Happy birthday to me :-)
The bad thing being a food blogger and having birthday is that you have to make your own birthday cake. The best thing is that you can do which ever cake you want! Ever since our wedding last year I’ve been planning to make a copy of our wedding cake which was made by the bakery Steinbrenner & Nyberg in Gothenburg. The cake consists of almond bottom, vanilla pannacotta, blackberry mousse and a blackberry mirror. I have to say that this first attempt resulted in a beautiful and delicious tasting cake which really holds it own against the Steinbrenner one. But now I have to eat some more of the cake while watching the new episodes of Jamie on Swedish channel 5 :-)
Blackberry cake with vanilla pannacotta
Almond bottom:
300 gram almond paste
2 eggwhites
1 whole egg
Pannacotta:
(I only did a half batch, but i really recommend doing a whole batch instead with the following quantities:)
1 tsp gelatine powder + 2 tsp water
500 ml cream
1 vanilla pod
50 ml caster sugar
Blackberry mousse:
1.5 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tsp water
200 ml blackberry purée (450 grams of strained defrosted blackberries will give you 350 ml purée, just enough for the mousse and the glaze)
200 ml double cream
3.5 tbsp powdered sugar
Blackberry glaze:
100 ml blackberry purée
1 tsp gelatine powder + 2 tsp water
0.5 tbsp powdered sugar
Decoration:
Blackberries
White chocolate
Almond bottom: Pre-heat the oven to 175°C. Line the bottom of a spring form (20 cm wide) with baking parchment. Butter the paper. Grate the almond paste and combine with the eggs (preferably with an electric mixer or beater). Pour the mixture in the spring form. Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Let the cake cool and remove the baking parchment.
Put an overhead sheet (size A4) on a cutting board. If the sheet doesn’t fit, then take a larger cutting board. Put the cake on the middle of the overhead sheet. Take two overhead sheets (size A4) and cut them lengthwise in the center so that you’ll have 2 long strips. Attach the two strips together so that you have one long strip, using adhesive/scotch tape. Now wrap the cake sides with your strip, as tightly as you can as you don’t want your filling to leak out, but make sure that your construction is straight otherwise your whole cake will be crooked. As soon as you’re happy with your transparent mold, fasten it with tape. Also fasten your mold to the bottom overhead sheet with a lot of tape.
Pannacotta: Combine gelatin with water, set aside. Cut the vanilla pod in half lenghtwise and scrape out the seeds. Combine cream, vanilla seeds and sugar in a pan. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes, don’t let it boil. Remove the mixture from the heat, add the gelatine and whisk until it’s dissolved. Let the pannacotta cool, when at room temperature you can place it in the fridge. Don’t let the pannacotta set completely, make sure to find the right moment when it’s starting to stiffen. Then pour a small amount of the pannacotta on the cake. If it starts leaking, quickly put the whole cutting board in the freezer and let it stay there until the pannacotta stiffen. Then you can take it out and safely pour the rest of the pannacotta into your mold. Put the cutting board in the fridge and let it stiffen for at least 2 hours.
Blackberry mousse: Strain the blackberries. In a cup, soak the gelatin in the water. Combine the strained blackberries with the sugar. In a separate bowl whip cream to soft peaks.
Place the cup with softened gelatin in a larger cup which you fill with hot water, enough to come halfway up side of cup. Stir the gelatin mixture frequently for 2 minutes, until the gelatin dissolve completely and the mixture is clear. Let the gelatin cool to room temperature. Add 4 tbsp of the purée mixture to the gelatine, stir. Combine the rest of the blackberry mix with the cooled gelatin (If you discover any lumps, heat the blackberry/gelatine mix carefully while strirring and then let it cool again). Finally carefully fold in the blackberries/gelatin into whipped cream.
Take out the cake from the fridge and spread the blackberry mousse evenly over the cake. Let the cake stiffen in the fridge for 2 hours.
Blackberry glaze: In a cup, soak the gelatin in the water. Combine the strained blackberries with the sugar. Place the cup with softened gelatin in a larger cup which you fill with hot water, enough to come halfway up side of cup. Stir the gelatin mixture frequently for 2 minutes, until the gelatin dissolve completely and the mixture is clear. Let the gelatin cool to room temperature. Add 4 tbsp of the purée mixture to the gelatine, stir. Combine the rest of the blackberry mix with the cooled gelatin (If you discover any lumps, heat the blackberry/gelatin mix carefully while strirring and then let it cool again). Pour the glaze over the cake and put it into the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take out the cake from the fridge. Carefully cut the tape with a knife and then carefully release the sides by pulling of the overhead strip from the cake. Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Decorate with white chocolate and blackberries.
