Cake of the Day: Pistachio 'Naked' Layer Cake
“Naked” cakes are quite the trend these days, and ‘MasterChef’ finalist Hannah Miles has the book to prove it. Aptly titled Naked Cakes, each of its cakes features is undressed, in other words it has no icing covering its exterior. The end result is graphic and rustically elegant. Try out the trend yourself with Miles’ recipe, below.
Pistachio Layer Cake
One of the prettiest decorations for a naked cake can be achieved by adding food colouring to your cake batter. By dividing the cake batter between several bowls and colouring each with different quantities of food colouring, you can achieve gradating coloured tiered cakes that look stunning on any party table. This is my version, from vibrant to pale pink, with a pale green pistachio filling. If you prefer cakes without nuts, simply layer the cakes with fresh cream and jam instead.
Serves 12
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 recipe 6-egg Cake Batter (see below)
pink food colouring gel
For the pistachio cream:
11?3 cups shelled pistachio nuts
2 heaped tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 1?3 cups heavy cream
Tools
5 x 8-inch round cake pans, greased and lined with baking parchment
a piping/pastry bag fitted with round nozzle/tip
To prepare the pistachio cream, blitz three-quarters of the pistachios in a food processor with the icing/confectioners’ sugar to very fine crumbs. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the cake. Coarsely chop the remaining pistachios, and set aside for the decoration.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Fold the vanilla extract into the cake batter and divide the mixture equally between 5 bowls. Add a little food colouring to each, adding a very small amount in the first bowl and then increasing gradually in each bowl so that you have gradating colours of cake batter. Spoon each batter into a prepared cake pan. (If you do not have 5 pans, then
cook the cakes in batches, washing, greasing and re-lining the cake pans between cooking.) Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the cakes spring back to the touch and a knife inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
If the sides of the cakes have browned slightly during cooking, once cool, use a sharp knife to trim the sides of the cake carefully to expose the pink colour.
Put the double/heavy cream in a large bowl with the ground pistachio and icing/confectioners’ sugar mixture, and whisk to stiff peaks with an electric mixer or whisk. Spoon the cream into the piping/pastry bag.
Place the darkest pink cake on a serving plate and pipe a thick swirl of cream on top, ensuring that the cream goes to the edge of the cake. Repeat with the remaining cakes, stacking them in colour order from darkest to lightest. Once the final layer is in place, smooth the edges of the cream using a palette knife or metal spatula. Pipe a layer of cream on top and smooth it neatly using a palette knife or metal spatula, then gently press the chopped pistachios around the edge of the cream.
Serve straight away or store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. As the cake contains fresh cream, it is best eaten on the day it is made, although it will keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
6-Egg Cake Batter
3 sticks butter, softened
1 ¾ cups caster or granulated sugar
6 eggs
2 1?2 cups self-raising/self-rising flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons buttermilk or sour cream
Use an electric whisk to mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and creamy. Add the eggs and whisk again. Fold in the flour, baking powder and buttermilk or sour cream using a spatula, until incorporated. Use as directed in your recipe.
Excerpted from Naked Cakes by Hannah Miles. Ryland Peters & Small, $21.95
Photography by Steve Painter
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