The Art.
Happy Valentine's Day! For those of you who have been around for a while, you know how much I love Valentine's Day. If you're new around here, just check out my Valentine Petit Fours, Burnin' Love Sriracha Truffles, Roses are Red Cake, or Gluten Free Corset Cookies and you'll get the idea. This year, I have a beautiful berry cake to share with you. I deviated from the usual chocolate chocolate chocolate motif and made this cake using my angelfood cake recipe and filled it with some silky Bavarian cream. Decorating this cake with fresh berries and miniature roses makes it sweet, romantic, and easy to finish off.
The Science.
For this cake, I wanted to create a whipped icing with true blueberry flavor. I didn't want to use blueberry jam because I wanted a fresh taste without getting it too sweet. I knew this would be tricky, since simply pureeing fresh berries and adding them to the cream would add too much water and make it hard to whip up. So instead I made a blueberry reduction by heating the blueberries in a saucepan and boiling down the strained juices. While I was doing this I learned that it takes a lot more berries than you would think to create a punch of flavor, so don't skimp on the blueberries!
The Recipe.
Prepare the angelfood cake as for the Roses are Red Cake, and a batch of Bavarian Cream. You will also need fresh berries and miniature roses for decorating.
Blueberry Whipped Icing:
1 pint blueberries
1 cup 40% heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Place a metal bowl and your mixer beaters in the freezer to cool. Wash blueberries and place in a small saucepan on low heat. Stir occasionally and cook approximately 20 minutes, until berries have released all their juices. Remove fruit with a strainer and press down on the strainer with a spoon to reserve the remaining juices in the saucepan. Continue to heat the juices for about 10 minutes until they begin to thicken and reduce down to 1/4 cup. Allow reduction to cool.
In your cooled bowl, beat the whipping cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken. Add blueberry reduction, cornstarch and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
Assembly:
Place one cake layer on cake stand. Cover with approximately 1/2 cup Bavarian cream. Top with second cake layer. Smooth the whipped icing over the cake with an offset spatula. You will have lots of leftover Bavarian cream and whipped icing, which you can serve alongside the cake. Decorate with fresh berries and miniature roses. Store covered in the fridge until serving. Cake can be made ahead one day.
