Since food is such a large part of the experience of traveling abroad, I have decided to include some of our experiments of duplicating food we encounter on our trips. There are two things we have tried since our return to the U.S. This is one of them.
There were, I believe, two main differences between our cakes and the cakes we experienced in Guatemala were the frosting and the moistness. The Guatemalans frost their cakes with whipped cream instead of powdered sugar frosting, and they add a sweet milk or a syrup after baking to moisten the cake even further.
First I followed the directions on a butter-flavor cake mix. I like the look of three-layer cakes, so I used 8-inch pans and divided the batter into the three pans.
While the cake was baking, I washed the strawberries and chose the prettiest one for decorating the top of the cake. Then I cut up strawberries about two cups of strawberries for the filling.
I also made a simple syrup for moistening the cake.
I also made the whipped cream frosting:
By the time the cake had cooled, the syrup had also cooled. I used a pastry brush to spread the syrup on, but it was not necessary. I could have easily dribbled the syrup directly on to the cake. The pastry brush method took too long. If the syrup rolls off instead of soaking in, poke through the outer crust with a fork so that the syrup enters the cake.
Frost the first layer with whipped cream. Add strawberries. Since the layer will be cover, there is no particular order to the placement of these strawberries. Cover with more whipped cream. Continue to stack the cake with the next layer of whipped cream, strawberries and more cream.
Since this was my first attempt at this cake, I decided to keep it simple and not try to decorate the cake with more than just the strawberries. However, a cake decorating kit could add a lot of beauty to this simple cake.
After trying this cake this time, there are a few things I would change. (1) I would increase the amount of whipped cream and strawberries between the layers. By the time it sat overnight, much of the whipped cream had soaked into the cake. (2) I might even increase the amount of syrup, though for the American palate, I think it was moist enough. (3) While the three layers looks nice, the next time I think I will bake it in two 9-inch pans and split the layers in two. This will aid in the syrup soaking into the cake and will give more layers of strawberries and cream. (4) Finally, I think I will make it with chocolate cake next time. Chocolate with strawberries and cream sounds delicious.
Warning: If you need to transport this cake to another location, you may need toothpicks to secure it. The whipped cream is so slippery that when we tried to take it to my parents' home, the top layers completely slid off the bottom layer.
Now for you to see my competition. It will be a long time before my cakes look anything like these, but that gives me something for which to strive.
There were, I believe, two main differences between our cakes and the cakes we experienced in Guatemala were the frosting and the moistness. The Guatemalans frost their cakes with whipped cream instead of powdered sugar frosting, and they add a sweet milk or a syrup after baking to moisten the cake even further.
First I followed the directions on a butter-flavor cake mix. I like the look of three-layer cakes, so I used 8-inch pans and divided the batter into the three pans.
I also made a simple syrup for moistening the cake.
1/2 cup sugarHeat on medium heat until sugar completely melts. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter (for added butter flavor)
I also made the whipped cream frosting:
2 cups of heavy creamBeat together until stiff peaks form.
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
By the time the cake had cooled, the syrup had also cooled. I used a pastry brush to spread the syrup on, but it was not necessary. I could have easily dribbled the syrup directly on to the cake. The pastry brush method took too long. If the syrup rolls off instead of soaking in, poke through the outer crust with a fork so that the syrup enters the cake.Frost the first layer with whipped cream. Add strawberries. Since the layer will be cover, there is no particular order to the placement of these strawberries. Cover with more whipped cream. Continue to stack the cake with the next layer of whipped cream, strawberries and more cream.
Since this was my first attempt at this cake, I decided to keep it simple and not try to decorate the cake with more than just the strawberries. However, a cake decorating kit could add a lot of beauty to this simple cake.
After trying this cake this time, there are a few things I would change. (1) I would increase the amount of whipped cream and strawberries between the layers. By the time it sat overnight, much of the whipped cream had soaked into the cake. (2) I might even increase the amount of syrup, though for the American palate, I think it was moist enough. (3) While the three layers looks nice, the next time I think I will bake it in two 9-inch pans and split the layers in two. This will aid in the syrup soaking into the cake and will give more layers of strawberries and cream. (4) Finally, I think I will make it with chocolate cake next time. Chocolate with strawberries and cream sounds delicious.Warning: If you need to transport this cake to another location, you may need toothpicks to secure it. The whipped cream is so slippery that when we tried to take it to my parents' home, the top layers completely slid off the bottom layer.
Now for you to see my competition. It will be a long time before my cakes look anything like these, but that gives me something for which to strive.
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