Baby Vanilla Bean Cake Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve meringue powder in water. Lightly brush over all sides of flowers to coat completely; sprinkle with sugar. Allow to dry on a waxed paper-lined tray for 4 hours or until firm and dry., For cake: In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. With a sharp knife scrape the beans to remove the seeds; stir seeds into creamed mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Pour into a greased and floured 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 22-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely., For pastry cream: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk until smooth., Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds; add bean and seeds to milk mixture. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer., Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; discard vanilla bean. Stir in butter. Cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate until chilled., To frost and assemble: For frosting, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth., Cut cake into two 6-in. squares, two 4-in. squares and one 2-inch square. Place a 6-in. cake on a cake plate; top with 2/3 cup pastry cream and remaining 6-in. cake. Cut cardboard circle into a 3-1/2-in. square; top with one 4-in. cake. Layer with remaining pastry cream and 4-in. cake., Frost tops and sides of 6-in. layer cake; insert dowels 1 to 2 in. apart into center of cake to support the next layers. Top with 4-in. layer cake; frost top and sides. Top with the 2-in. cake; frost top and sides. Decorate with candied flowers as desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Grease and flour two 9in cake pans.
• In small bowl combine milk, egg whites, vanilla, scraped insides of vanilla bean and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
• and combine at low speed.
• On low, add butter pieces one at a time and then oil; mix until resembles moist crumbs.
• Add milk mixture and beat at medium speed for two minutes until light and fluffy.
• Stop mixture, scrape down sides of bowl and beat again for about 30 more seconds.
• Divide batter evenly between pans and place in the oven to bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean (start testing at approximately 30 minutes).
• Remove from oven and let cool in pans for 5 minutes.
• Turn out onto wire racks and cool completely, about an hour.
• Frost as desired.

Steps:

• To Prepare the Crêpes:.
• In a blender, add milk, water, flour, melted butter, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, lemon zest, and orange liqueur, then blend for 10 seconds. Then, pour the batter into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator to let it rest for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crêpes will be less likely to tear during cooking.
• Heat a 10-inch crêpe pan, or a non-stick pan on medium low heat. Add butter to coat and wipe off excess with paper towel. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Lift the pan and swirl to spread batter evenly. Or, use a crepe spreader, I personally love this tool. Cook for 2 minutes and flip the crêpe once. Cook the other side for another 1 minute. Remove from heat to a serving plate to cool. Cook the remaining batter until all done, about 24 crepes.
• To Prepare the Vanilla Mascarpone Cream Fillings:.
• In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or with the electric hand-held mixer), beat the cream and powdered sugar until frothy. Then, add the mascarpone cheese and vanilla bean paste until stiff peak forms.
• To Assemble the Cake:.
• Place 1 crepe in the center of a 10-inch cake board. With an offset spatula, evenly spread 1/4 cup of vanilla cream filling on the crepe, almost to the edges. Top with another piece of crepe. Continue to build the crepe cake until you use up all the crêpes. There should be 1/2 cup of vanilla cream filling left. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a closed star tip. Gently and loosely wrap the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
• To Prepare the Raspberry Sauce:.
• In a small sauce pan, heat all the ingredient over high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Lower the heat to medium low heat, stir occasionally, and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pass the raspberry sauce through a strainer to remove the seeds. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• To Garnish the Cake:.
• Pipe the remaining vanilla cream on top. Add fresh raspberries, a few springs of mints, and edible flowers (optional). Serve plain or drizzle with raspberry sauce. Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 195C/fan 175C/gas 3.5
• Cream the butter and sugar together until it becomes a pale yellow/white colour.
• Sift in the flour and baking powder. Then add the eggs and vanilla essence. Fold together until it is all combined.
• Place the mixture in to greased tins or cupcake cases.
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and springs back when gently pressed. Once baked leave to cool for 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a round, deep 20cm tin, then line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
• Using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt together until pale and fluffy, then pour in the eggs, one at a time, giving the mix a really good beating before adding the next.
• Add 1 tbsp of the plain flour if the mix starts to look slimy rather than fluffy. Beat in the yogurt. Mix the flours; then, using a large metal spoon, fold them into the batter, followed by the milk.
• Spoon the mix into the tin and bake for 1 hr 20 mins or until well risen and golden - a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup by gently heating 50ml water with the sugar and vanilla in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Once the cake is out of the oven, leave to cool for 30 mins in the tin, then use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake, going right to the bottom. Pour the syrup over, letting it completely soak in after each addition.
• Leave to cool completely, then either wrap the cake well or fill and ice it. If you wrap it with baking parchment and cling film, the unfilled cake will keep well for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to a month.
• For ideas on how to decorate the cake and to try out some variations on this basic cake mixture, have a look at the 'Goes well with' recipes for Simple elegance wedding cake, Birthday bug cake and Summer celebration cake.