Lemon Drizzle Magen David Cake

Welcome back. I'm glad all four or so of you (so far) have made it to the second post. Last night, I tackled the hidden design cake showstopper challenge from series 3, episode 1. I know it hardly sounds like a big challenge, but I'm not that great at decorating. I really had to think about how to do this. There were a few ways to try this- use a thick batter to keep sections separate (risky), make separate cakes and cut and assemble once all are baked, or put cut cooked cake pieces within cake batter before baking again.

I went with the third option. I know it sounds strange. I knew there would be a danger that the pre-cooked cake pieces hidden in the center could overcook when re-baked. Knowing this, I chose to modify a sponge cake which is extremely difficult to overcook.

I actually tried baking this for the first time on Tuesday evening, but it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped. It wasn't bad- Vincent's coworkers ate all of it- but I knew I could improve and I made some tweaks before last night's bake.

There is a great sponge cake recipe in my favorite kosher cookbook- Spice and Spirit. I modified it a bit... I made it a dairy cake (the recipe in the cookbook is pareve), I changed around a few ingredients, and I made it lemon flavored. I suppose at this point, what I made hardly resembles the cookbook recipe. I did, however, take a key tip from the recipe: I whipped the egg whites with about half of the sugar, mixed all the other ingredients (including egg yolks) separately, and then folded the whites into the other ingredients. This creates an extremely light and airy sponge cake.

It is very important to separate the resulting batter into batches by color. About one third of the batter should be used for the cake used for the hidden design, and about two thirds for the surrounding cake. I went a little bit crazy with colors; I bought some neon food coloring yesterday and went a little overboard. Unfortunately, it has made for some overly psychedelic photos. I apologize to your eyes in advance. I made bright blue magen davids (Jewish stars), and the outer cake was tie-dyed pink and orange. It was perhaps a bit overwhelming.

The cake used for the hidden design should be sliced first. This enables the cookie cutter(s) to actually cut sections of cake precisely. As you can see with my magen davids, the shape came out pretty well with each cut section. There will be a lot of cake scraps; they're great for making cake pops!

It is important to fully surround the pre-cut cake design in uncooked batter. I first put in at least an inch of batter at the bottom of the pan. Then, I neatly lined up the cut designs across the span of the pan. I made sure the slices of cake were lined up close together (so batter does not go in between each slice), but not too dense (stodgy cake). I then poured more batter over the top and sides carefully. I made sure to get a little batter around the front and back edges of the hidden design- we want it to remain hidden!

Once assembled, this cake has to go in the oven for a longer time than the first cake. Due to the facts that there is a foreign object inside (the hidden cake) and that there is more batter in general, it will take more time to bake.

After the cake comes out of the oven, a lemon drizzle is poured over the top. The cake should sit for at least two hours before it is turned out and served.

Recipe

Ingredients

For Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

3 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

10 eggs, divided

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cream of tartar

rinds of 3 lemons

juice of 1 1/2 lemons

1 cup milk

food coloring as desired.

For Lemon Drizzle

juice of 1 1/2 lemons

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and line a loaf pan.
2. Separate eggs, placing whites and yolks into separate bowls. Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and whip until frothy. Slowly add in 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar while whipping. Continue to whip the egg whites until glossy, stiff peaks form.
3. Add remaining sugar, butter, vanilla extract, milk, lemon rind, and lemon juice to the egg yolks. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add flour and baking powder and mix until incorporated. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture until blended, being careful to maintain volume.
4. Divide batter into 1/3 and 2/3. Mix in food coloring as desired. Add the 1/3 section of the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool cake completely. Slice cake into thin slices. Use a small cookie cutter to cut out sections of cake from each slice. Save remaining cake crumbles for cake pops or trifle.
6. Again, grease and line the loaf pan. Fill with at least 1 inch of the remaining 2/3 of the batter. Carefully align the cooked cake cut-outs along the center of the loaf pan above the liquid batter. Pour remaining batter over the top and the sides of the cut-outs until they are entirely covered. Bake for 80-85 minutes.
7. While the cake is baking, mix together the lemon juice and granulated sugar for the lemon drizzle. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, poke holes in it with a toothpick and gently pour the lemon drizzle over the top.
8. Let cake cool for at least two hours (or overnight) before removing from the tin and serving.