Milanese macaroon cake

ingredients

SPONGE CAKE:

6 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
180 g sugar, separated in two equal parts (90 g + 90 g)
120 g cake flour
30 g cornstarch
60 g unsalted butter, room temperature
4 g baking powder
150 g ground roasted hazelnut
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
one lemon zest
pinch of salt

SYRUP:

150 water
150 sugar
10g space

FILLING:

350-400 g raspberry jam

MARZIPAN CREAM:

300 g ground almonds
200 g icing sugar
100 g egg white
15 g water
4-5 drops of almond extract (optional)

MARZIPAN CREAM COATING:

190 g marzipan cream
15 g water

MARZIPAN CREAM DECORATION (PIPING):

245 g marzipan cream
12 g water
130 g raspberry jam, strained (without seeds)

SIDE DECORATION:

apricot jam or pectin syrup
75 g sliced almonds, toasted

MATERIAL WE WILL NEED AND SHOWN IN THE VIDEO:

KitchenAid stand mixer*
crystal bowl KitchenAid*
push pan 20 cm diameter
cake cutter
rotating cake stand
silicone spatula and pastry spatula
whisk
digital kitchen scale
pastry brush
cooling rack
pastry bag + noozle Wilton 6B

Instructions

FIRST DAY

Prepare sponge cake.

In the bowl of the KitchenAid, add the egg yolks and 90 g of sugar. Whisk at medium-high speed until a whitish color and a creamy texture is achieved, you will notice that it increases in volume.
Add the butter and whisk again until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
Begin to incorporate the flour, little by little. We will integrate while mixing at speed 1.
Add baking powder together with salt and mix.
Finally, add cornstarch. We will do it in the same way, little by little and mixing at the same time.
Once everything is integrated, set aside.

Whip meringue.

In another bowl, add the egg whites and begin to whip. Once it begins to foam, add the sugar (the remaining 90 g).
Whip with the whisk at medium-high speed until the meringue is firm, a little more soft peaks, but not dry. In other words, do not over whip the meringue until it is very stiff.

Add the meringue to the egg yolk mixture.

Start incorporating the meringue, little by little, into the egg yolk mixture.
Add a little, mix with a spatula until completely integrated and continue adding more. The first part of meringue will help us to smooth the mixture. As we add more, the mixture will become smoother and lighter.
Finally, incorporate the ground almonds along with lemon zest and integrate with smooth and enveloping movements.

Pour the batter in the mold and bake.

Preheat the oven to 355ºF/180ºC, with heat up and down.
Grease and line a 20 cm diameter mold. In my case it is a springform pan, I line the sides with baking paper (I have the feeling that this way the cake rises more and better) and the base.
Pour the mixture into the mold and tap gently to settle the mixture.
Bake for 38-40 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes in the pan and unmold.
Place on a cooling rack, upside down to allow the dome to smooth out as much as possible, and let cool completely.
Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day.
NOTE: Refrigerating the cake makes the cutting process much easier.

SECOND DAY

Prepare rum syrup.

Add the water and sugar to a saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. The sugar should be completely dissolved.
Once it comes to a boil, reduce to medium heat, cook for 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
Stir in the rum, mix to homogenize and let it cool completely.

Prepare marzipan cream.

In a large bowl, add ground almonds and icing sugar. Mix with the help of a whisk to combine both ingredients.
Add the egg white and mix until homogenized.
Pour the water together with the almond extract and mix again to homogenize.
Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature while you prepare the cake.

Cut the sponge cake.

With the help of a cake cutter, cut the cake into three equal parts.
In my case, I also removed a small part of the dome to make the top as straight as possible.
Set aside wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

Assemble the cake.

Place on a rotating cake stand an anti-slip and, on top of it, a cake base. Spread a small amount of marzipan cream and place the first sponge cake on it.
Put a small amount of marzipan cream in a piping bag. The purpose is to pipe a small ribbon on the edge of the sponge cake to contain the jam filling.
To facilitate the piping central jam filling, I recommend that you put the jam in a piping bag. You need about 350-400 g of jam to fill the cake.
Brush generously with the syrup.
Pipe a thin ribbon on the outside of the cake.
Fill the inside of the marzipan circle with the raspberry jam. Smooth the surface with a pastry spatula.
Place the second disc of sponge cake and brush generously with the syrup.
Repeat the same process to fill, pipe the marzipan cream and fill the inside with jam.
Finally, place the last sponge cake and brush generously with the syrup.

Prepare marzipan coating.

Mix the marzipan cream with the specified amount of water to a uniform and homogeneous consistency. You need it to be easy to spread, but not too fluid so that it adheres to the cake.

Cover the outside of the cake with the marzipan cream coating.

Cover the top and sides with the marzipan coating.
Make sure the finish is as straight and smooth as possible.

Prepare the marzipan cream for the top decoration.

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Prepare the marzipan cream for the top decoration.

Mix the marzipan cream with the specified amount of water to a uniform and homogeneous consistency. You need it to be more consistent than the topping so that it will hold its shape after piping.

Decorate the top of the cake.

Pipe in the upper part 7-8 tears with the marzipan cream.
In the central part, pipe small quantities simulating small flowers.
Put the raspberry jam, strained without seeds, in a piping bag.
Fill each teardrop with the jam.
Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour. This step helps the marzipan to keep its shape better for later baking.

Bake the cake to golden brown the marzipan.

Preheat the oven to 482ºF/250ºC, heat up and down.
Place the cake, with the base disk, on a tray lined with baking paper.
Bake the cake, placed on the second rack starting from the bottom, for 10 minutes.
Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.
NOTE: I recommend you to be attentive during the whole process of this second baking because, depending on each oven, the cake may take more or less time to acquire a nice golden color.

Finish decorating the cake.

Brush the sides with pectin syrup or warm apricot jam.
Cover the sides of the cake with toasted flaked almonds.
If you wish, you can decorate the gaps between the teardrops with flaked almonds.
Serve.

Notes

To line the baking pan, you can grease the base and sides with butter to help the baking paper stick to it. The butter can be replaced with release spray.
The sponge cake is tender, but I recommend brushing it with syrup. The final result is very moist, as if it were “drunk”, leaving a sensational texture. In my case I used almost all the syrup.
I recommend using toasted almonds, you can toast them at home, to add more flavor and aroma to the final result. There is a big difference in this step.
For the filling I used the raspberry jam without straining it, that is, with its seeds. But for the top decoration, I do recommend that you strain it to remove the pips. The end result is much cleaner and more attractive. After cooking, the texture is very similar to a raspberry cream or jelly.
The marzipan cream ribbon on the sides is optional, but I recommend that you do it because it helps contain the jam filling without the risk of it coming out of the sides.
As you may have noticed, a marzipan base cream is prepared from which we add more or less water for different uses. The coating needs to be softer to be able to spread it, while the decoration needs to be a little firmer (but less than the base) so that it keeps its shape after piping.
The amount of water in the marzipan cream can vary depending on the quality of the almonds used. The fresher it is, the less water it will need. Conversely, the drier it is, the more water it will require.
You won’t have any marzipan cream left over.
For the side of the cake you can use cake glaze or apricot jam, whatever you prefer.
Once the cake is finished and assembled, it can be kept for 2 days at room temperature or refrigerated for 10 days. It holds very well over time and remains very tender and moist.

This cake is completely spectacular for me, in every way. Flavor, aroma, texture, moistness… Even presentation, despite the fact that at home I was told that the decoration looked like churros. You already know that I have a certain admiration for everything that is out of the ordinary. You have to try this Mailänder MakronenTorte or Milanese macaroon cake.