Jan 4, 2010

Whipped Cream Cake


This is probably the most basic and simple of the cakes I've made so far. It's also a cake that everyone just gobbled up. When I looked around the table after people were done with dessert, there was not a bite left on any plate. Nary a crumb.
The juxtaposition of the holiday pinecone cake and the whipped cream cake shows how eclectic Heavenly Cakes is. One is so elaborate, and the other could only be simpler if it were a cake mix. But both are good.

The cake is an oddity in that it has no butter or oil--just whipping cream. Rose recommends 40% butterfat cream if you can find it. The whipping cream available in the supermarket doesn't give percentages, and I didn't go try to cadge cream from a baker, so I'm assuming that mine wasn't 40%. It still worked, though. Just whip it, then beat in the eggs, sugar and vanilla.

It's nice and thick and creamy at this point. Rose says it will have the consistency of mayonnaise, which is about right, but I didn't like to think of it as a bowlful of Hellmann's, so I tried to ignore that description.

Then the flour is folded in. If you forgot to sift the flour, as I did, it helps to fold it in with a balloon whisk instead of a spatula, because that does a better job of breaking up the tiny clumps of flour.
If you read the recipe, you won't forget, because it says "sifted into the cup and leveled off." Because I don't use cups, I ignored the entire sentence.

That's it! That's all you have to do. Spoon the nice thick batter into some variety of tube or bundt pan. The lovely picture, which has powdered sugar drifting down on the cake from a sieve above, is a fluted tube pan. I can't figure out how I possibly missed adding this particular cake pan to my collection, so I had to use the one I bought for the Golden Lemon Almond Cake.

It works very nicely for this cake too. It looked pretty just out of the cake pan, but even prettier with a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top. If I'm not careful, I'll start sprinkling powdered sugar on everything.
Serving this whipped cream cake with more whipped cream does seem a little like taking coals to Newcastle, but it works.
This cake is like a pound cake, but it's much paler, almost white, because its fat content comes from cream rather than butter. The crumb is softer and more delicate than the heartier pound cake and, despite the fact that it's got more cream than you can shake a stick at, it tastes innocently light and tender. You could probably deceive yourself into thinking that it's a diet cake, and you could certainly eat two pieces with no trouble.

Because I made the pinecone cake for an office party, this cake was my actual Christmas cake. Often after a big dinner, no one wants to eat a rich dessert. But, as I said, everyone's plate was licked clean. They probably thought they wouldn't gain weight from eating this cake. They were wrong.

TASTING PANEL:

Sarah: "I love how buttery it is." [Me: "It doesn't have any butter in it. It has cream."] "I love how creamy it is."
Lisa: "It's fluffy!"
Jim: "Light, with good texture and flavor. It goes very well with whipped cream."
Dan: "It's good! Should I lift up my shirt and show my stomach so people can see how much I love to eat?"
[That last quote marked the end to any serious tasting panel comments.]

21 comments:

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Lovely Marie - I used the same Bavaria Bundt pan.

doughadear said...

Marie
This is my kind of cake, easy to make, made pretty by a dusting of sugar, and a treat to eat. I will be making this cake.

Nicola said...

Love that pan too! What I need is one bundt pan with silicon liners in all the different shapes. Why has no one invented that yet? Do they not know how small my kitchen is?

Gorgeous cake. Isn't it great when the cake taste surpasses the effort required to produce it!

Not in a desperate rush to see any photos of "those that like to eat" stomachs. However, if you have any of "those that like to do ab crunches" post away!

Raymond said...

Marie,

Your cake looks beautiful. I love your pan. This cake was so good I had to make two. The first one was gone before I even got to taste it. Definitely a winner.

Raymond

PAM said...

Your cake turned out perfect. I loved it too and had some for breakfast. Great funny post, your dinner guest with the stomach sounds like a hoot.

Jenn said...

Happy New Year to everyone.

Beautiful cake Marie. It's picture perfect! Your dinner guests are so funny :). I want to apologize for being a slacker HCB member lately. I have been baking but not following what's on the schedule, :(. I promise I'll be better this year!

Hanaâ said...

First, happy new year everybody!

Beautiful cake, Marie. It released perfectly. Love the golden color. This cake was exceptional in taste. I agree with one of your guests: it does taste light and buttery. I will definitely make this again and again. From start to finish: 1 hour. Who can beat that?! To make this cake extra special, I decided to use my rose-shaped pan for the first time. It turned out very pretty, if I say so myself :o)

Vicki said...

How pretty! And what is this Golden Lemon Almond Cake you speak of? Rose's recipe? Now I must go buy a proper Bundt pan after seeing the beautiful array of cakes this week.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Hi Vicki - the Golden Lemon Almond Cake recipe is found on page 37 in Rose's Heavenly Cakes.

:)
ButterYum

evil cake lady said...

Wow, your cake looks so fancy and spectacular! Good choice using the Bavaria bundt pan. Now I have bundt pan envy!
Sarah made a good recovery in her assessment of the cake, didn't she? That made me laugh!

Rose Levy Beranbaum said...

me too--i have to get that heritage bundt pan fast!
what a great way to start the new year. all of your postings and photos are so very fantastic and heart warming. i love how baking is turning us all into better bakers and friends as well!

marie--that comment about the bowl full of hellman's was hilarious! i can always count on your making at least one comment that cracks me up. you are amassing quite a collection of step by step photos and we really have to congratulate both you and jim as they show exactly what needs to be shown.

visiting this blog spot and seeing all your comments is the highlight of the week!

marie said...

ButterYum,
I love this pan--I think it's almost prettier in this pan than in the pan shown in the book (but I love the book's picture of powdered sugar drifting down on the cake).

Oriana,
I hope you come back and read the rest of the postings. I don't remember another cake where the reviews have been so uniformly favorable.

Nicola,
What an excellent idea! I think you should go into business doing just that.

Raymond,
You're getting so mellow--no complaints about the directions! And two cakes! It is nice to have a recipe that's easy enough for you to be able to just turn around and put another cake in the oven.

SugarChef,
I'll admit that I broke my one-piece rule and had another slice for breakfast the next day. I could claim it was in the interest of science: just to test whether the cake was still moist a day later, but that would be a lie.

Jenn,
Great News Years Resolution--Bake More Cakes!

Hanaa,
This is the kind of cake that could become your specialty cake, isn't it? As in, "Hanaa, will you bring your fabulous whipped cream cake?"

Vicki,
June 21, 2009. It almost broke in half, and I had to disguise the structural defects with roses in the center, a la My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Running a little late this week - here's my submission.

http://butteryum.blogspot.com/2010/01/whipped-cream-cake.html

Marie said...

ECL,
I love that bundt pan! I noticed that your cake was yellower than mine--who'd think that just a smidgen of butter would make that difference.

Rose,
Do you get a little bit anxious before you click on the first description, in case the person writing about the cake doesn't like it? I think I would. But you probably have more confidence in your work, which is why you're writing cookbooks and the rest of us are baking your recipes. Not that there's anything wrong with that division of labor.

ButterYum,
Nice! I love your presentation!

faithy said...

Wow..another temptation for a fancy bundt pan! LOL! You've already tempted me with a baguette pan..and then a pullman loaf pan in my next shopping list and now a fancy bundt pan..LOL!

You're cake looks great! I wonder why mine has a chewy crust..

faithy said...

Nicola, i think my kitchen is smaller than yours! LOL! My kitchen is "10 foot-steps x 3 foot-steps"..LOL! The 4th step is out in the living room..LOL!

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Faithy,

HA! I love the way you describe the dimensions of your kitchen in foot steps!

:)
ButterYum

Hanaâ said...

Marie,
This cake is on my Quick&Easy list and will be made over and over again, maybe with a few tweaks here and there for a change of pace (cardamom-infused cake with a citrus glaze, or add a good helping of lemon or orange zest to the batter). If you read my post, you know about my husband leaving his plate crumb free. Well, I also gave a friend at work a couple slices of cake (one for her and one for her hubby). Turns out, she ate a slice and a half and only gave her hubby half a slice, blaming “squirrels” for eating his other half :o) I don’t think he bought it, ha ha.

Marie said...

Faithy,
Where are you going to put this new collection of baking pans in your 3-step by 4-step kitchen?

Hanaa,
Sounds like you could easily have a month of variations just on this cake.
I'm going to have to remember the "squirrel excuse," although it sounds like it wasn't completely convincing.

faithy said...

LOL! I usually will find a way to store them..i have my way..like squeezing them into my wardrobe (not kidding!) or the cupboards in the living room or my kids' rooms! LOL!

++MIRA++ said...

oh i love teh pan !dusting it with sugar shows off the design. thanks for sharing!