Sparkling Berry Chiffon Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Whisk together oil, egg yolks, and milk in a large bowl. Whisk flour mixture into egg-yolk mixture.
• Beat egg whites with a mixer on high speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and vanilla seeds or extract, and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Whisk one-third of the egg-white mixture into batter. Gently but thoroughly fold in remaining egg-white mixture with a rubber spatula.
• Transfer batter to tube pan. Bake until top of cake springs back when touched, 52 to 55 minutes. Let cool upside down (over a bottle or on tube-pan feet) 1 hour.
• Make the berries and cream: While cake is baking and cooling, combine strawberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt, and let sit, stirring occasionally, 1 hour. Just before assembling, beat cream and confectioners' sugar until medium peaks form.
• Slide a paring knife around edges of tube and side of pan; release cake. Cut cake horizontally into 3 layers with a serrated knife. Transfer bottom layer to a cake plate or platter. Spread with half the berries, and drizzle with juices. Spread half the whipped cream over berries, then top with middle cake layer. Spread with remaining berries and whipped cream. Top with remaining cake layer. Refrigerate cake 1 hour. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, and serve with berries.

Steps:

• Cake:Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and two 6-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment; butter parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl, whisk together oil, egg yolks, milk, lemon zest, and vanilla seeds. Whisk egg-yolk mixture into flour mixture.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on high speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Whisk one-third of egg white mixture into batter. Gently but thoroughly fold in remaining egg-white mixture with a rubber spatula. Transfer batter to prepared pans: 2 cups batter in each 6-inch pan and 4 cups batter in each 9-inch pan. Bake until golden and tops spring back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes for 6-inch cakes and 30 minutes for 9-inch cakes. Let cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; remove parchment. Let cool completely, upside-down.
• Whipped Cream:In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together cream and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes flat. Split each cake horizontally into two equal layers. Place a 9-inch cake layer, bottom-side down, on a serving platter. Spread 1 1/2 cups whipped cream evenly over top. Repeat process with remaining 9-inch cake layers, spreading 1 1/2 cups whipped cream between each layer and leaving top layer (bottom-side up) uncovered. Refrigerate while you work on the second tier. Repeat process with 6-inch cake layers, spreading 1 cup whipped cream between each layer.
• Insert a wooden dowel or skewer into 9-inch tier; trim dowel so that it?s 1/4 inch taller than height of tier. Trim 2 more dowels to same height. Arrange dowels in a circular pattern, about 3 inches from edge of cake. Center 6-inch tier over 9-inch tier, pressing gently to secure. Insert a dowel into 6-inch tier; trim dowel to height of tier.
• Garnish cake with berries and flowers, scattering on top of each tier and around perimeter of serving platter. Using a small, fine sieve, sift confectioners' sugar over berries. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• For almond cream filling:
• Pour half and half into medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean and bring cream to simmer. Remove from heat; cover and steep 15 minutes. Blend sugar and flour in medium bowl. Whisk in eggs, then warm half and half mixture; return to same pan. Add almond paste. Whisk over medium heat until almond paste dissolves and custard boils, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate and butter; whisk until melted and smooth. Press plastic wrap onto custard; chill 3 hours. Remove vanilla bean. Beat cream to peaks; fold into custard in 3 additions. Cover; chill at least 6 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour two 10-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Sift flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt into large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup lukewarm water into dry ingredients; beat in oil, egg yolks, both extracts, and peel. Using clean dry beaters, beat whites in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in 3 additions. Measure 4 2/3 cups batter into 1 prepared pan and 3 1/3 cups batter into second pan.
• Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for thinner cake and 30 minutes for larger cake. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Cut around cakes and turn out onto racks; cool completely.
• Place thinner cake on 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom. Spread with 1/2 cup preserves, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Spoon 1 1/2 cups filling in dollops atop preserves; spread evenly. Chill until filling is firm, about 15 minutes.
• Cut larger cake horizontally in half. Place 1 half, cut side down, atop chilled filling. Spread with 1/2 cup preserves, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Spoon 1 1/2 cups filling in dollops atop preserves; spread evenly. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down . Cover cake and remaining filling; chill 3 hours.
• For almond cream cheese frosting:
• Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and both extracts in large bowl to blend. Beat in 3/4 cup remaining filling. Spread 1 cup frosting thinly over sides and top of cake. Spread cake with remaining frosting, building high rim around top edge. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and chill.)
• Mound berries on top of cake. Brush top of berries with warm jelly to glaze. Serve immediately, or chill up to 6 hours.

Steps:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and set aside to soften for 5 minutes.
• Combine 2/3 cup sugar, the rehydrated gelatin, and the mashed fruit in a saucepan. Cook to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and set the bottom of the pan in cold water; cool just until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon.
• Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 1/3 cup sugar in a heat-proof mixing bowl. Whisk the mixture slightly, just to break up the egg whites. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water on the stove. Heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the egg white mixture is hot to the touch and has reached 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove the bowl from the heat and whip with an electric mixer until the meringue forms medium-stiff glossy peaks.
• Use a whisk or spatula to fold the fruit mixture into the meringue. Meanwhile, whip the cream in a cold bowl until medium-stiff peaks form.
• The filling mixture should be no warmer than room temperature when you add the whipped cream. Add one third of the whipped cream into the filling mixture, mixing gently until combined. Fold in the remaining whipped cream and pile the filling into the cooled baked pie shell. Chill several hours until set.

Steps:

• Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Place in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add oil, egg yolks and orange juice; beat with a spoon until smooth. , In a bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff. Gradually add batter, folding gently until blended. Pour into an ungreased 9x5-in. loaf pan. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes. Invert immediately on wire rack, but keep in pan. When cool, remove cake from pan and slice into 12 pieces. Top each slice with berries, ice cream and whipped cream.