Honey cake with cranberry and sour cream frosting
Description
Tasty baked goods for the whole family. A honey cake with cranberries and sour cream frosting will ask for some effort and time from you, but it is quite easy to make. Not a single step requires any professional skill or knowledge. Just follow the step-by-step recipe and treat yourself and your loved ones to delicious, beautiful desserts. You can serve it with tea or coffee.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients.
- 2
Step 2
First, prepare the ingredients for the cake layers.
- 3
Step 3
In a double boiler, melt honey, butter, and sugar until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.
- 4
Step 4
Beat 2 eggs, add a pinch of salt, and mix.
- 5
Step 5
In several additions (about 50 grams at a time), add the flour with baking powder and knead the dough.
- 6
Step 6
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions, roll them into balls, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for 30–40 minutes.
- 7
Step 7
Roll the dough into a thin sheet (this is easiest between two sheets of parchment) large enough for an 18 cm pastry ring. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- 8
Step 8
Before baking, prick the dough with a fork.
- 9
Step 9
Bake the sponge layers one at a time at 180°C for 7 minutes. While still hot, trim each baked layer to fit an 18 cm round tin.
- 10
Step 10
You should end up with 8 cake layers. You can use the trimmings for decoration—grind them in a blender for that—or you can just eat them.
- 11
Step 11
Prepare caramelized nuts.
- 12
Step 12
Toast the nuts in a dry frying pan until lightly roasted; after that, the skins peel off easily.
- 13
Step 13
Chop the nuts with a knife into crumbs, not too fine.
- 14
Step 14
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add 40 grams of sugar and 15 ml of water.
- 15
Step 15
Over medium heat, cook until lightly caramel in color; remove from the heat and stir in 10 grams of butter.
- 16
Step 16
Add the chopped nuts and heat a little longer over the heat so the nuts get coated in caramel.
- 17
Step 17
Spread the nut crumbs on parchment paper, separating them into a fine texture suitable for sprinkling.
- 18
Step 18
Prepare the ingredients for cranberry confit.
- 19
Step 19
Mix 50 grams of sugar with pectin.
- 20
Step 20
Heat the cranberries in a saucepan until softened. Blend with an immersion blender.
- 21
Step 21
Pour 50 grams of water into the cranberry puree, and simmer for 1–2 minutes from the moment it boils.
- 22
Step 22
Pour the pectin-and-sugar mixture into the cranberry puree, stir, put it back on the heat, and warm it until it starts to bubble.
- 23
Step 23
Chill the cranberry confit until ready to use. Before using, transfer it to a piping bag.
- 24
Step 24
To prepare the sour cream frosting, beat the sour cream, ricotta, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla sugar with a mixer. Refrigerate for 1–2 hours to stabilize.
- 25
Step 25
Prepare the ingredients for the chocolate-honey ganache.
- 26
Step 26
Soak 3 grams of gelatin in 18 grams of water.
- 27
Step 27
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
- 28
Step 28
Transfer the melted chocolate to a deep bowl, pour in 85 ml of hot cream, add 70 grams of honey, and mix.
- 29
Step 29
Pour 250 ml of cold cream into the chocolate mixture and whisk.
- 30
Step 30
Cover the ganache with plastic wrap directly on the surface, refrigerate it to stabilize until assembling the cake.
- 31
Step 31
Assemble the cake in a 18 cm pastry ring. Line the inside edge with acetate strip, place the first cake layer, spread about 4 tbsp of sour cream frosting on top, smooth it out, and sprinkle with caramelized nuts.
- 32
Step 32
Place the next cake layer, spread 4 tbsp of sour cream frosting on it, and pipe cranberry confit from a pastry bag. Alternate the filling between the layers. The top layer should not be covered with frosting. Lightly press the layers together and refrigerate for 8–12 hours, preferably overnight, so they can soak.
- 33
Step 33
This step is optional. While the cake is setting, you can prepare “frosted” cranberries for decoration. Prepare 150 grams of sugar, 100 ml of water, and 1 cup of cranberries.
- 34
Step 34
Boil a syrup from sugar and water. Put the cranberries into it and let them sit in it for several hours.
- 35
Step 35
Drain the cranberries in a sieve, then coat them in a mixture of sugar and powdered sugar, turning them over from time to time.
- 36
Step 36
Remove the cake from the mold and remove the acetate strip.
- 37
Step 37
Whip the ganache into a fluffy mixture.
- 38
Step 38
Apply the ganache to the cake and decorate it to your taste. A festive and beautiful cake is ready to adorn your table.
- 39
Step 39
Traditionally, I’ll show the cake slice. It is extraordinarily delicious!