Winter Wonderland Cake
Servings: 16
Ingredients
Vanilla Bean Cake
- 2 ½ cup cake flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla bean seeds scraped out
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup whole milk
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean seeds scraped
Gingersnap Cookie Butter
- 6 oz gingersnap cookies
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoon water
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Gingersnap Cookie Butter Buttercream
- ½ batch whipped vanilla buttercream
- 6 tablespoon gingersnap cookie butter
White Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- 2 oz heavy cream
- 2 oz white chocolate chopped
Meringue Kisses
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 1 pinch salt optional
- foot coloring optional
Assembly
- gel food coloring optional
- sprinkles
- dragees
- sanding sugar
- meringues
Instructions
Vanilla Bean Cake
- Grease and flour two 8-inch round pans and set aside. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add in the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Continue to mix on medium speed until completely creamed together. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
- One at a time, mix in the eggs and egg yolk. Mix in the vanilla.
- Stop mixing and scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- In alternating batches (starting and ending with the dry ingredients), add in the flour mixture and milk.
- Mix on medium-low for no more than about 20 seconds after the last streaks of flour have disappeared to prevent over-mixing.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for about 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans.
- Continue to cool completely (or chill wrapped in plastic) before trimming and torting.
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer until very smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add in the remaining ingredients.
- Once incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high and mix for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until light, fluffy, and very pale in color.
Gingersnap Cookie Butter
- Crush the cookies up in a high-powdered blender or food processor.
- Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until a smooth, thick paste forms.
- Add more or less water and powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before use.
Gingersnap Cookie Butter Buttercream
- Re-mix the buttercream until fluffy, if necessary. Add in the cookie butter and mix until smooth.
White Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- Gently heat the cream until just before a simmer.
- Pour over or add the white chocolate. Let sit for 20 seconds then stir until combined.
Meringue Kisses
- Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 215°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer or whisk and large bowl.) Be sure that the mixing bowl and whisk are free from grease and that the egg whites do not have any bits of egg yolks in them. Being whisking or beating on medium-low speed.
- Beat in the cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt, if using.
- After the whites begin to foam, bump up the mixer to medium speed and gradually start adding in the sugar. As the eggs whites are whisked, air is incorporated. Little air bubbles will start to form and the egg whites will foam. They will still be too liquidy to hold any shape. Once they begin to foam, begin adding in the sugar, a little bit at a time.
- The foam and air bubbles will start to tighten and the whites will become opaque. The "soft plop" stage describes eggs whites that hold onto the whisk but do not form peaks.
- Continue adding in the sugar until the whites begin to form soft peaks. Here, the whites will begin to hold their shape, but will eventually slump over and melt back into the bowl.
- After the whites begin to hold their shape, bump up the mixer to medium-high speed until they hold firm peaks.
- Firm peaks are achieved when whites hold their shape. If you pull the whisk straight out of the bowl, a peak will form. At this stage, the tip of the peak will fold back over onto itself.
- Mix in a tiny bit of gel food coloring or other extracts until the whites hold stiff peaks.
- The stiff peaks stage is what we are trying to achieve. At this point, the peaks should stand up nice and straight. The whites will be glossy and smooth. If you rub a bit between your fingertips, it should feel silky (meaning the sugar has completely dissolved.)
- Gently fold in chopped nuts, chocolate, etc. with a large rubber spatula.
- Fit a piping bag with a plain or star tip. Unfold the top of the piping bag about halfway, then use a rubber spatula to fill the bag with the meringue. Fill the bag only ½ to ¾ of the way full to prevent the meringue from spilling out the top of the bag.
- Gently squeeze the piping bag to push out any air pockets before getting started. Pipe meringue kisses by holding the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet. Hover the top slightly over the sheet and pipe a "kiss" of meringue: pipe the meringue, stop pressing the bag, then pull up on the bag. (Alternatively, you can use a soup spoon to scoop large, rustic meringues.)
- Depending on the size of your meringue, bake for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the outside is crisp and the inside is dry yet chewy. They should feel light and hollow. When done, the meringues should easily peel off the parchment paper. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and let the meringues cool completely in the oven.