One take on more caramel, happy belated Easter

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2010/04/hectors_easter_egg_cake.html

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Thank you Chel. Rose's Celebrations, just a click away Amazon.com

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Mmm! This looks amazing. Did you create the recipe yourself? Is the recipe up for sharing?

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left overs? never... you probably meant prep stock!

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Hector, Love the overall look of the cake! Not crazy about blue flowers with brown frosting but Hate would be too strong a word. (Were they left over from your World cake?)

Mother's Day is so busy for bakeries, florists, etc -- best wishes to you and to all the other bloggers who are extra busy this weekend! Hang in there and hope you have a chance to rest next week!

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Japanese cakes are so different to western cakes in their texture - very fine, and decorations which are so dainty. It has been my good fortune to visit Japan regularly in the past few years and I find their cakes such a visual treat that I end up over indulging. It will be interesting to see what style of decoration they require of you in the Japanese bakery. Go Hector!

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http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/LoveHateRelationship.html

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Geejay, thanks for the compliments. Stay tunned.

Rozanne. I gave some extra frosting to my friend Natalie, she made some Chocolate Domingo cupcakes, she was so grateful, and me too! I made butter cake because had some cocoa to spend, plus also wanted a more traditional wedding type cake this time. Yes, I returned the very uneven layers to the pan, level them off and filled them with the chipped chocolate caramel bc. Refrigerate until firm, then unmold which was super easy since I line the pan with plastic wrap first.

Julie, it was an happy accident, and so is most all of my stuff!

Matthew, hmmm, sourdough boy! I love stracciatella, but only when I have it in Italy!

This is the cake, I am naming it Love Hate Relationship. I've had ALL my friends review it, and they either loved it or hated it. Some said the top tier was tooooooo simple. Some said the color combination is odd. Some loved the color and the artist canvas clean look. I am happy with this cake, and wow, 5 inch tiers is a nice height and standard for well made wedding cakes.

I am burning the midnight oil, making too many cakes to account, for Mother's Day weekend. These 2 part time jobs I have at bakeries, need me full time. Tomorrow I start my apprentice pastry chef job at high-end Japanese bakery. I will be delivering and setting up their wedding cakes, specially when the venue is at a remote location a bit far from the bakery, I hope they trust me to do this, and I can't wait how wedding cake is packed, delivered, and assembled commercially. It was so funny, when I showed up for the job interview, they thought I was applying for a front desk position. I showed up with cake sampling and portfolio, and as Rose once told me, that really worked more than any words can say.

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I'm waiting to hear that this cake was leavened with sourdough starter :) The chocolate chip does look tasty. I think that is the same way that stracciatella gelato is made.

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Hector,

What a fabulous cake! Very inspiring. Did you know that the chocolate would form chips? Or, was that a happy accident?

Thanks for letting us in on your work.
Julie

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Looks really, really good. I can only imagine how good it must have tasted. What did you do to the bottom of the cakes? It looks like you applied a very thick layer of the caramel chocolate buttercream and then refrigerated it. So, what inspired you make a butter cake?

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Hector, now that you are a more experienced baker why not join an internet baking group such as Daring Bakers or Tuesdays with Dorie and create your own blog for us to follow all your baking/decorating adventures. I'm sure you would be up to it.

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Everyone may know by now, that when I make a buttercream, I do it to the maximum capacity my kitchen can handle.

The Star Copper Topper Mountain Cascade cake was done in February, and it took 3 double batches of Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream. The left over was quickly frozen and stored. Finally last night, I used it all.

I brought the Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream to near-room temperature, but was still very cold to the touch. It wasn't very whip-able yet. I poured it on large glass bowl where bittersweet chocolate was melted and cooled. Then, I stirred only one or two strokes with a balloon whisk and let it sit for about 15 minutes until the buttercream reached room temperature. The cold buttercream solidified a good amount of chocolate into bits, which with further stirring made the most wonderful chocolate chips.

Sorry I don't have the exact temperature readings of this "new" Chocolate Chipped Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream. If you think the original no-chocolate version was out of this world, then we need to create that other world to describe this chocolate version.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/ChocolateChipppedButtercream.html

This was applied as filling between my very uneven 2-inch layers of Perfect All-Amercian Chocolate Butter Cake. A regular chocolate mousseline buttercream frosted the cake, but it isn't pictured.

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Hi Hector, I honestly love ur Copper Topper Cascade Moutain Cake, and I know mere seeing the picture of the cake alone, my moulth water to taste the cake. You are so blessed and very creative, keep it up. And to Rose, your site is so superb. Thanks guys for sharing

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Liz, the caramel was added on site.

To travel, I glued (with buttercream) a hexagonal cardboard on the top and on the bottom of the cake. The cardboard was 1-inch wider than the decorated cake on its widest star points. Then I cut 6 identical pieces of cardboard and covered the sides. This is the hexagonal cake box that protected the 6 spoke star cake.

This was frozen rock solid with dry ice, and hand carried on a cooler bag in the airplane with sufficient quantities of dry ice so it would arrive still frozen after the plane ride. I could have placed less dry ice, so the cake would gradually thaw to a refrigerated temperature; buttercream remains very solid refrigerated.

The cake was tall, but well tiered, each tier was 3 layers. The bottom layer had wood dowel rods. There was buttercream between the 2 tiers, to make thing glued and not shift during travel.

When the party was over, I told myself that this challenge should not be repeated, but you wonderful bloogers make me want to do it again if not often.

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Hi Hector,
I'm amazed that you traveled that far with such a tall cake, and it was still in perfect shape when you got there! How did you package it? I'm always afraid that the cake will touch the side of the box and ruin the frosting/decorations.

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Hi Colette, the original is called The Copper Topper Cascade Mountain Cake (Rose's Celebrations, Beranbaum, 1992). The book is out of print but you can buy it at discount price used from many places online. The book was/is on most public libraries, you can even buy it there when uncatalogued.

The Copper Topper Star consists of 2-tiers , 10-inch diameter (of cake) or 12-inch diameter (frosted and decorated with roses). Each tier is 3 1-inch layers of cake. The sidekick Copper Topper Log is 6-layers of thin jelly roll cakes.

Basically, cake is Biscuit de Savoie moistened with Amaretto syrup (equal weight of syrup for weight of cake). The filling and frosting is Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream (an Italian meringue buttercream with creme anglaise and caramel). The Copper Topper is caramel pieces with sliced unblanched almonds.

Recipes for all these components are on The Cake Bible.

For the Copper Topper Star, you need 6 recipes of Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream! It serves about 100 people, so really each person is having only a few drops of butter! The Biscuit de Savoie is always butter-less and airy. NO-ONE has ever said that this cake is too dense, rich, or sweet, so expect second servings!

The flavor profile is perfect in my opinion, I give ALL credit to Rose, as she says in her book "This cake is for the caramel lover. It's even more delicious than it looks." If you like flan, custard, or vanilla creams, this cake is for you!

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Hi Hector,

your creations are absolutely beautiful. Congratulations on all your hard work.

I read the description of your "Copper Topper Cascade Mountain Cake" and it sounds just luscious...any chance you would send me the recipe?

Thank you so much for sharing of yourself.

Colette :)

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another one for you all, the sidekick Copper Topper Log. Flavor exceptional as usual, this time enjoyed as dessert after a seafood grilling party.

I do need to perfect the caramel pieces, trying to make them paper thin next!

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Looks luscious! :)

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Gorgeous!

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That´s an impressive cake, hector!

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I've just received these lovely photos from Dorothy, proud mother of the birthday boy. She arrived minutes after I did and witnessed cake assembly.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/CopperTopperStar2.html

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Bill, a lot of plan and do in advance and proper refrigeration!

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Hector:
I don't know how you do it...you seem to work miracles. I just looks amazing. Haven't been baking lately, getting ready to move my office...life is overwhelming. How dare work get in the way of cake!

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I don't have a picture of the cake sliced, but this is the same cake I made last year as you may remember, and it was like this. Please enjoy.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/DSC02279.jpg

Let me say, that on this photo, the plate was hot (party was at a restaurant, and plates are stored in a warmer or may have come straight from dishwasher). Cake was kept at 50oF for 3 hours inside a cooler, so the slices were fairly firm and chilly. Once placed on the hot plate, the frosting started to melt into the most wonderful caramel cream.

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Patrincia, you know that you are my favorite friend?

According to the TSA gate agent, the rules have changed, you no longer need a medical permit to carry dry ice. The best info I found is from the TSA website, and there is a number you can call. I've read somewhere that dry ice is at near -100oF, so that is why my cake remained frozen for so long even after removing the dry ice!

I've just had 2 friends over, to talk about this trip. They are getting tired of my work, meaning they want to see me doing what I bake but for living somewhere else!

Matthew, yes, I am enjoying the tall layers.

I almost sent a joke email to Rose, regarding the taste on this cake, that she must have a flavor profile machine tester! On her original recipe, she says "it is for the caramel lover" and I totally agree. If you like vanilla, custard, flan, and a hint of almond, this is the cake to serve. This cake is identical to Rose's original recipe, except 3 times bigger.

There are about 30 roses per star pane, so I estimate 180 total. Good practice for March 22nd when I need about 1800, and I better get started. I promised myself that after March 22nd I won't be doing big cake myself any more. I hope you agree with my decision.

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I think tall and high cakes are becoming your signature Hector!

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Hector - do your friends have any idea how fortunate they are to have you as a friend???

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Yet another great cake from the Great Hector. I need to dry my keyboard after drooling because the cake looks incredibly delicious.

Btw, great info about the dry ice. We've flown quite a bit and I've heard more than one flight attendant force someone to get rid of the dry ice before they would allow the plane to take off.

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WOW, the cake looks even better when posted on Rose's blog! The cake is a 6 spoke star, baked and trimmed from 10-inch round cake pans.

Nushera, this towering cake is actually 2 tiers of the same size, each tier is a 3-layer cake (1-inch layers). The bottom tier had 3 wooden dowel rods. There is a cake board in between. So you would cut this cake as usual, the top tier first until you hit the cake board, then remove the cake board, and cut the bottom tier. Save the caramel pieces that fall off when cutting the top tier for when you cut the bottom tier. Be sure to save the cake board as it is full of frosting and cake crumbs, making a delicious lick-able breakfast!

Because the cake is a star shape, a few slices end up with too many roses, so I scraped some roses off during the cutting process! People begged to get these back after finding out this buttercream was so edible and not so sweet.

Rozanne, yes, and made with 8 cups of Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream. I piped the roses on individual parchment squares, then refrigerated until hard. Then I picked the roses with my fingers and glued them with more buttercream on the cake sides. Add the roses on a refrigerated cake, not on a frozen cake. I ran out of time and froze the cake before finishing the roses, these did not attach well.

Barbara, the cake traveled frozen with dry ice for about 8 hours (5 hour flight, plus airport shuttle times). It arrived on a Friday night well frozen with dry ice pieces still left. I stuck the cake in the freezer that night, and in the morning of Saturday I moved the cake to the refrigerator. Then I placed the cake in a cooler and it got a 4 hour car ride. Upon arriving at the party place on Saturday afternoon, the cake was still very cold at 20oF. When I unwrapped the cake, it was intact! I plated the cake, and after about 2 hours, I stuck the caramel pieces on top. The caramel was done 3 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container.

The hardest part was cutting the cake because it was still very cold and the buttercream was wanting to crack! This cake tastes good even when cold, so nobody really noticed my disappointment!

I've read a lot on how to ship cakes, you can do it!

By the way, the cake weight was 14 lbs.

Be sure to know your rights, and print them! The TSA airport gate gave me trouble. One agent did not know that you are allowed to carry on board up to 4 lbs of dry ice without any special permits, so I DID!!!!!!

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Wow! What a wonderful cake! I'd love to hear your "saga," Hector. You're willing to take on some big, challenging projects -- I'm glad you and the cake got through it all!

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Hector, that is a masterpiece. Are those roses on the side of the cake? How many did you have to make to cover the entire cake?

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W-O-W!!!
how did you cut it? i'd love to see a photo of a single piece.

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