Saturday 16 June 2012

Joan's Rainbow Cake

I reckon that is the latest rave among Malayalees who love to bake. Everyone is coming up with their own version of this cake - closely inspired by the movie 'Salt N' Pepper'.
                                   Joan's Rainbow Cake - advertised by Sheen's Bakery,Kannur

Salt N' Pepper is a 2011 Malayalam comedy movie dedicated to all food lovers of Kerala. And the highlight of the movie is Joan's Rainbow Cake that kindles love between the protagonists of the movie. And a cake that never existed in any recipe books or baker's bible was created. Bakeries in Kerala are competing to bring their version into the market. And bloggers are creating their version. And here comes my version.


I made this a while ago; when I was not into blogging. So I do not have much photographs in here. Also the cake colours may not look too appealing since I refrained from using any food colours. The amount of frosting I used between the layers is also very minimal. So if you are not put off by the fact that I haven't included as many pictures as you would have loved to see please give it a go!

Strawberry Mud Cake 

Ingredients
  • 145g caster sugar
  • 30g strawberry flavoured gelatin
  • 80g butter, softened
  • eggs (room temperature)
  • 140g sifted cake flour
  • 4g baking powder
  • 85 ml whole milk, room temperature
  • 5 ml vanilla extract
  • 45g strawberry puree made from fresh strawberries
Method
1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 155° C. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Blend in vanilla and strawberry puree. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely.
Note: - You may have to test the sourness of your strawberries and add more sugar if required.



Pistachio Chiffon Cake

Ingredients
  • 120 grams cake flour
  • 160 grams caster sugar
  • 50 grams finely ground pistachios
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 ½ egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup water
  • ¼  cup melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 4 egg whites 
  • ¾ teaspoons cream of tartar
     
Method
1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 165 ° C. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, pistachios, baking powder, cardamom powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, water, and melted butter in a separate bowl.
4. In a third bowl put the cream of tartar into the egg whites. Beat egg whites, starting on low speed of mixer and gradually increasing speed to obtain soft peaks.
5. Pour egg yolk batter into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Fold the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely.
Note: - You could also add sultanas or dates soaked for 4 hrs in rum to this cake (mentioned by the protagonist Kalidasan in the movie).

Orange Sponge Cake

Ingredients
  • 140 g Cake Flour
  • 120 g of caster sugar
  • ¼ cup of softened butter
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed Navel Orange juice
  • 1 tsp Orange Rind
  • 1 Egg
  • ¼ cup Milk

Method
1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 160 ° C. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg and whisk till fluffy and creamy. To this, add the dry ingredients and milk alternatively in 3 lots.
4. Add orange juice and rind. Mix well (Take care not to mix in too much or your cake will not rise). Pour batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely.
Note: - Select oranges that are heavy for its size and brightly coloured. In Kerala, I think we can use Mosambi Oranges for this recipe.


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients
  • 400 g of Icing Sugar Mixture
  • 200 g of unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 tsp of Vanilla extract
  • 3 - 4 tbsp of milk

Method
Whisk butter until light and fluffy. Add Icing sugar mixture in 4 batches and beat well until creamy. Add vanilla extract and milk and beat for 5 minutes. If not using right away, cover with a cling wrap and leave at room temperature till ready to use. (No guarantees for summer days).

Chocolate Glace

Ingredients
  • 60g cocoa
  • 200 ml water
  • 120 g icing sugar
  • 25g of unsalted butter, diced
  • 300g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 240ml cream

Method
1. Combine cocoa, water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil. Stir in butter, strain through a sieve placed over a bowl. This should make 300 ml of chocolate sauce.
2. Place chocolate in a large bowl and set aside. Place cream in a saucepan and bring it boil. Pour cream over chocolate in bowl and stir until smooth. Then stir in 300 ml of chocolate sauce.


To assemble Joan’s Rainbow Cake

Other Ingredients required


Soaking syrup – of your choice and as required. It can be warm water, sugar dissolved in warm water, orange juice for the orange cake or strawberry juice for strawberry cake. 


1. Bake the cakes and let it cool completely at room temperature. Prepare butter cream frosting and soaking syrup.
2. Poke a few holes on each cake with a skewer and set aside. On a cake board place the first layer of strawberry cake and soak it with 3 – 4 tbsp of soaking syrup. Spread with a thin layer of butter cream frosting over the top and on the sides. Place the next layer of Pistachio cake over this, soak it with soaking syrup and spread with another thin layer of frosting. Then place the last layer of Orange cake, soak it with syrup and spread with another thin layer of frosting. Work on the sides of the cake with frosting to smoothen out any ‘cracks’ or ‘crevices’. Leave this at room temperature, probably in one of your cool shelves. (Adjust the thickness of butter cream frosting between the layers and around the cake to your liking).
3. Prepare chocolate glaze. When this comes down to room temperature, place the cake on a cooling rack. Pour chocolate glaze over the cake and smooth it gently with a spatula.


Enjoy Joan's Rainbow Cake and celebrate LOVE!

2 comments:

  1. Its Sheen Bakery, Kannur

    not Thrissur.

    Kindly correct the matter.

    Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=211680155554263&set=a.167175240004755.54606.166161743439438&type=3&theater

    ReplyDelete