Hector's Preview Four from "Rose's Heavenly Cakes"

Oct 03, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose

The Golden Dream Wedding Cake

This is Hector's "grand finale" from the wedding cake chapter of Heavenly Cakes. I'm delighted d that Hector loved the cake so much as it is Woody and my favorite yellow cake from the new book. It also appears as a Bundt type cake and a mini gift size version.

Hector has done a brilliant job executing these wedding cakes, always adding his own special creative touch. I love the little cubes of candied orange in place of the ribbon which Hector made using the budah's hand (an all zest orange! which he candied using the Cake Bible recipe for candied orange zest). And with this cake Hector has outdone himself in achieving a location that is truly divine.

If you ask me to define this cake in one word, it is taste! The Golden Dream Wedding Cake is delicious, delicious, delicious... I yet have to taste a non-chocolate cake as delicious as this. The cake has a delicious buttery flavor enhanced with turbinado sugar, sour cream, ground almonds, and lemon syrup. This cake is so yummy, it reminds me of a succulent and moist Latin American wedding cake but without the chunks of raisins or candied fruits. This cake, as dreamed, has the melt in the mouth texture characteristic of Rose's butter cakes. To my amazement, this cake doesn't use any liqueurs... now I can agree that you can have a superb cake without a drop of liqueur.

This cake is easy to make, but this time was unusually easy to mix because now I have the Beater Blade and in my favorite color: yellow! This attachment works as promised, replacing your stand mixer flat beater. I also use the Beater Blade to stir and pour dry ingredients, pour the batter into the pans, and to scrape clean the mixer's bowl. I agree with all reviewers' recommendations: reduce the mixer speed by a notch, total the same mixing minutes, and never needing to stop the mixer 2 or 3 times to scrape the bowl. I tested the Beater Blade with my 6 qt Kitchen Aid filled at maximum capacity: mixing at once a pair of 6-inch plus a pair of 9-inch layers for this dreamy cake.

An ingredient of particular interest for this cake is lemon oil, but you can use lemon zest instead. I much favor Boyajian lemon oil because it is much easier to use, a little goes a long way, and honestly... it tastes great. Boyajian makes the ultimate. Another fundamental ingredient is lemon syrup which is as simple to make as dissolving turbinado sugar in the juice of fresh lemons. I used my lovely Hawaiian lemons grown by Ken Love (yes, that is his last name). Ken is the authority in the field and heads the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Association. Per Ken's suggestion, I agreed that the Hawaiian lemons are plus excellent, but unfortunately (for me) Hawaiian lemons are orange color! So, when I spoke with Ken that the style element for this cake needs to be yellow, he sent me a never-seen-before assortment of citruses, all grown in Kona: sweet limes, buda's hand, calamonsi, Indian key limes, and the proudest of him: oranges from the first tree planted in Hawaii. I turned every peel into Dazzling Lemon and Orange Peel Roses (recipe in the new book):

Now, here is my contribution to you, a confession: I only baked the 9-inch and the 6-inch cakes, but invented a method to make this cake a 3-tier wedding cake. I made a 3-inch cutout from the center of the 9-inch cake to make the top tier! Worked like a charm. Call me green or frugal, I thought this was a hideous idea, but Rose said it is totally fine to write about this artiste touch. The strength of the hollowed 9-inch tier was never compromised, as it held well the tiers above, surviving the GRUELING trip till the final destination for photography (so grueling, and life threatening, worth you googling about--see end of posting). This is one more proof for Rose's technique of using plastic drinking straws to support tiered wedding cakes.

I am torn between raving about how wonderful the cake tastes and between raving about how WONDERFUL the buttercream tastes! The frosting is the new White Chocolate-Vanilla Bean Buttercream. It is easy to make, but a thermometer is a must to make the transformation and emulsification of white chocolate, eggs, and butter into the most delicate buttercream I've tasted. Basically, make a custard with melted white chocolate, butter, and whole eggs. Then, chill the custard to 65-70˚F and incorporate whipped butter at the same temperature. Then, add lemon zest plus a 'required amount' of lemon oil. The lemon zest gives you a deliciously looking textured pattern on the frosted cake, and I would guess that you could omit the zest and use only lemon oil for a smooth finish. Rose recommends white chocolate containing vanilla seeds, such as Green and Blacks. Another recommended chocolate is Valrhona which doesn't contain vanilla seeds, but you can add your own vanilla seeds or vanilla extract instead. Which ever you decide, vanilla turns this buttercream into something one of my tasters perceived as crème brûlée! My secret is using vanilla essence saturated with vanilla seeds; if you have been reading my previous cake reviews, I have a lifetime supply of Hawaiian vanilla seeds which I store in vanilla extract. My favorite vanilla buttercream was the Caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream, but now it is my second favorite. Here is a close up of the vanilla studded Golden Dream Wedding Cake.

To make my story end, and close with 'broche de oro' here is my ultimate treat for you all wonderful readers who have been following me bake and share my experiences of the 4 glorious wedding cakes found in Rose's new book: I assembled and officially unveiled my GOLDEN DREAM IN HEAVEN cake at the Mauna Kea State Park at 13,700 feet above sea level, above the clouds. This picture is my life gift to Rose, taking her best cake to as close to heaven as one can.

Hector assembling the cake in the van.

Much aloha to everyone, and until my next cake commission... stay tuned...

Special thanks to Dr. Luca Rizzi from the Joint Astronomy Centre United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/UKIRT. Ken Love from Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers www.hawaiifruit.net and http://www.hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org. Valrhona, Boyajian, BeaterBlade+ TM, Rose's Heavenly Cake Strips, and Hawaiian Vanilla Company.

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