It all started last week.
My imagination had dried out, and I wanted to make something new for my Caketisserie range, but absolutely didn't know what to do. And then, my boyfriend suggested that I asked on Instagram for people's opinion on what to make!
That's when I thought, I'm going to give them the choice between 3 Classics of Pâtisserie and confectionery that I have always wanted to convert into a cake!
The choice was to be made between Ferrero Rocher, Banoffee Pie or Taste Tatin.
If you're reading this, you already know who won...
Tarte Tatin was probably the hardest one to "convert" from its original state of upside-down caramelised apple tart to a cake.
What worried me was: how to get the caramelised baked apples into the cake and then being able to manipulate the sponges (cut, layer, etc) without problems.
I could easily have baked the apples with the caramel separately and then insert them between layers of sponge as I filled the cake. But I REALLY wanted that gooey caramely dough effect of baking the whole thing together rather than baking sponges on one hand, and the apples separately.
In the end, I made a roasted almonds sponge baked with a salted caramel and pieces of apples at the bottom which resulted in a delicious melt-in-the-mouth caramelised apples-n-sponge. Once baked and cooled, I drizzled it with a Dark Rum syrup, and lastly filled a covered the cake with a Vanilla and Nutmeg Chantilly cream. Two words: SO GOOD.
But enough with the talking, I know why you're here.
The recipe!
Fist things first, here is the order of the Sponges process:
1. Prepare the apples.
2. Line the cake tins.
3. Make the caramel and pour it straight away into the cake tins
4. Cover the caramel at the bottom of our cake tins with the sliced apples
5. Make our cake batter and pour in our cake tins, recovering our caramel and apples
6. Bake :)
It is important for you to have all the facts before you get started as to have everything ready in the right order!
And now the recipes:
APPLES PREPARATION
Apples x2 (I used Royal Galas)
Peel and empty your apples, cut them in halves and chop them in fine cubes. Keep aside for when the caramel is ready.
SALTED CARAMEL
100g Golden Caster Sugar
50g butter
Turn the oven on now - 165ºC
Line your cake tins - ideally you want to line the whole tin. I use a grease spray on the sides or the tin, but I still lined the bottom of the cake pans with baking parchment (see photo). I would STRONGLY suggest that you also grease slightly the top of the baking paper as to allow for an easy release once the sponges are baked and the bottoms have caramelised.
In a clean saucepan, pour one third of the sugar and leave it to melt on medium heat. Once it starts melting add the second third and repeat the same process with the last.
Once the sugar is caramelised evenly (it should start smoking slightly and have no more chunks of unmelted sugar), remove quickly from the heat and add the butter in two gos, whisking all the while with a hand whisk, making sure to create an emulsion.
As soon as the butter is well incorporated, replace on a medium heat and whisk for a few seconds, insuring that the caramel is runny enough to be poured in each cake tin.
Tip: If your caramel starts setting too early (see photo below...), no biggie. Place your cake tin in the oven for 2-3 minutes and it will spread evenly on the whole surface, allowing you to cover with the apples.
Place your apples evenly as to recover the whole surface. Make sure they don't come too high (one layer basically - if you have leftovers, do not add them there, but feel free to add them to the sponge before baking. Or do like me: eat them!)
Keep both tins in the warm oven as you make your cake batter.
5" ROASTED ALMONDS SPONGE
Butter 160g
Golden Caster Sugar 130g
Eggs 150g (or 3 medium eggs)
Self Raising Flour 130g
Roasted Ground Almonds 40g
With the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar.
Add two of the eggs and scrape well to make sure everything gets well combined. Add the ground almonds and the last eggs. Scrape well again.
Lastly, add the flour in one go and stop the mixer as soon as it is all combined. Make sure to scrape well one last time.
Get the tins out of the oven, and pour half of the cake batter in each one.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until nice and golden on top, and a skewer comes out dry.
Leave to cool for a little while on a tray. You mustn't leave them to cool completely though as you won't be able to unmold it properly. It needs to be still slightly warm to the touch.
Leave to cool with the apples facing up, and cover with a piece of baking paper (photo below): this will protect the apples layer, and it will also allow you to slice each sponge normally without worrying about putting caramel all over your work surface ;)
SYRUP
60g water
50g Golden Caster Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla bean paste or Vanilla extract
1 tbs Dark Rum
Bring the sugar, water and vanilla to the boil. Remove from heat and add the Rum.
Set aside.
CHANTILLY CREAM
200g Whipping or Light Double Cream
20g Golden Caster Sugar (also works with any type of sugar - even icing)
1 tsp of Vanilla Bean Paste
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Whip with the whisk attachment the whipping cream, sugar, Vanilla and nutmeg.
First, whip to only 70% of the consistency - it needs to be right under soft peaks. Pour half of that cream in a clean bowl and save in the fridge - you will use this to cover the cake later.
Resume whisking the rest of the cream to a thicker consistency. It needs to be soft enough to be spread easily and still hold its shape.
ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
Slice each sponge in two layers.
Start filling the the cake as you would for a normal layered cake as in the photos below.
Make sure to drizzle each layer with the Rum syrup.
Keep in the fridge for an hour to allow the cake to set slightly. As it is filled with fresh cream it will never harden like a buttercream cake, but being cold will make the covering process easier.
At that stage, get the "pre-whipped" cream from the fridge and whip it to a slightly thicker consistency (about soft peak).
When it's ready, simply cover the cake as you would any buttercream cake! The Chantilly cream is much softer and leave a bit more room for scraping off and starting again of needed. The cream will eventually thicken and become grainy though, hence the importance of starting with a softer consistency.
Here I added a drop of brown colour gel to remind the nutmeg and caramel theme, and topped the cake with a ring of sweet pastry and cream "Kisses".
And that's it :)
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial everyone, and if you ever give it a go at home, PLEASE let me know and tag me on Socials as nothing would make me happier than to see you've tried it too :)
Remember that you can always leave a comment if you have any questions!
Stay home and stay safe y'all !!!!
With love,
Zaza Xx
