whipped cream cake- soft airy and cloud-like!


I am totally enjoying having my mom here. Whenever I am with her I hardly even enter the kitchen and happily relax and enjoy her delicious cooking. Everything -even things that I make all the time like dal and even coffee tastes better when mom makes it for me. Mothers have some extra special kaipunyam or magic touch, don't you think?
But I am always game to make the dessert so when she said she felt like eating cake, I happily obliged with this treasure from Rose Levy Beranbaum who is considered the Queen of cakes. This cake is apparently one of her most popular and with good reason. It is tender, airy and cloud-like. Perfect as a simple tea cake or as a layer cake underneath oodles of frosting and it is my current and absolute favourite- a definite must try for all cake lovers! 


Here is a close up shot so you can see how tender it is! Similar to an angel food cake in texture but minus all those eggs and so much easier to make! 
The main fat comes from heavy whipping cream and not butter. Yes you read that right, this unusual cake contains no butter, instead using cream. I am dying to buy a carton of cream and make this again with some simple whipped cream frosting or my favourite chocolate nutella ganache frosting with the leftover cream, or maybe slathered in some dulce de leche , or with some juicy fruit? Mmmm the possibilities! Since we practically inhaled this cake though, you can guess that it's pretty awesome on its own! 

Whipped Cream Cake


Recipe Source: Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum here  as well as from Butteryum here 

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 25-35 mins to bake Total time: 1 hour Yield: serves 8-10

Ingredients: 

  • Cake Flour or bleached all-purpose flour ( I used bleached all-purpose flour), sifted:2 1/4 cups/8 ounces/225 grams 
  • Baking powder:2 teaspoons
  • Salt :3/4 teaspoon
  • Heavy cream, cold :1 1/2 cups/12.3 ounces/348 grams
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature : (1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons/5.3 ounces/150 grams)
  • Pure vanilla extract:1 teaspoon
  • Superfine sugar:1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/8 ounces/225 grams ( I just put regular sugar in my blender and ground until fine) 

Special Equipment - One 10-cup fluted metal tube pan, greased and floured
(or you could make cupcakes instead, in which case use a regular cupcake pan greased or lined and bake for 20 mins)

Instructions:

Preheat the Oven - Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C (350°F/175°C if using a dark pan).

Mix the Dry Ingredients - In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and then sift them together a couple of times to make the mixture easier to incorporate.

Mix the Liquid Ingredients - In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater or with a hand held electric beater, whip the cream, starting on low speed, gradually raising the speed to medium-high as it thickens, until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.

In a small bowl or mug, whisk the eggs and vanilla with a fork or whisk just until lightly combined.
On medium-high speed, gradually beat the egg mixture into the whipped cream in the mixer
The mixture will thicken into a mayonnaise like consistency (unless high-butterfat cream is used).
Gradually beat in the sugar. It should take about 30 seconds to incorporate it.

Make the Batter - Add half the flour mixture to the cream mixture and, with a large spatula, stir and fold in the flour until most of it disappears.
Add the rest of the flour mixture and continue folding and mixing until all traces of flour have disappeared. Using a spatula or spoon, scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Run a small metal spatula or dull knife blade through the batter to prevent large air bubbles, avoiding the bottom of the pan. Smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula.

Bake the Cake - Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted between the tube and the side comes out completely clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.
The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven and should have a golden, well browned crust.

Cool and Unmold the Cake - Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. With a small metal spatula or blunt butter knife, loosen the top edges of the cake and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Cool completely. 

Rose suggests serving the cake as is, or with a light dusting of powdered sugar or a large dollop of lightly sweetened Whipped Cream. I think it would be great with some lemon curd or a topping of  some poached or caramelized fruit, ice cream  or roasted strawberries and perfectly heavenly with some chocolate or nutella ganache frosting!

Notes: I baked this in a bundt as well as in cupcake tins. I have not tried baking this is a regular round cake tin, but mean to try soon. If any of you do, please let me know.
Butteryum points out to not chill the bowl and beaters for the heavy cream because the eggs will not emulsify as readily if the whipped cream is too cold.

Rose suggests that High-butterfat (40 percent) heavy cream produces a finer, more tender crumb. This cream is generally available only to bakeries and restaurants, but it is certainly worth asking your local baker to sell you a container.

This cake also freezes well so I highly suggest doubling the batch, making an extra cake or some cupcakes and freezing them after wrapping well or in a zip lock. You can simply thaw it by moving it from freezer to fridge or even leave it on the counter overnight. Cupcakes can even be zapped for about 10 seconds at a time in the microwave to thaw. You will be glad you made a double batch, trust me!

Because this cake with a dollop of cold whipped cream or roasted or flambeed fruit is perfect to beat the late summer heat I am sending it in to Sugar High Friday with the theme Sweet Heat! by Vampituity 

The lovely Namitha of collaborative curry made this cake too! Go check it out here and hear what she thought about it! Here is a gorgeous picture of her cake:

Whipped Cream Cake

36 comments:

  1. Looks awesome Rose,which reminds me,I should bake more from The Cake Bible!!Have fun with your mom!!

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  2. I love the even browning and the soft, light crumb on the inside. Bookmarked!

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  3. oh wow! I'm dying to try this out in my new mini-bundt pan

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  4. That sounds really good. Just look at that light texture. Wonderful!

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  5. This cake looks just lovely. And you got me at the chocolate nutella ganache frosting or dulce de leche topping?

    I don't have this book, though I know it's so popular. Would you recommend it?

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  6. The cake looks so perfect rose. It,s almost like a chiffon cake :)

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  7. I am also in same boat Rose, i hardly enter kitchen when Amma is here coz of Her kaipunyam coupled with my laziness:-)
    Never tried a cake without butter/oil. The texture looks great! I wud love to try it:-)

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  8. Lovely texture, i dont bother to grab a slice rite now..

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  9. Looks delicious rose! Why don't you bring a slice for me? he he :-)

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  10. Thank you all :) Hope you try the cake it is definitely one of the best that I have eaten and I have eaten a LOT of cake :O Do let me know if you do, would love to see how it came out for you!
    Julia thanks so much! I love your blog :) I would totally recommend both Rose's Cake Bible and her Heavenly Cakes.
    Why don't you check them out at the library ( that's what I do before I buy a cookbook esp if it's been out for sometime) or try out a few recipes from her website?

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  11. Love the texture of the cake, sooo tempting!!

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  12. totally awesome- the pic says it all- airy light & beautiful ! it's bookmarked rose !

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  13. looks so soft and moist ...love the texture....


    visit my space when u gettime.
    www.sharemyrecipe.blogspot.com

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  14. Looks so soft and delicious. Perfect. First time here, your space is wonderful.

    www.simplysara07.blogspot.com
    www.sarasrestuarantreviews.blogspot.com

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  15. Nice to meet you Chitra and Sara :) Going over to your blogs now!

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  16. I completely agree that moms have a special touch, and even when I make the same dish it never tastes as good as when she makes it for me :). I've seen this recipe before, and have been so intrigued by the use of cream instead of butter. Looks delightful!

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  17. mmm.. very very delicious and yumm.. slurp.. slurp..

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  18. Queen of cakes absolutely agree with that. It's super moist n looks heavenly.

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  19. Thanks XL! The cake turns out fab- very tender and light. Thanks Zareena and San :) Tho San, its not one of those moist cakes, its more of the fluffy airy sponge type of cakes. It would soak up a lot of syrup tho and stay moist as a layer cake for sure.
    If you want an incredibly moist chocolate cake try these:
    http://magpiesrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/nutella-ganache-frosting-roses-ruffles.html

    And this orabge almond cake is so moist it's almost like pudding than cake, and quite unusual in that it uses NO flour and NO butter/oil!
    http://magpiesrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/06/flourless-orange-cardamom-almond-cake.html

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  20. Oh sure rose, will love to try those. Thanks for the links dear. Enjoy your vacation. Have a safe n fun trip!

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  21. Recently I read all about angel food cake and chiffon cakes...but I've been skeptical about making them because I also found out that they tend to smell eggy. Is that right? let me know. glad I visited ur blog today...

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  22. Lovely cake Rose..
    I make an eggless version and used heavy cream by accident. Turns out, cake comes out much softer and fluffier with heavy cream than butter! No difference in calories though!

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  23. This looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing.

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  24. I just tried to unmold this cake... unfortunately half of it stuck so the bundt cake broke in half, but it still tastes fantastic. I added 1/2 c of toasted pecans and substituted the vanilla for 1 tbl of Frangelico. Thank you for posting!

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  25. I am so glad this showed up on tastespotting; I think I have found my dessert for New Year's Eve.

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  26. @greenbasket I’m so glad you liked my whipped cream cake. Too bad it got stuck to the pan :( Did you unmold it while it was still a little warm? I usually loosen the edges as soon as it is baked, leave it to cool for only 10 mins and then unmould. Have found that if you leave the bundts to cool completely before unmolding they tend to stick to the pan.
    Also make sure to grease and flour the bundt really well because it has all those grooves.. still it is quite a hit or miss with bundts! Hope you enjoyed it anyways. That frangelico is haunting me now!

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  27. Just made this cake to take with me to a meeting tomorrow and I'm not sure I want to share any of it! It's exactly like you said: soft, airy and cloudlike. The only adjustment I made was in baking temperature and time, given my convection oven is a little faster: 335F for 23 minutes - it was perfect. My husband had a piece and is making sure I plan to bake another one. And!! the batter is heavenly. I licked the spatula clean.

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    Replies
    1. So glad you liked it Anon I definitely make sure to make a double batch whenever I make this. Make the second batch into cupcakes and freeze them. They still taste fabulous thawed overnight or even in the microwave.

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  28. I nearly forgot how good that cake was - I better make another one soon! Thanks so much for the mention. Take care!

    :)
    ButterYum

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    1. ButterYum thanks so much for this awesome recipe. I have made it several times since the day I fell in love with it on your blog!

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    2. Awe - you made my day! Thanks so much.

      :)
      Patricia

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  29. This looks like a wonderful recipe! The kind you want to grab one off the screen! Do u think I can use Amul cream for this?

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  30. Thank you so much for the quick reply rose. will scout for full fat cream. So happy to hear you liked the pulissery pics...Coming from an amazing blogger as yourself, that is more than encouragement!

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  31. Thanks for sharing the recipe. It was an easy bake. I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup due to personal preference. I thought I had overbaked the cupcakes but they still turned out so fluffy! If I ever make this again I would put some almond flakes on top I think that would be nice:)

    DT

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  32. Your instructions don't say to add the sugar. I assume it's during the dry ingredients but it doesn't say.

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