Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Let Them Eat Cake!


There are a few places I really miss eating at in Miami. My life would be complete if they'd open a Chicken Kitchen , Beverly Hills Cafe, Casa Larios, and lastly, the reason for my post- A Divine Delicacies cake shop. Since I am so far away, I often try to replicate my favorite meals from these places. Most of the time to no avail. I mean usually the stuff comes out OK, but its not the same as what I crave. This exercise in futility has kept on happening when I try to re-create the vanilla rum cake from Divine Delicacies, (there are a bunch of other cake shops in Miami that have the same recipe like Cake Designs by Edda among others). Anyhow, the cake is really really dense. I think they soak it in a vanilla-rum simple syrup because it is extremely moist. I can't determine if the butter cream they make is all butter or a combination of butter and shortening. Anyway to make a long story short, I attempted again to make my favorite cake and fell short. I mean it was good, but it wasn't the original. Now granted, I know I need cake like I need a hole in the head, but I find that if I get a very strong craving and don't satisfy it, it ends up being worse. So I made the cake, shared a piece with Brandon and threw the rest out. I know, I know, its a waste, but if I don't do this, then I am tempted to keep eating it. The beauty of having Divine Delicacies around is you can buy cake by the slice. I guess that could be problem too if you go too often but that's when you employ self control. Anyhow now that I've rambled on and on, here is my attempt #4 over the last year.

So I took the cake recipe from this Post and doubled the recipe. I thought using a pound cake recipe would be more like the density of the original.



Ingredients for the cake:
2 sticks butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 can condensed milk
2 cups unbleached flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture with a mixer until it turns a light shade of yellow. Next add the condensed milk and beat well. Add the flour in 5 parts and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time and blend. Grease and flour two 8" round pans and pour the batter evenly among the two. The batter should be kind of thick, so you might have to use a spatula to smooth it out and make it even. Put in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. Poke the center of the cake with a toothpick, and if it comes out clean, then it’s done. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and allow to sit until cool.



While the cake is baking, make your simple syrup.
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cup rum
3 tsp. vanilla extract.

In a sauce pan, bring the water and rum to a boil. Add the sugar and vanilla and allow it to reduce until it resembles the consistency of corn syrup- just not quite as thick. Allow it to cool.

Once the cake is done, cut each layer in half so you'll have a 4-layer cake. If you have a cake leveler this would be a good time to whip it out. Once you have the four pieces, take a pastry brush (I use silicone so the bristles won't stick to the cake but any will work) and begin brushing the simple syrup over the layers. Allowing it to soak through and repeating until the cake looks moist. Set aside.



Now for the frosting...
2 sticks butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tsp. vanilla rum (or regular white rum if you don't have flavored rum)
6 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. salt

Beat the butter and shortening until smooth. Next begin to add the sugar one cup at a time. Beat well. Add the vanilla rum, vanilla extract and salt and continue to beat until smooth. Voila your frosting is done.



Assembly:
Place the bottom layer on your cake plate and spread frosting evenly on the top of the layer. Add a layer of cake, then frosting until you get to the top of the cake. Pile a generous amount on the top and begin to smooth over the edges and sides. Do a crumb coating and place in the fridge for about 15 minutes to allow it to set. Do the final coat and decorate as you wish. I am really an amateur, but you can smooth the sides with your cake spatula and add some kind of decorative border if you like.

4 comments:

IDania said...

Love that cake!!!
I've only been away from Miami since 1999, but back then, there was a Casa Larios. Tell me, what happened? Did it close?
Besitos,
IDania

Rox said...

Thanks Idania- Casa Larios is still there. They've opened up another one in this area called Sunset Place. It's great. I love it.

Vicki R. said...

Hi, I know this post is rather old, but was wondering if you ever did get anywhere near the DD recipe? Is this recipe you posted the closest you got? I've searched the internet high and low and that Vanilla-Rum cake recipe seems to be a Miami thing..lol Anyways, hope to year from you!
Regards,
Vicki

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