I made this cake for my eldest daughter’s birthday party. As she turned 8, she wanted something a little bit more “grown up” than the usual fondant cakes. The theme of the party was “high tea”, so I though that a Rosette Cake would do the trick. This was my first Rosette cake and my first mud cake, so I was quite nervous about it. I really wanted it to both taste and look good. The cake is very chocolatey and quite dense. The overall result is not very sweet, which to me is a great plus. The Swiss meringue buttercream was another first for me and it was love at first sight. It looks so much better than regular buttercream… it’s smoother, shinier, more elegant and much fluffier. At the same time, it tastes better: lighter and less sweet than the usual icing I make. And it is definitely more suited to make rosettes… the swirls come out perfectly and the buttercream is more resistant (which also means, the rosettes do not slide down or “go flat”). At first, I was going to make a single mud cake, but then I thought that a “double” cake would look better, as I could make 2 rows of rosettes on the side instead of one. It did indeed look pretty, but the cake was way too big and we could not finish it. We will be having mud cake for a few days… not that I mind! Hehehe Also, the chocolate ganache layer was too high. Ideally, you would want to divide that amount into 2 layers. I was going to cut each cake in 2 and divide the ganache into 3 thinner layers, but in the end I did not have a lot of time and I was afraid I would break the cake… and what’s an 8 year old birthday party without a cake?? But I will try it the next time as that would have made the cake perfect. Overall, I recommend this cake for any special occasion. The piping itself took about 10 minutes… no kidding. Making the buttercream took longer… but it was so worth it! So, what do you think of my first effort? Have you ever tried to make a Rosette cake?

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Rosette Cake

How to make a beautiful Rosette Cake and a chocolate mud cake tutorial.

Course Cake

Cuisine International

Prep Time 3 hours

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Servings 1 double 23 cm - 9 inch cake

Author Taste.com and Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Mud Cakes

• 500 gms – 1.1 lbs. butter chopped
• 400 gms – 14 oz. dark chocolate chopped
• 900 gms – 4 cups caster sugar
• 480 ml – 2 cups cold water
• 4 eggs lightly beaten
• 250 gms – 2 cups self-raising flour sifted
• 380 gms – 3 cups plain flour sifted
• 60 gms – ½ cup cocoa powder sifted

Chocolate ganache

• 400 gms – 14 oz. dark chocolate chopped
• 330 ml – 1 1/3 cups heavy cream

Sugar Syrup

• 240 ml – 1 cup water
• 120 gms – ½ cup sugar
• 1 shot Rum optional

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 5 large egg whites
• 225 gms – 1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 400 gms – 1 lb. unsalted butter cut into tablespoons, room temperature
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Food colouring optional

Instructions

Mud Cakes

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C-160°C fan-forced (355°F-320°F). Line the bases of 2 X 23 cm – 9 inch round springform pans with baking paper and grease and lightly flour the sides.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the chocolate, sugar and 2 cups of cold water. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes.
3. Add the lightly beaten eggs and stir to combine.
4. Add the flours and cocoa powder and stir until smooth.
5. Divide the mixture into the prepared pans.
   
6. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre has moist crumbs clinging on it.
7. Let the cakes stand for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache

1. Heat the cream to simmering, then put the fire off.
2. Add the chopped chocolate, all at once. Allow to stand for 3 minutes.
3. Use a wire whisk to stir the cream and chocolate together until smooth and well-combined.
4. Line the base of a 23 cm – 9 inch round springform pan with baking paper and pour the warm ganache into it.
   
5. Set aside to cool completely and harden.

Sugar Syrup

1. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat on the fire just until the sugar has dissolved. Let it cool down.
   
2. Add the liqueur, if using.

Assembling the cake

1. Level the 2 cakes using a sharp serrated knife. As I had frozen my cakes, I let them defrost half way through, but not completely, before leveling them. I find this helps to get a cleaner cut.
2. Using a toothpick, prick the cakes’ surfaces and brush with the sugar syrup. This will help to keep the cake moist. Add as much syrup as the cake absorbs, but don’t exaggerate or the cake may crumble when you try to assemble it.
3. Unmould the chocolate ganache disc and place it on one of the leveled cakes, then top it with the other cake. Choose the smoothest side for the top.
   
4. Cover the assembled cake and refrigerate it overnight.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. Combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water.
2. Whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool (this will take about 10 minutes).
4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the butter has been added, whisk in the vanilla extract.
5. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated (this will take about 2 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth.
6. To tint the buttercream you can use gel-paste food colours. Add the colour with the vanilla extract.
   

Decorating

1. Start off by crumb coating your cake. You can use your favourite buttercream recipe or even the same Swiss meringue buttercream that you will use to decorate the cake. Just make sure you put it in a separate bowl as you do not want any crumbs in the buttercream you will be using to pipe the rosettes!
2. Also, make sure the crumb coating is more or less the same colour as your rosettes.
3. Start from the top, then do the sides. Use a cake spatula to make sure the surface of the cake is as smooth as possible. When the cake is all covered in icing, put it in the fridge to harden.
   
4. When the crumb coating has hardened, you are ready to start decorating the cake.
5. Fit your piping bag with a 1M Wilton tip and fill it with the Swiss meringue buttercream.
6. Twist the end and squeeze the piping bag, to remove any air from it.
7. Get the cake out of the fridge and use a round cookie cutter about the size you want your roses to be to gently indent the frosting to outline where each rose will go. Continue around the whole cake, trying to leave as little space as possible between each rose.
8. Now start piping your roses. Starting in the center of each circle outline, begin piping a circular swirl outward until you reach the outer border of the circle. Then, move right on to the next circle. Start from the cake’s sides and then move to the top, leaving the centre for last.
9. When making flowers that big, you are bound to have some ‘dead’ space in there. Go in and make a swoop with your tip, trying to go in the same direction as the rose right next to it.
10. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

I made the cakes the week before the party and froze them. The day before the party, I leveled them, made the ganache and assembled the cake. I also did the crumb coating. On the day of the party, I made the Swiss meringue buttercream and piped the rosettes.

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