becomes grainy,
entering the early stages of butter separation. Using the terminology from the section on whipping egg whites, whipped
cream beaten beyond the soft peak stage can quickly and easily become overwhipped and grainy (last photo). Therefore,
proceed beyond the soft peak stage very slowly, frequently turning the mixer off and mixing manually to even out the
mixture. If the cream is whipped for cake topping or filling, it must be beaten to the firm peak stage or it will deflate after
a couple of hours. There are techniques for stabilizing whipped cream with gelatin or cornstarch, none of which I like. I
prefer just whipping it a little firmer. If it appears slightly grainy, I cover it with decoration such as chocolate or coconut
shavings.
Melting Chocolate and Making Chocolate Glaze
Melt chocolate in a small improvised double boiler (shown in the photos). Use two pots of slightly different diameters. Pour about 2 inch/ 5 cm of water into the larger one, bring it to a boil, remove it from the heat, wait for about one minute, and then place the smaller pot or heat-proof dish with the chocolate pieces into the water (in the larger pot, photo 1). Chocolate melts in about 5 minutes. Then, stir until the chocolate mass is uniform (photos 2, 3).
It is important to remove the pot with water from direct heat and allow it to cool for a minute and only then put the pot or dish with the chocolate into it. Direct heat will burn the chocolate, which is one of the most common mistakes in melting chocolate.
Chocolate melted for mixing with beaten egg whites, egg yolks, or buttercream should first be cooled, otherwise it may scorch the eggs or melt the butter. To cool chocolate, remove the smaller pot from the larger pot with the hot water, place it on a cool kitchen surface, wait several minutes, and then stir the chocolate with a spoon for a minute or two. Chocolate should be cooled to about the body temperature (100ºF/ 38ºC) so it remains liquid (chocolate solidifies at around 95ºF/ 35ºC). Do not cool chocolate in a pot of cold water because it will cool too fast and become solid.
Chocolate can also be melted in a commercial double boiler, including the one-piece bain-marie. A double boiler should be removed from heat before putting chocolate into it. As the hot water remains inside the one-piece bain-marie, the chocolate will stay hot for a long time. This is ideal if the melted chocolate is to be used for decoration, but not if the recipe calls for melted and cooled chocolate. In this case, the chocolate must be poured into some other dish to cool.
Chocolate for glaze is melted in the manner described above, with the addition of butter at the very beginning of the process (exact amounts are given in each recipe).
When spreading chocolate glaze over an assembled cake, first seal the crumbs of the cake so they do not mix with the glaze. This is usually done with fruit preserves (my favorite is apricot). If the preserve contains large pieces of fruit, first puree it, then bring it to a simmer and spread the hot preserve over the cake to prepare it for glazing. Sticky preserves will act as glue. Once cooled, it will seal the crumbs beneath it. After this procedure, it will be much easier to glaze the cake. The slightly tart taste of apricot preserves complements very well any chocolate covered cake.
Place the cake for glazing on a cooling rack. Put a large pan or sheet of aluminum foil under the rack to protect the work surface beneath from hot chocolate drippings. After glazing, the cake has to be set aside until the glaze cools and hardens. Once the glaze cools, which usually takes at least an hour, transfer the cake to a serving tray. Scrape the chocolate drippings from the foil and use them later to make hot chocolate.
Unfortunately, very soft and creamy cakes are too difficult to transfer from a cooling rack to a serving tray, so it is safer to glaze them directly on a serving tray. Another solution is to assemble the cake on a cake circle (a round cardboard cake base), but I do not like this idea because I do not like cardboard showing when the cake is served. I prefer the effect of uneven glazing or glaze drippings, which can actually look very decorative.
There are two ways to spread glaze over a cake. One is pouring the glaze and simultaneously using a metal spoon to
distribute it evenly. However, in the case of sugar-syrup-based chocolate glaze, as in the Sachertorte, the glaze should not be touched at all or the spoon will stick to it, hence this method cannot be used. The way to glaze in such circumstances is
to pour the glaze onto the cake and simultaneously tilt the rack with the cake so the glaze spreads all over and around it.
Both ways should be done quickly, while the glaze is still hot.
Roasting Nuts
Roasting nuts enhances their taste. It is optional and not required for the cakes presented here.
A very common mistake in cake-baking is to overroast the nuts. Slight roasting enhances the taste. Dark roasting can be overwhelming and unpleasant for many people but still acceptable, while burned nuts will surely ruin the cake.
To roast nuts, preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Spread the nuts evenly in one layer in a baking pan or on a cookie sheet, keep them in the oven until they smell good, and then check how they look. They are done when they darken slightly but not too much. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to roast them to perfection. Roast nuts taken directly from the freezer, without thawing. If the nuts were at room temperature before roasting, they should be out of the oven sooner, after about 10 minutes. Once cooled, I grate them to a powdery state by a manual grater. Nuts are always roasted before grating, not after.
When is a Cake Done Baking?
The final stage of baking, when a cake is about to be taken out of the oven, is a point of great uncertainty. Not surprisingly, it is the source of the most frequent mistakes in cake-making.
A common beginner’s mistake is to open the oven door too soon. The consequence of this action is almost certainly the collapse of the cake caused by a sudden change of temperature. Be patient and do not open the oven before the cake has baked for at least 3/4 of the baking time specified by the recipe, which is also the time it starts to smell good. Remember that both conditions have to be met before you first open the oven door. Check the cake quickly (explained below), so that both the oven and cake maintain the correct temperature. Slide the oven rack with the cake toward yourself, check as quickly as possible, and either take the cake out or continue baking it.
The baking time given in a recipe is only approximate and each cake should be checked individually. You must decide when the cake is done. If you do not take the cake out of the oven at just the right moment, all the good work done that far may result in disappointment. An overbaked cake is dry and an underbaked cake may collapse. It is certainly safer to overbake slightly, but it is best to recognize when it is just right. Here are the guidelines for the cakes in this book:
Cooking with a Double Boiler
I use a slow cooking method with an improvised double boiler for various egg-based creams, usually called French buttercream, as well as for Italian meringue. This is the easiest and safest way to produce creams of the best consistency and volume, therefore, I do not recommend using a commercial double boiler, especially not a one-piece bain-marie.
How to use a double boiler:
To use an improvised double boiler (see section on "equipment") fill the pot with water so the water does not touch the mixing bowl. Place the pot on the stove and simmer the water. Place the mixing bowl on the pot, as shown in the photos, and slowly cook its content over the steam in the pot. Regulate the heat so that only a small amount of steam comes out at the sides of the mixing bowl. (Too much steam makes mixing difficult since steam is dangerously hot.) Mix the contents of the mixing bowl with an electric mixer, whisk, or spatula, depending on the recipe. Once the cooking process is over, discard the hot water and fill the pot with cold water for cooling the content of the mixing bowl. The water should be high enough so that the sides of the mixing bowl are immersed as much as possible, but make sure that the water does not splash while you are mixing the content of the bowl.
General instructions for making egg-based buttercream and Italian meringue (either original or caramel, shown in the photos) follow:
Egg-based buttercream:
Making Italian Meringue
Preparation steps:
Note: As mentioned earlier, meringue topping sets in about 15 minutes after which it cannot be rewhipped or reshaped. It
has to be immediately applied to the top of the cake and shaped in the desired way.
Making Caramel Syrup and Caramel Glaze
Caramel glaze is what makes the famous Dobos Torta instantly recognizable. The glaze looks like hard candy and has a rosette of radial indentations marking the serving portions. A single buttercream wreath decoration around it looks lovely, but the main purpose of the indented portions is to make it possible to cut the cake into servings. The rosette of indentations has to be done while the glaze is still hot and liquid because this glaze is very hard and brittle once it cools and is impossible to cut without it cracking and breaking. This is why the indentations should go as close to the cake layer as possible (which will result in only a thin coat of glaze over the cake layer at an indentation).
The best looking caramel glaze is glossy, translucent, and of a deep amber color, but not all kinds of sugar can produce such a glaze. Some sugar brands contain too many impurities or additives, making it impossible to obtain a shiny and translucent glaze. This can easily be spotted while the sugar is melting, namely, if the sugar is not translucent when it melts, it will not make a translucent glaze when it cools. If you are working with less processed (advertised as “natural”) sugar, you may have to settle for an inferior-looking caramel glaze. Keep switching sugar brands until you find one that produces a glaze of desired quality.
There are two ways of caramelizing sugar: with or without water. When the sugar to water ratio is 3:1, the process is the easiest to execute correctly and the glaze produced is the most translucent. Unfortunately, this process does not work for all sugar brands as some contain so many impurities that the sugar will crystallize no matter what. In this case, it is easier to make sugar syrup without water, but the procedure is very lengthy. Both procedures are explained below.
Making caramel glaze requires a lot of skill, but knowing possible pitfalls of the process will make it much easier to accomplish successfully the first time you try it. When caramelizing sugar (step 7 below), the most common mistake is to let it burn. The most common mistake in the process of indenting caramel glaze is in the timing: if you start too early, the knife will stick to the glaze and ruin it; if you start too late, the glaze will already be too hard to manage and the task will be impossible. Below is the entire process of glazing, from choosing the cake layer to finishing and assembling the cake.
Preparation for glazing:
Note: In case your sugar syrup crystallizes (instead of it being liquid, you end up with a hard chunk of sugar), there is still
hope for success, but what follows is a very lengthy procedure, equivalent to melting sugar without adding water. The key
is to keep the sugar on very low heat, otherwise it will burn. Use a metal spoon and continuously try breaking and mixing
the mass. At first it will not be possible, but eventually the mass will start melting and you will be able to mix it. Finally,
after more than half an hour, you will get the desired amber liquid. Discard the remaining crystals and proceed to the next
step. If you choose to start over, do not add any water to the sugar and use a large, thick pan as it is easier to work with a
thin layer of sugar.
Below is a list of the procedures I will describe in this section.
- Beating (Whipping) Egg Yolks
- Beating (Whipping) Egg Whites
- Folding and Lightening
- Preparing Meringue Cakes
- Whipping Cream
- Melting Chocolate and Making Chocolate Glaze
- Roasting Nuts
- When is a Cake Done Baking?
- Cooking with a Double Boiler
- How to use a double boiler
- Egg-based buttercream
- Making Italian Meringue
- Making Caramel Syrup and Caramel Glaze
Beating (Whipping) Egg Yolks
Underbeating egg yolks is one of the most common mistakes in cake-baking. The temperature of egg yolks is not crucial, so they can be kept in the refrigerator until needed. To prevent egg yolks from drying and to keep them fresh, make sure to cover them and not add any other ingredient to them. Egg yolks are easy to beat and very difficult to overbeat. There is a simple test, called the ribbon test, to determine whether egg yolks are properly beaten.
Beat egg yolks and sugar in a small mixing bowl (any kind – plastic, glass, or metal) with a hand-held electric mixer at high speed for about 4-5 minutes (see photos). The batter will turn pale in color, thicken, and almost double in volume. Then, turn off the mixer and lift the beaters out of the mixing bowl. If the batter flows slowly back into the mixing bowl in one continuous wide ribbon from both beaters, as shown in the last photo, the egg yolks are beaten properly. This is called beating egg yolks to ribbon stage. If, on the other hand, the batter flows down in two ribbons, one from each beater, as in the fourth photo, or if there is one ribbon for a moment, but it quickly separates into two, beat more. The ribbon has to be wide, flow slowly, and dissolve slowly when it reaches the surface of the egg yolks in the mixing bowl.
Most recipes instruct to beat egg yolks before beating egg whites (the whites can be warming to room temperature meanwhile), but easier recipes advise the reverse procedure, to eliminate cleaning the beaters.
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Beating (Whipping) Egg Whites
Egg whites should always be brought to room temperature before beating because cold egg whites cannot produce maximum volume. There are several ways to warm eggs to room temperature. One is to set whole eggs on the counter and let them warm up for at least half an hour. A faster way is to leave the eggs immersed in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Another way, and my preferred method, is to separate the yolks from the whites (eggs are easier to separate when they are cold) and place the bowl with egg whites into a larger bowl filled with warm water for 5-10 minutes.
Overbeating egg whites is one of the most common mistakes in cake-making. Egg whites are easy to beat and are also easy to overbeat.
Sometimes egg whites cannot be beaten at all to the appropriate consistency because fat contamination prevents them from foaming. Egg yolks contain a lot of fat, so do not drop any piece of egg yolk into the egg whites during egg separation. Also, thoroughly clean the mixing bowl and beaters before use so they do not introduce any fat themselves. It is safer to use a metal or glass mixing bowl because it is difficult to clean fat from plastic. Even a little bit of fat may be enough to prevent egg whites from foaming.
The process of beating egg whites usually starts with the egg whites as the only ingredient and finishes with the addition of sugar. Sugar stabilizes the foam. Sometimes I add other ingredients before I start beating. Meringues, for example, benefit from a few drops of lemon juice to help the whites foam better and taste better. Another example is when I want egg whites beaten to a softer medium-firm stage (explained below), as in the Sachertorte. I add about one teaspoon of sugar per 6 egg whites to help control the stiffness. Sugar slows down the foaming process and makes it easier to recognize when to stop beating. All necessary additives are clearly listed in the recipes.
Once you start beating egg whites and they start foaming, it is very important to recognize when to start adding sugar and when to stop beating them. If egg whites are overbeaten, they are ruined and useless. It is also important to understand that, for different types of cakes, beaten egg whites require different stages of firmness. For sponge cakes, egg whites should be beaten to the medium-firm stage. Any further beating makes them more difficult to work with, jeopardizes the process of baking, and may result in a collapsed, thinner, or less spongy cake. For meringues, the desired stage is the stiff peak stage. In order to decide when to stop beating, recognize the following stages of beaten egg whites (also shown in the photos below):
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- Foam Stage (photo 1): This is the first stage of foamed egg whites. It can happen sooner or later, depending on whether the egg whites are beaten with other ingredients or not. Start beating egg whites at low speed. Within a couple of minutes they reach the foam stage: the whole mass is frothy, with big bubbles, resembling the foam of a head of beer.
- Soft Peak Stage (photo 3): After the foam stage, increase the mixing speed to high and watch the large bubbles become smaller. Once the bubbles are almost gone and the mass is still not stiff but getting stiffer and trails of mixing start to show, you have reached the soft peak stage: if the mixer is turned off and lifted out, the beaters will pull the batter up a little, but no defined peaks will form in the batter.
- Medium-firm (or Firm) Peak Stage (photos 5, 6): Start adding sugar after the soft peak stage. Add it as quickly as possible but without deflating the foam. Adding the sugar too slowly can cause overbeating. On the other hand, if added too quickly, it deflates the foam, in which case, continued beating will eventually recover the foam, but the procedure is unnecessarily slowed down. Thus, start with a small amount (one to two tablespoons) of sugar and see if the batter “accepts it”. If the foam remains stiff, immediately add more sugar incrementally, gradually increasing the portions. Continue beating until the same stiffness is reached before adding more sugar. Pay special attention to recognize the moment when to stop beating. It takes only a couple of minutes and 3-5 sugar additions to reach the medium-firm peak stage. After adding sugar, turn off the mixer and take it out of the batter. Peaks should form when pulling the beaters out. If the peaks curl down, the medium-firm stage is achieved. If the peaks are a little firmer, the firm peak stage is achieved.
- Stiff Peak Stage (photos 7, 8, 9): Continue beating the egg whites beyond the medium-firm peak stage to reach the stiffpeak stage. This stage occurs when the peaks are stiff and do not fold over at all. You can even turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites will not move, but the batter should still be glossy and smooth-looking. At this point it is difficult to fold (explained below) the rest of the ingredients into the batter since it does not easily smooth out and blend with other ingredients. It will form patches that are not easily broken, requiring more manipulation, which will eventually deflate it. This stage is perfect for meringue cakes. When beating egg whites for meringue cakes, a lot of sugar is incorporated into the egg whites. Beat until all of the sugar dissolves (feel it between your fingers), which is usually for more than 10 minutes and sometimes even 20 minutes (depending on the amount of sugar). The amount of sugar for meringue cakes greatly prolongs the beating procedure but also makes the batter extremely stiff and stable. The perfect stage for meringue cakes is achieved when the trails of beating are very fine and distinct, the batter is very glossy, and beaters start splashing a thread-like pattern around them.
- Overbeaten Stage: Beating egg whites beyond the stiff peak stage will eventually produce a batter that looks similar to cottage cheese; it is not smooth and has lost its shine. It is obviously ruined and useless for any purpose. The less sugar the batter contains, the sooner this stage is reached.
Folding and Lightening
Once the egg whites are beaten to the desired stage, they have to be combined with dry ingredients or with another batter of denser consistency. This can be tricky because simple mixing can deflate the beaten egg whites and the precious air bubbles will be lost. This is easily avoided by:
- folding instead of ordinary mixing;
- lightening the denser batter before combining it with the lighter one;
- using a large mixing bowl when folding dry ingredients.
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Dry ingredients should be folded into batter in batches, preferably two to four (photos 6, 7, 8 and photos 2, 3 in the following section). Each batch of dry ingredients should be sifted or sprinkled into a very thin layer over the whole surface of the batter and then carefully folded into the batter. Make sure to use the gentle folding technique described above. It also helps if the batter bowl is wide (large). This enables sifting or sprinkling a larger amount of dry ingredients in each batch, thus decreasing the number of batches. The less the batter is manipulated, the less it will deflate and the greater the final volume. The resulting mixture is not stable and should be transferred into a baking pan (last photo) and baked in a preheated oven immediately after being prepared.
Preparing Meringue Cakes
Meringue cakes, such as the Baiser Torte, are made from egg whites only (the leftover yolks are usually used to make fillings). Bake them directly on aluminum foil, which should be peeled off once they are baked and completely cooled. Parchment or wax paper works well also. Meringues should be baked on low heat, so that they actually dry. To improve the drying process, meringues are usually baked on a cookie sheet or pan turned upside down (covered with aluminum foil or parchment or wax paper), which allows for more air circulation around the cake.
There are two types of meringues: crunchy and soft. Crunchy meringue is usually baked in thin layers; soft meringue is baked in one thick layer. To make thin meringue layers, use the pans turned upside down (photos 4, 5). Soft and thick meringue cakes are usually baked in pans turned right side up, otherwise they lose their shape in the process of baking. Crunchy meringue requires more sugar than soft meringue and is baked longer, but the procedure for making both kinds is exactly the same.
To make meringue (either crunchy or soft), the first step is to beat egg whites to the stiff peak stage so the sugar dissolves (feel it between your fingers), the trails of the beaters are very distinct and fine, the batter is very glossy and stiff, and the beaters start to splatter a thread-like pattern (see the section on beating egg whites). The mixing bowl can then be turned upside down and the batter will not move (photo 1).
If the recipe calls for both confectioners’ and granulated sugar, granulated sugar should be added first to make sure it dissolves properly. Beat for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the number of eggs and amount of sugar.
Due to the high sugar content, meringue batter is very stable (the more sugar the batter has, the more stable it will be). It can remain for hours at room temperature before baking (do not put it in the refrigerator because it will collect moisture, which will make it difficult to bake/dry). This batter can also be piped from a pastry bag into different shapes (some pipe disks onto baking paper on which circles of desired diameters had previously been drawn). I prefer to spread the batter onto the baking paper/foil with a spoon or spatula (photos 4, 5).
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Adding nuts shortens the life and stability of meringue batter. Almonds are the least fatty nuts, so almond meringue batter is reasonably stable. Walnuts contain more fat than almonds, hence adding them makes meringue batter less stable. When making more than one oven-load of walnut meringue, keep in mind that this batter cannot wait for more than an hour to be baked and plan accordingly. (Make new batter for each oven-load or add walnuts into a batch just before it is to be baked.)
To bake meringues, set the oven to a low temperature of about 225°F/ 110°C and preferably to convection mode (enable fan-blown air circulation). Crunchy meringues should be dried for a longer time, while softer meringues bake in less time (approximate baking times are given in each recipe). If you have only a radiant-mode oven (the usual type without a fan), you can keep the oven door slightly open during baking to ensure better air circulation. (This does not work with gas ovens, though.) Baked meringues can remain in the oven after the oven is turned off, until they cool. This final step dries them out even more. Let the meringue completely cool after baking before peeling off the aluminum foil from its bottom (photo 6).
Correct oven temperature is very important for baking meringues. If the temperature is too low, the drying process will take a long time. On the other hand, if the oven temperature is too high, the meringue may melt and be ruined especially if it stays in the oven set to a high temperature for a long time. Luckily, there is a way to tell if the oven temperature is too high – the meringue will start to darken or even turn brown on the outside (an indication that the sugar is caramelizing). If this happens, immediately lower the oven temperature. Meringue baked on too high a temperature will be chewy on the inside with a peeling and separating crust. Depending on the time spent in the oven, its middle may have even completely melted away.
Soft meringue stays soft after baking. Beneath its thin, dry crust lies a soft, marshmallow-like interior. Its batter has less sugar and is less stable than the crunchy kind, so it has to go into the oven shortly after being prepared. It is usually baked in one thick layer. During the baking process, it first rises and then falls back to its original volume. If the temperature drops too quickly (for example, if the oven door is opened too soon), it will crack. Bake it at the same low temperature as crunchy meringue but for a shorter time. When I bake a thick meringue cake, I bake it in a pan right side up so that it does not lose its shape. However, there are recipes that call for baking thick meringue on a cookie sheet such as the Australian version of the Pavlova cake.
Whipping Cream
I always thought that the only mistake one could make in whipping cream was to overwhip it, but I was proved wrong the first summer after I came to Boston for graduate studies. My Austrian housemate and I were desperately using one package of cream after another, but we could not whip it stiffer than the consistency of pancake batter. Finally we analyzed the situation and concluded that the only difference from our European experience was the excessive heat and humidity in our kitchen. In the middle of the night, we packed the mixer, bowl, and cream and drove to our university. In the air-conditioned graduate-school kitchen, we had our cream whipped in no time. We learned that it helps to chill everything before whipping, including the bowl and beaters.
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Melting Chocolate and Making Chocolate Glaze
Melt chocolate in a small improvised double boiler (shown in the photos). Use two pots of slightly different diameters. Pour about 2 inch/ 5 cm of water into the larger one, bring it to a boil, remove it from the heat, wait for about one minute, and then place the smaller pot or heat-proof dish with the chocolate pieces into the water (in the larger pot, photo 1). Chocolate melts in about 5 minutes. Then, stir until the chocolate mass is uniform (photos 2, 3).
It is important to remove the pot with water from direct heat and allow it to cool for a minute and only then put the pot or dish with the chocolate into it. Direct heat will burn the chocolate, which is one of the most common mistakes in melting chocolate.
Chocolate melted for mixing with beaten egg whites, egg yolks, or buttercream should first be cooled, otherwise it may scorch the eggs or melt the butter. To cool chocolate, remove the smaller pot from the larger pot with the hot water, place it on a cool kitchen surface, wait several minutes, and then stir the chocolate with a spoon for a minute or two. Chocolate should be cooled to about the body temperature (100ºF/ 38ºC) so it remains liquid (chocolate solidifies at around 95ºF/ 35ºC). Do not cool chocolate in a pot of cold water because it will cool too fast and become solid.
Chocolate can also be melted in a commercial double boiler, including the one-piece bain-marie. A double boiler should be removed from heat before putting chocolate into it. As the hot water remains inside the one-piece bain-marie, the chocolate will stay hot for a long time. This is ideal if the melted chocolate is to be used for decoration, but not if the recipe calls for melted and cooled chocolate. In this case, the chocolate must be poured into some other dish to cool.
Chocolate for glaze is melted in the manner described above, with the addition of butter at the very beginning of the process (exact amounts are given in each recipe).
When spreading chocolate glaze over an assembled cake, first seal the crumbs of the cake so they do not mix with the glaze. This is usually done with fruit preserves (my favorite is apricot). If the preserve contains large pieces of fruit, first puree it, then bring it to a simmer and spread the hot preserve over the cake to prepare it for glazing. Sticky preserves will act as glue. Once cooled, it will seal the crumbs beneath it. After this procedure, it will be much easier to glaze the cake. The slightly tart taste of apricot preserves complements very well any chocolate covered cake.
Place the cake for glazing on a cooling rack. Put a large pan or sheet of aluminum foil under the rack to protect the work surface beneath from hot chocolate drippings. After glazing, the cake has to be set aside until the glaze cools and hardens. Once the glaze cools, which usually takes at least an hour, transfer the cake to a serving tray. Scrape the chocolate drippings from the foil and use them later to make hot chocolate.
Unfortunately, very soft and creamy cakes are too difficult to transfer from a cooling rack to a serving tray, so it is safer to glaze them directly on a serving tray. Another solution is to assemble the cake on a cake circle (a round cardboard cake base), but I do not like this idea because I do not like cardboard showing when the cake is served. I prefer the effect of uneven glazing or glaze drippings, which can actually look very decorative.
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Roasting Nuts
Roasting nuts enhances their taste. It is optional and not required for the cakes presented here.
A very common mistake in cake-baking is to overroast the nuts. Slight roasting enhances the taste. Dark roasting can be overwhelming and unpleasant for many people but still acceptable, while burned nuts will surely ruin the cake.
To roast nuts, preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Spread the nuts evenly in one layer in a baking pan or on a cookie sheet, keep them in the oven until they smell good, and then check how they look. They are done when they darken slightly but not too much. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to roast them to perfection. Roast nuts taken directly from the freezer, without thawing. If the nuts were at room temperature before roasting, they should be out of the oven sooner, after about 10 minutes. Once cooled, I grate them to a powdery state by a manual grater. Nuts are always roasted before grating, not after.
When is a Cake Done Baking?
The final stage of baking, when a cake is about to be taken out of the oven, is a point of great uncertainty. Not surprisingly, it is the source of the most frequent mistakes in cake-making.
A common beginner’s mistake is to open the oven door too soon. The consequence of this action is almost certainly the collapse of the cake caused by a sudden change of temperature. Be patient and do not open the oven before the cake has baked for at least 3/4 of the baking time specified by the recipe, which is also the time it starts to smell good. Remember that both conditions have to be met before you first open the oven door. Check the cake quickly (explained below), so that both the oven and cake maintain the correct temperature. Slide the oven rack with the cake toward yourself, check as quickly as possible, and either take the cake out or continue baking it.
The baking time given in a recipe is only approximate and each cake should be checked individually. You must decide when the cake is done. If you do not take the cake out of the oven at just the right moment, all the good work done that far may result in disappointment. An overbaked cake is dry and an underbaked cake may collapse. It is certainly safer to overbake slightly, but it is best to recognize when it is just right. Here are the guidelines for the cakes in this book:
- A meringue cake (egg-whites based cake such as the Baiser Torte, Pavlova, Meringue Cake with Walnuts) is done when it forms a thin crust on the outside, but the inside is still soft (to the desired level). For soft meringue, it should not sound hollow when tapped and the crust should be so thin that it should be easy to make an indentation by a light press of a finger. If you aim for a crunchy cake (such as the Bohemian Torte), the inside should be dried out, which can be checked by tapping on the cake – it should sound hollow. The crust should be hard and firm. After the cake is done, it should be left to cool completely and only then the foil should be peeled off. A crunchy cake can stay in the turned-off oven until it cools and completely dries out.
- Butterless whole-egg biscuit cake (such as the Dobos Torta, Strawberry Cake, Gizela Torta) is done when it smells good, its sides start to recede from the edges of the pan (once they have already receded, the cake is surely done), the color is a dark gold, and it springs back when slightly pressed in the center. I put my ear close to the cake and listen to it – if it is noisy, the cake is in the final stage of baking but is not done yet. I quickly slide it back into the oven and continue baking. When the noise almost stops, the cake will contract a little, which is a sign that it is done. Once the cake is out of the oven, it should be taken out of the pan immediately so that the steam does not make its fragile structure collapse. It should cool on a cooling rack (or on a kitchen cloth or towel).
- A heavier whole-egg cake with butter, nuts, or chocolate is done baking when it smells good, its sides start to recede from the edges of the pan, it springs back when slightly pressed in the center, and a wooden round toothpick or skewer inserted in its middle all the way to the bottom comes out clean. Once taken out of the oven, it should be first left in the pan for five to ten minutes and then removed from the pan to a rack or cloth to cool completely.
Cooking with a Double Boiler
I use a slow cooking method with an improvised double boiler for various egg-based creams, usually called French buttercream, as well as for Italian meringue. This is the easiest and safest way to produce creams of the best consistency and volume, therefore, I do not recommend using a commercial double boiler, especially not a one-piece bain-marie.
How to use a double boiler:
To use an improvised double boiler (see section on "equipment") fill the pot with water so the water does not touch the mixing bowl. Place the pot on the stove and simmer the water. Place the mixing bowl on the pot, as shown in the photos, and slowly cook its content over the steam in the pot. Regulate the heat so that only a small amount of steam comes out at the sides of the mixing bowl. (Too much steam makes mixing difficult since steam is dangerously hot.) Mix the contents of the mixing bowl with an electric mixer, whisk, or spatula, depending on the recipe. Once the cooking process is over, discard the hot water and fill the pot with cold water for cooling the content of the mixing bowl. The water should be high enough so that the sides of the mixing bowl are immersed as much as possible, but make sure that the water does not splash while you are mixing the content of the bowl.
General instructions for making egg-based buttercream and Italian meringue (either original or caramel, shown in the photos) follow:
Egg-based buttercream:
- Set the double-boiler pot with water on the stove to simmer (as described in the paragraph above).
- If the recipe calls for sugar syrup, start boiling sugar in water over medium heat in a separate saucepan (exact amounts are given in each recipe). The goal is to thicken the mixture a little but not to caramelize it.
- In the meantime, combine and beat the egg yolks/eggs and sugar required by the recipe in the mixing bowl of the double boiler, but do not place it over the steam yet. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer at high speed until it is pale, thick, and fluffy. Add the ingredients required by the recipe, if any, and mix thoroughly. Set the egg mixture aside and tend to the sugar syrup, if the recipe calls for it. If the recipe does not call for sugar syrup, skip step 4 and go directly to step 5.
- When the sugar syrup begins to bubble and slightly thickens (as in photo 1 below of the illustrations for making Italian meringue) but remains clear in color (it should not caramelize as in photo 2), it is ready to be poured into the egg mixture.
- Place the mixing bowl with the egg mixture on the pot with simmering water and immediately start mixing with an electric mixer set to high speed.
- If the recipe involves sugar syrup, pour it slowly into the egg mixture. Keep pouring in a very thin stream while constantly beating the egg mixture (pour slowly so that the eggs do not burn). Do not pour over the beaters or the syrup will splatter. Continue beating after all of the syrup has been mixed in.
- Beat the mixture until it feels hot to your finger, thickens a little, and you can see the traces of mixing. If you used sugar syrup, this step takes about 5 minutes and, if there is no sugar syrup, it takes about 10 minutes. Turn the stove off and remove the mixing bowl with the egg mixture from the pot.
- If there is any chocolate required by the recipe, add it to the mixture at this point (the recipe would require the chocolate to be previously broken or chopped into small pieces). Wait for a minute until the chocolate pieces warm up, then mix with an electric mixer until the chocolate melts and the mass is smooth again.
- Discard the boiling water from the double-boiler pot and fill it with cold water for cooling. Place the mixing bowl with the egg mixture on the pot with cold water (for more details, see the paragraph How to use a double boiler above). Mix the egg mixture with an electric mixer until it cools completely, which is about 5 minutes, otherwise the warm mixture will melt the butter in the next step.
- Put the butter (previously brought to room temperature) in a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Gradually add the egg mixture to the butter, two tablespoons at a time, while constantly beating with an electric mixer. Mix well until you get very smooth cream.
Making Italian Meringue
Preparation steps:
- Start making meringue only after the rest of the cake is assembled as it has to be placed on the finished cake and shaped immediately after being prepared. Set the double-boiler pot with water on the stove to simmer (see the section How to use a double boiler above).
- In a separate saucepan, start making sugar syrup (or caramelizing the sugar) according to the instructions in the recipe, that is, start boiling sugar in water on medium heat.
- While the sugar syrup is being prepared, use the double-boiler mixing bowl (separately, without putting it over the steam yet) to beat the egg whites with an electric mixer. The egg whites should be at room temperature to achieve a maximum volume of foam. Beat the egg whites until the soft peak stage (see the section on beating egg whites). Gradually, in tablespoons, add the required amount of sugar and beat until the sugar dissolves and medium peaks form. Set it aside and attend to the sugar syrup.
- If you are making regular sugar syrup, it is done when it thickens to thread stage, which is right after the syrup starts vigorously bubbling and foaming (a sign it is thickening, see photo 1 below). To test the stage, let a drop of the syrup drip from your mixing spoon or spatula into a cup of cold water: it should elongate through the water in a visible thread. Another way to test is to dip a dry and cold spoon into the syrup and immediately take it out; touch the coated spoon with your index finger and thumb: it should be sticky and you should be able to pull a fine thread, about 1/4 inch/ 0.6 cm long, when you slowly remove your fingers from the spoon. Always use a cold spoon for this test or you may burn your fingers. When the syrup passes the test, remove it from the heat and immediately go to step 6. It is ready to be poured into the egg whites.
- If you are caramelizing the sugar, follow the detailed instructions in step 7 of the section Making Caramel Syrup and Caramel Glaze below. In short, when the sugar is of a desired amber color, it should be removed from the heat. Once it stops foaming (see photo 2), it is ready to be poured into the egg whites (shown in photo 4).
- Put the mixing bowl with the egg whites on the double-boiler pot with simmering water (photo 3) and start beating with an electric mixer at high speed. Immediately start pouring the sugar syrup slowly, in a very thin stream, into the egg whites, while constantly beating with an electric mixer (photo 4). Do not pour the syrup over the beaters or it will splash. Keep the stream very thin (to keep the eggs whites from scorching) and mix thoroughly, especially in the case of caramel syrup, which may easily scorch the egg whites. After all of the syrup is poured in, continue beating the mixture over the steam until the meringue is smooth and glossy, which is for an additional 3-5 minutes (photo 5).
- Discard the simmering water from the double-boiler pot and fill it with cold water for cooling. Place the mixing bowl with the meringue on the pot with the cold water (for more details, see the paragraph How to use a double boiler above). Beat the meringue with an electric mixer at high speed until it cools, becomes smooth, and thickens, which is for about 5 minutes.
- Use a spoon to spread the meringue topping over the cake (shown in the last photo). Shape the topping with a spoon (you can make decorative spikes) or use a long knife to even it out and make a flat surface suitable for further decoration (sprinkling with melted chocolate or chocolate glazing works well). You can use a turntable to help you with the shaping, but it is not necessary.
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Making Caramel Syrup and Caramel Glaze
Caramel glaze is what makes the famous Dobos Torta instantly recognizable. The glaze looks like hard candy and has a rosette of radial indentations marking the serving portions. A single buttercream wreath decoration around it looks lovely, but the main purpose of the indented portions is to make it possible to cut the cake into servings. The rosette of indentations has to be done while the glaze is still hot and liquid because this glaze is very hard and brittle once it cools and is impossible to cut without it cracking and breaking. This is why the indentations should go as close to the cake layer as possible (which will result in only a thin coat of glaze over the cake layer at an indentation).
The best looking caramel glaze is glossy, translucent, and of a deep amber color, but not all kinds of sugar can produce such a glaze. Some sugar brands contain too many impurities or additives, making it impossible to obtain a shiny and translucent glaze. This can easily be spotted while the sugar is melting, namely, if the sugar is not translucent when it melts, it will not make a translucent glaze when it cools. If you are working with less processed (advertised as “natural”) sugar, you may have to settle for an inferior-looking caramel glaze. Keep switching sugar brands until you find one that produces a glaze of desired quality.
There are two ways of caramelizing sugar: with or without water. When the sugar to water ratio is 3:1, the process is the easiest to execute correctly and the glaze produced is the most translucent. Unfortunately, this process does not work for all sugar brands as some contain so many impurities that the sugar will crystallize no matter what. In this case, it is easier to make sugar syrup without water, but the procedure is very lengthy. Both procedures are explained below.
Making caramel glaze requires a lot of skill, but knowing possible pitfalls of the process will make it much easier to accomplish successfully the first time you try it. When caramelizing sugar (step 7 below), the most common mistake is to let it burn. The most common mistake in the process of indenting caramel glaze is in the timing: if you start too early, the knife will stick to the glaze and ruin it; if you start too late, the glaze will already be too hard to manage and the task will be impossible. Below is the entire process of glazing, from choosing the cake layer to finishing and assembling the cake.
Preparation for glazing:
- Once you bake your cake layers, choose and save the best (flattest) one for glazing. Also make sure the chosen layer is well baked so that the moisture in the layer does not melt and thin out the glaze. Use the top side for glazing because the bottom side will soak up the glaze. For the same reason, leave on the original top (crust) of the cake, do not try to even out the top surface by cutting off uneven parts.
- Make the glaze on the day the cake is to be served, since, depending on the sugar you are using, the humidity of the room it is stored in, and how well the cake layer beneath it is baked, the glaze may start to melt and become absorbed by the cake. Humidity can greatly shorten the life of a glaze. Wrap the chosen layer in aluminum foil in case it has to wait more than several hours to be glazed, to prevent it from drying out. Otherwise, cover it with a kitchen towel.
- To prepare for the glazing process, choose a flat working surface. Place a piece of aluminum foil (or wax paper) on it to protect it from hot caramel drippings. Place the cake layer on the foil. If you baked your layers on aluminum foil, you can use the same foil, but do not peel off the foil before the glazing is finished.
- Use a long and straight knife for indenting the glaze. The knife should be flat on the dull side because that is the side used to make indentations; it should be at least as long as the cake’s diameter. A 12 inch/ 30 cm stainless steel painter’s guide (see photos 9, 10, 11 of the glazing illustration) works even better. It is a very inexpensive tool painters use to smooth surfaces and is ideal for making indentations in caramel glaze.
- Prepare butter to butter the knife each time you make an indentation so it does not stick to the glaze (sliding the knife through a whole butter stick works the best). Prepare a dish with cold water into which you can dip the saucepan with the caramel syrup to cool.
- Read through all steps of glazing and indenting before you start making caramel syrup. Once the glazing process starts, you must proceed quickly, before the glaze hardens, and there will be no time to read or reconfirm the steps.
- To make caramel syrup, choose a thick saucepan, preferably with a long handle (for easier handling and pouring). Put the required amount of sugar and water into it and set it at high heat (photo 1). The general rule for sugar to water ratio is 3:1, so for 1 cup of sugar, add 1/3 cup of water. Do not mix the syrup with a spatula or spoon at all, just swirl the content, otherwise the syrup will crystallize. The sugar will completely dissolve before the mixture starts boiling. Boiling will be very rapid in the beginning, producing a lot of bubbles (photos 2, 3). As the water evaporates and the mixture thickens, there will be fewer bubbles. When the syrup starts darkening (photo 4), lower the heat to minimum and watch closely. As the color approaches the desired amber, the syrup can easily burn. Swirl the syrup and frequently take it off the heat to prevent it from burning. If steam starts rising from the syrup, the syrup is about to burn. To save it from burning, quickly and very briefly, for a second or two, place the saucepan into the prepared dish with cold water to lower the temperature of the pot. Immediately take the saucepan out of the water, while constantly swirling the syrup inside. If the syrup burns, you will have to start over. Once the syrup acquires the desired color (photo 5), take it off the heat. Swirl it slowly until the little bubbles in the syrup are gone (photo 6), but do not wait until the syrup starts thickening because it should remain liquid. At this point, the syrup is ready to be poured over the top layer of the cake.
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- Pour all of the caramel syrup over the top cake layer and quickly spread it with a metal spoon (photos 7, 8). Spread it as evenly as possible so that the entire glaze cools at the same rate. Once the glaze begins to stick to your spoon, stop spreading it.
- Wait for the sticky phase to pass (it can last from about 20 seconds to 2-3 minutes, depending on the sugar brand, amount of water left in the syrup, and thickness of the glaze). Check at the edges of the glaze if the sticky phase has passed, but watch for surprises – the thickest parts are the last to cool and will be in the sticky phase for the longest time. Then, start making the indentations using a freshly buttered knife for each indentation (described in step 4 above). First mark a line that divides the cake into halves. Press the knife down (with the dull side down, but do not cut to the cake layer) and then slide the knife along the indentation while still pressing down. Slide the knife out, do not lift it out, so that it does not pull the glaze up. Butter the knife again and mark the second indentation at a right angle to the first one to divide the cake into fourths (photo 9). Continue dividing the cake into eighths and, finally, into sixteenths (photo 10), buttering the knife between each step. Repeat the steps with the indentations already made to reaffirm the portions until the glaze completely hardens (photo 11). Once the glaze is hard, any further attempt to make the indentations deeper will crack the glaze.
- Let the glazed layer cool to room temperature before placing it on the cake. A hot glazed layer can melt the filling beneath it, so the top filling layer could end up thinner and darker than the rest. On the other hand, if the glazed layer is totally cold and placed on a refrigerated cake, the glazed layer may not stick properly to the rest of the cake. This will show once you start cutting the finished cake: the top layer of each piece of cake will fall off. This is why it is best to put the cooled glazed layer over a cake at room temperature (photo 12). Then, let the cake sit at room temperature for at least half an hour (and preferably longer, even overnight) before refrigerating it.