White Vanilla Bean Cake With Balsamic Strawberry And Mascarpone Filling Recipes

VANILLA BEAN CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8 inch x 2 inch round cake pans. (You could use 2 cake pans for slightly thicker layers if you would rather, but we like the additional layer filling.)
• In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend for 30 seconds. Set aside.
• In another bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, milk and vanilla
• In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
• Add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 of wet).
• Mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over-mix.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool 5-10 minutes, then turn out.
• Makes 7 cups batter. The recipe works well for cupcakes.
• Cream the softened butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
• Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
• Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
• Makes approximately 6 cups of frosting.

VANILLA BEAN CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Separate eggs; let eggs stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Line two greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment and grease the paper; set aside. , Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into creamed mixture; discard bean. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition., In a small bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Fold a fourth of egg whites into the batter, then fold in remaining whites. Transfer to prepared baking pans., Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Beat with an electric mixer until ganache is double in volume, about 2 minutes., For buttercream, in a small bowl, combine sugar and cream of tartar. Place egg whites in a double boiler or metal bowl over simmering water; stir in the sugar mixture. , Constantly whisk egg mixture until mixture reaches 120-130°. (Do not overheat.) Stirring gently, keep the egg white mixture at 120-130° for 2 minutes. Immediately transfer to a mixing bowl. With a whisk attachment, beat egg white mixture on high speed for 5 minutes. Reduce speed; beat 5 minutes longer or until cool and stiff. Transfer to a large bowl., In the same mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat butter, shortening and vanilla until light and fluffy. With a spatula, stir a fourth of the egg white mixture into creamed mixture until no white streaks remain. Fold in remaining egg white mixture until combined. If frosting is not completely smooth, attach paddle beater to mixer and beat on low speed for about 1 minute. , Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place bottom layer on a serving plate; spread with half of ganache. Top with another cake layer. Spread with apricot preserves; top with sliced strawberries. Place third cake layer on top; spread with remaining ganache. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread buttercream over top and sides of cake. Top with additional sliced strawberries.

STRAWBERRIES WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Steps:

• Place strawberries in a bowl. Drizzle vinegar over strawberries, and sprinkle with sugar. Stir gently to combine. Cover, and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour but not more than 4 hours. Just before serving, grind pepper over berries.

VANILLA BEAN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
• Cream butter and vanilla bean scrapings together in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer at medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add sugar to mixture slowly. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until well blended.
• Mix buttermilk and vanilla extract together. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk into butter mixture, beating on low speed until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat for an additional 20 seconds. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cake is slightly brown on top, coming away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

WHITE VANILLA BEAN CAKE WITH BALSAMIC STRAWBERRY AND MASCARPONE FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round pans with nonstick spray and line them with parchment paper. Spray the paper.
• Sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the egg whites, sour cream, milk, vanilla and vanilla bean seeds in another large bowl.
• Beat the butter and sugar with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the egg mixture, adding the flour mixture in 3 additions and the egg mixture in 2, starting and ending with the flour.
• Fill each cake pan with 2 1/2 cups of batter and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then flip them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
• For the filling: Put the strawberries, granulated sugar, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook until it gets to a syrupy reduction, about 30 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Beat the mascarpone in a medium bowl until smooth. Whip the heavy cream until light and fluffy in another bowl; just before it is finished, whip in the confectioners¿ sugar and vanillia extract. Fold in the strawberry mixture.
• For the frosting: Cream the butter and shortening until light and fluffy, then beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract.
• To assemble the cake: Put 1 cake layer on a cake board or platter. Spread half of the filling mixture on top. Repeat with another cake layer. Frost the cake with the buttercream frosting and serve.