Evenly Baked Layer Cake Base Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C). Grease 2 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pans with nonstick spray.
• Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, and carrot and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, Dijon mustard, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, eggs, panko, milk, and salt (if using). Stir to combine, add the cooled sautéed veggies, and mix until homogeneous.
• Divide the meatloaf between the prepared pans and spread the mixture evenly.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes.
• Add 1 meatloaf layer to a serving plate. Spread a thin layer of tomato paste over the top. Add 2 cups (500 g) of mashed potatoes to the center and spread evenly. Top with the other meatloaf layer and spread with a layer of tomato paste and 2 cups (500 g) mashed potatoes. Use an offset spatula to cover the sides of the "cake" and spread the potatoes over the whole cake in an even layer.
• Add another cup (250 g) of mashed potatoes to the top of the cake and spread evenly over the whole cake.
• Add the remaining mashed potatoes to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe rosettes around the base and top of the cake.
• Slice and serve.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease the base and sides of three deep, round 6-inch (15-cm) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
• To make the cake, sift together the flour and baking powder in a large bowl, and set aside. Mix the milk and elderflower cordial in a small bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest for 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture looks like it's starting to curdle, add 1 tablespoon (8 g) of the flour mixture. Turn the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture followed by the milk and elderflower. Stir in the remaining flour and divide the batter equally into the prepared cake pans. Bake the cakes for 35 to 37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to firm up.
• To make the purée, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Slice the stems off the strawberries, cut them in half and put them into a baking dish. Toss the fruit with the sugar and vanilla. Roast the strawberries in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring once halfway. The strawberries are done once they are soft and fragrant and the juices have turned into a syrup. Leave the strawberries to cool completely before transferring them to a food processor or blender and pulsing until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
• To make the buttercream, add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer or a heatproof bowl. Make sure there are no traces of grease in the bowl as this will stop the meringue from whipping up. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the base doesn't touch the water. Whisk the eggs and sugar constantly until the mixture reaches a temperature of about 150°F (65°C). If you don't have a thermometer, rub a little of the mixture in between your fingers. The eggs should be hot to the touch with all the sugar dissolved.
• Remove the bowl from the heat and start whisking the egg whites on high speed in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with an electric whisk. Beat until the whites are thick and have doubled in volume. Once the bowl is cool to the touch and with the mixer still running, add the butter a piece at a time. The meringue will deflate and will start to look a little runny or curdled. Don't panic-this is normal. Continue beating until you have added in all of the butter and the mixture is smooth and glossy. If after 10 minutes, your meringue buttercream is still soupy, chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes and then beat again. Add about 1/2 cup (125 g) of the strawberry puree and beat the buttercream for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Leave the buttercream at room temperature until you are ready to assemble.
• Unwrap the cakes from the fridge and if any of them are domed, level them with a serrated knife or a cake leveler. All the layers need to be completely flat to ensure you don't end up with a wonky cake. Brush each cake layer with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of elderflower cordial. Place one layer of cake on a cake board and put this board on a turntable, if using. If your buttercream has firmed up, whip it up again in the mixer until smooth. Add a scoop of buttercream and spread it out evenly with an offset spatula, pushing the buttercream right to the edge (it's fine if it spills over). Place the next layer on top of the first, but this time add about 1 tablespoon (8 g) of strawberry purée on top of the buttercream layer, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) clear around the edge. Place the last layer topside down to give you a perfectly flat top.
• Frost the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Smooth the edges as much as you can with a bench scraper or palette knife. This is the crumb coat layer that will trap any stray crumbs and act as a base for the next layer. Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up before adding another layer of buttercream on the top and sides. Fill a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle (I've used Wilton 8B) with any remaining buttercream and pipe swirls across the edge to make a wreath. Top the cake with fresh strawberries, a drizzle of any leftover puree and fresh elderflower (if in season).

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch-round cake pans with butter and line with parchment paper.
• Place the sugar and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, one by one, until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and buttermilk and continue mixing until combined.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix together the coffee and warm water. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the coffee mixture into the bowl of the stand mixer, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until you don't see any lumps and a thin batter has formed.
• Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of each cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set on the wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• For the dark chocolate mousse: Place the dark chocolate in a large bowl and set aside. Pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let sit for 3 minutes.
• Remove the towel and slowly whisk the ganache until it's smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool to about room temperature.
• Meanwhile, whip the remaining cup of heavy cream to stiff peaks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or by hand. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-fourth of the whipped cream into the cooled ganache to lighten the consistency, then fold that mixture into the remaining whipped cream until almost completely combined with just a few streaks. Add the vanilla and salt and gently fold until combined into a light, fluffy mousse.
• For the chocolate fudge buttercream frosting: Place the sugar, hot fudge, cocoa powder, butter, milk, vanilla extract and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed to combine. When the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat until the buttercream is smooth and satiny, 8 to 10 minutes.
• For the chocolate royal icing: Place the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, meringue powder and water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until the icing holds stiff peaks, 5 to 8 minutes. If it seems too soft, add more confectioners' sugar in 1 tablespoon increments. If it is too stiff, add a bit more water, drop by drop. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip.
• For the white chocolate ganache: Place the white chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let sit for 3 minutes.
• Remove the towel and slowly whisk the ganache until it's smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool to about room temperature, then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip.
• To assemble, level the tops of the cakes with a serrated knife or cake leveler. Spread half of the mousse over the top of one cake layer. Stack the second layer and repeat. Add the third cake layer and frost the top and sides with a thin coat of the buttercream. Refrigerate until the frosting is firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
• When the cake is ready, frost the top and sides with a thicker layer of the buttercream and refrigerate again until very firm, about 1 hour.
• When the cake is almost ready, lightly dust your work area with cornstarch and roll the fondant into a circle about 20-inches wide and 1/8-inch thick. Drape the rolled fondant over the cake and, using a fondant smoother or your hands, lightly press and smooth it onto the cake, working your way from the top down the sides. Pop any air bubbles with a cake tester or toothpick and continue to smooth the surface.
• Trim any excess fondant from the base of the cake with a pizza cutter. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the bottom half of the cake with the piping gel, then cover it with chocolate sprinkles.
• Pipe a scalloped border around the edge with the chocolate royal icing. Pipe little rosettes of the white chocolate ganache around the cake and press 1 hazelnut truffle onto each. Continue to pipe and decorate with the royal icing, white chocolate ganache and hazelnut truffles to your liking.

Steps:

• Tip 1: Do not overmix the flour. While using yeast it's good to knead the dough a bit longer to form a proper gluten. For the baking power and soda it's the opposite; forming gluten is mostly an obstacle for them. However, there's no reason to avoid regular wheat if you do this: 1. Whisk all the other ingredients as fluffy as possible. 2. Combine the flour with the other dry ingredients and the raising agent. Add them to the batter through a fine sieve to break the tight clumps. 3. Do not mix the batter longer or faster than necessary after adding the flour. Patiently fold it in instead so it's just combined. This kind of batter may not always look as fluffy in the bowl but it will remain higher once you have taken the cake out of the oven.
• Tip 2: Use a baking strip. If you put the cake into the oven as it is then the result may be a cake that has arched higher from the center. A quite scientific explanation exists for this: the heat first influences the edges and later the cooler center which keeps raising for a longer time. As a result you may have to trim the cake to make it even. Hence an even layer cake can be baked without cutting anything off as long as the heat on the edges can be isolated. Baking strip is a tool meant for this. There are reusable versions made of fabric and they can also be sewed. For the sewing one can use an old terrycloth as long as the material is heat resistant fiber (like polyester or cotton) and it absorbs moisture very well. A safety pin can be used to keep it on place.
• Tip 3: Making a disposable baking strip. 1. Before making the cake batter measure enough economy paper to cover the entire edge of the cake tin. It's better that it's too long rather than too short; notice that you'll also need some for the seam. It should remain intact. 2. Take a slightly longer strip of tin foil than that of the economy paper. 3. Dampen the economy paper with water under the faucet and fold it just slightly wider than the height of the baking tin. Wrap it neatly inside the tin foil. The baking strip should now be ready to use. 4. Wrap the baking strip around the edge of the baking tin and fold it slightly under the bottom. Then make the seam: take both ends and fold them shut tightly. 5. The water of the paper will turn into steam, trying to open the strip. If you want to be certain, secure the strip on the tin with a string or two. The tin is now ready for the batter. Because the edge remains cooler you may continue baking the cake slightly longer than the recipe says.
• Common Nordic layer cake base: 1. Heat the oven to 175°C. 2. Grease the cake tin (24-36 cm in diameter) and dust it with flour. 3. Whisk the eggs and sugar until it has become frothy and light in color. Add the vanilla extract and mix. 4. Mix the dry ingredients with each other and add them to the foamy eggs through a fine sieve. 5. Fold the flour mix in until the batter is just combined. It's good to check if there are still dark spots while you let it flow down, with the help of a light from the back. If not then the batter is even. 6. Bake the cake in the oven for about 40 minutes (slightly longer with a baking strip).