A cake to play with!
Yesterday, a friend asked me for a dessert recommendation – one to take to a friend’s house. Yikes, where to begin? Anyway, this cake is always a delight – I originally was introduced to it by my sister-in-law, Mary Ann McCormack (she is the original Mary Ann Hanley) – thanks, Mar!
The ideas for this cake can be massaged in a multitude of ways.
I suggest you use the topping below (from my Carb-loading post – 2/10/2013) and add orange zest, grand marnier and ground pistachios to the cake; pipe on the topping in rosettes for an extra special presentation. Or, substitute your favorite sponge or olive oil cake, or the cake iterations noted below. I think this would always be a hit – with any flavor directions – pistachio, almond, citrus, herb, liqueurs……
I suggest you read over the whole post first and decide on a direction to go. I love the combo with orange zest, grand marnier and pistachio, for example. For the Strawberry-Rhubarb iteration, I’d probably stick with either vanilla or almond flavorings and add some lemon zest instead of the orange to the compote, cake and topping. But, try whatever you like. Thyme and Basil simple syrups, or Rum can always be used to soak the cake – even just a little and adjust toppings accordingly. This is a great cake to keep in your repertoire. Try it a number of ways depending on your whims!
Heavenly Mascarpone – see post 2/10/2013:
1 8 0z container mascarpone cheese – at room temperature
1/4 cup good quality orange marmalade
3 tblsp heavy cream
1 cup crushed pistachios
2 tablespoons of orange zest
1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier
In a medium bowl, beat mascarpone cheese until smooth. Blend in the orange marmalade and then a couple of tablespoons of the heavy cream. Continue to add the heavy cream, tablespoon by tablespoon until you have a nice creamy texture – I like it with just 3 tblsp of cream. Add 1 tblsp of grand marnier and blend. Set aside.
Feel free to play with flavor iterations here – instead of orange, try lemon, raspberry, cherry (kirsch) and on and on…..
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Here is the original recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milkTOPPING:
2 cups mixed berries, such as blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries
4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
6 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chilled heavy cream, beaten to soft peaks
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
- Don’t worry if you don’t have the Mary Ann Cake Pan – you can use a springform pan, wrapped well, if you like and just top with the fruit and cream in your preferred style.
- Cake: this is a fairly dense cake as I recall – try substituting egg whites for some of the whole eggs – (general rule of thumb is substitute 2 whites for every whole egg) – I’d definitely recommend this if you like a lighter cake and especially if you are going to add ground nuts of any kind
- – if using almonds, add 1/4 tsp almond extract;
- -if you are going to use my Heavenly Mascarpone, to keep with those flavor profiles you can add zest of one orange, 1-2 tblsp grand marnier and 1/2 cup ground pistachios to the cake batter and lighten with the whites vs whole egg scenarios – I’d try first: instead of 4 whole eggs, 2 whole eggs plus 4 whites
- Topping:
- Substitute my Heavenly Mascarpone topping – taste as you go along to adjust flavors to your liking. Top the cake with more chopped pistachios. Use any seasonal fruit combo you like – How about a Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote???
Okay, the MaryAnn pan is ordered from King Arthur flour–keep your fingers crossed that I get it in time!
You can always use mine – let me know!
Thanks for the notoriety , actually it was Kathy McCormack who introduced me to it. CC was perfect! Hated to return to ct.xxoo
This looks wonderful. I want to make this the first time with a lemon curd filling in the well. And then your recipe with the mascarpone filling. Using your cake recipe. One question. The pan I wanted was sold out so I bought it online. A Chicago Metallic Maryann pan that’s a little over 10 inches in diameter. Is that what you used? The flutes in your photo look like the ones on mine. If it’s the same I can use your proportions without having to adjust anything. Thanks much! Your cake is beautiful!