Starry Night Earl Grey Chiffon Cake
Earl Grey Chiffon Cake with earl grey whipped cream and jasmine white chocolate ganache - a celestial birthday celebration.
What’s a Birthday Party Without Cake?
For her 23rd birthday, my sister threw her very first house party, and I was tasked with creating the cake. This was certainly a step out of my comfort zone, as I had only ever created small cakes for my immediate family members. The sizable guest list for the party meant that my usual single tier cakes would not provide nearly enough servings. Instead, I would attempt my first ever tiered cake, inspired by the iconic “Starry Night” painting by Vincent Van Gogh.
The Marathon Begins…
Long story short, I happened to be out of town the days leading up to the party, which meant that I was left with less than 24 hours to bake and assemble the 3 tier cake. I arrived back in our kitchen around 12 am the morning of her party and hit the ground running. Thus began the 18 hour baking marathon. I spent the entire night baking, filling, frosting, and stacking the cake. Although pulling a baking all nighter isn’t the most ideal timeline, there is something therapeutic about being alone in the kitchen and assembling a cake as the sun rises.
Channeling My Inner Van Gogh
Assembling the tiers was only the first half of the battle. Even though it was my first time stacking a tiered cake, I had watched countless videos and done my research, so I felt fairly confident that I would be able to pull it off. However, next came recreating Van Gogh’s masterpiece in cake form - something that did not have an online tutorial for me to follow. Instead of oil paint on canvas, I would be painting with a far more untraditional medium - whipped cream “paint” on white chocolate ganache “canvas”. At this point, I honestly had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted a firmer base to paint on than whipped cream, which was why I coated the cake in white chocolate ganache (the chocolate would set into a much firmer canvas).
The silver lining of the time crunch I was under was that I didn’t have time to over think the painting process. So, I just went for it. I mixed up various shades of blue and green, pulled up a reference photo, and started painting. It took me a little bit to figure what worked and what didn’t, but eventually I got into my painting groove. All in all, the entire painting process took about six hours, during which I used up every single bowl and cup in our kitchen to mix and create new colors. By the end of the process, my work station was littered with countless bowls of variously colored whipped cream, paint brushes, and mixing utensils. I had also managed to cover my apron with multiple food coloring stains and whipped cream. To this day, I still have a tiny bit of green frosting lodged inside the nose pad of my glasses - how I managed to get paint there remains a mystery to me. Needless to say, I was dead on my feet by the time the party started, but I was pretty pleased with how my first tier cake turned out. It was quite the hit with the party guests both visually and taste wise too!
Major Takeaway
After completing this baking project, I learned one very important lesson. Do NOT attempt to create a three tier cake the day of the party. Tier cakes require a lot of work and should ideally be completed over the span of 3-4 days. Overall, this particular baking project was especially grueling due to the limited time I had to execute it, but it was a labor of love for my sister’s birthday. Annette, this one’s for you <3
Starry Night Earl Grey Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
Earl Grey Chiffon Cake:
- 17 g earl grey tea leaves (ground into a fine powder)
- 28 g earl grey tea leaves
- 495 ml hot water
- 16 large eggs
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 468 g sugar (divided into 156 g and 312 g)
- 220 ml oil
- 2 tbsp vanilla
- 412 g cake flour
- 1 tbsp + 21⁄2 tsp baking powder
Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting Filling:
- 1 quart heavy whipping cream
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp instant coffee
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 envelope gelatin
- 60 g cold water
Jasmine White Chocolate Ganache "Canvas":
- 32 oz heavy cream
- 10 jasmine tea bags
- 64 oz white chocolate
Whipped Cream "Paint":
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 30 g powder sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- Gel food coloring
- 30 g dark chocolate (cypress tree)
- Coconut oil (optional)
Instructions
Earl Grey Chiffon Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 sets of 8-inch, 6-inch, and 4-inch pans on the bottom with parchment paper rounds.
- Steep earl grey tea leaves in hot water for around 5 min (longer if you want a stronger flavor). Reserve 330 ml of the tea and discard the rest.
- Combine dry ingredients: sift together cake flour and baking powder. Add in earl grey powder and whisk thoroughly to combine.
- Separate egg whites and yolks. Chill whites in the refrigerator.
- Combine wet ingredients: whisk together egg yolks and 156 g sugar. Add in oil, steeped tea, and vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients: Incrementally combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients in three separate additions. Stir to incorporate well. Pass batter through a fine mesh sieve to ensure no lumps. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add in chilled egg whites and cream of tartar. Whisk on medium speed until the egg whites start to form soft peaks. Gradually add remaining 312 g of sugar in a slow and steady stream to the egg whites and continue to whip until stiff peaks.
- Combine meringue and batter: Using a rubber spatula, incrementally fold meringue into batter in three separate additions. Be gentle while folding so as to not deflate the volume of the meringue.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pans until about 80% full. Firmly tap filled pans against the counter to knock out any big air bubbles.
- Bake the cakes: First, bake 8-inch pans in the preheated oven for 40-45 min until golden brown. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the surface of the cakes spring back when gently pressed with your finger. Once the 8-inch cakes are done, repeat the baking process with 6-inch pans for 35-40 min and then 4-inch pans for 25-30 min.
- Cool cakes to room temperature, then wrap well with saran wrap and freeze cakes for at least 1 hour.
Coffee Whipped Cream:
- Sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let sit for 5 min to bloom. Set aside.
- Warm up about 1/8 cup whipping cream in the microwave and mix in instant coffee and cocoa powder to dissolve. Run the mixture through a sieve if there are any lumps.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the remaining heavy cream until soft peaks. Gradually add in powdered sugar while whipping continuously.
- Microwave the gelatin for 5-10 sec until melted, Pour into the coffee mixture and stir to combine.
- Slowly stream in gelatin mixture into the whipped cream while whisking. Add in vanilla.
- Continue to whip until stiff peaks have formed.
- Chill in the refrigerator until ready for assembly.
Jasmine White Chocolate Ganache:
- In a saucepan set over low heat, heat heavy cream until just simmering. Steep tea bags for at least an hour.
- In a large bowl, add in white chocolate chips. Pour the jasmine heavy cream over the chips.
- Microwave in 30 second bursts, gently but thoroughly mixing between each burst. Mix until a smooth and homogenous ganache has formed.
- Chill in the refrigerator until ready for assembly.
Cake Assembly:
- Using a cake leveler or sharp serrated knife, trim the top of each cake layer so that they are flat and level in height. Once trimmed, split the cakes into 3-4 thinner layers per tier depending on the height of your cake layers. Wrap in saran wrap and freeze for at least 15 minutes.
- Place the bottom 8-inch layer of chiffon cake onto a cake board set on a turntable. Place a large dollop of the coffee whipped cream filling onto the first layer and spread evenly with an offset spatula.
- Place the second layer of chiffon onto the filling and repeat the process with the remaining 8-inch layers.
- Use the offset spatula on the sides of the cake to smooth out the fillings to be flush with the cake layers.
- Place the filled 8-inch tier into the freezer and repeat the filling process with the 6-inch and 4-inch tiers.
- Once all three tiers are filled, crumb coat the exteriors of each tier with the jasmine white chocolate ganache. If the ganache has set too firm, warm in the microwave for about 10 seconds to a workable consistency. Freeze cakes for 15 minutes once they’ve all been crumb coated.
- After 15 minutes. Apply a finishing coat of ganache on each tier. Freeze for another 15 minutes or until the exterior is very solid to the touch.
Stacking the Tiers:
- Place a 6-inch cake board over the top of the 8-inch tier. Gently run a toothpick or pairing knife around the circumference to mark where the tier will sit on top.
- Insert a boba straw into the middle of the 8-inch tier. Pull the straw up ¼ inch once it hits the bottom and trim just above the cake. Push the straw back down so that it is flush or just below the top of the cake. Discard excess straw. Repeat this process with 3-4 more boba straws, placing them equidistant around the center straw. Be sure to stay within a 6-inch diameter.
- Spread a little bit of ganache on the center of the 8-inch cake. Carefully place the 6-inch tier on top of the 8-inch tier, making sure it is as center and level as possible. The cake should be thoroughly chilled and frozen enough to be easily handled with your hands. Lightly press down to adhere the tiers. Repeat with the final remaining 4-inch tier.
- Place fully stacked cake into the freezer until ready for painting.
Whipped Cream "Paint":
- Whip heavy in a stand mixer. Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip until just shy of soft peaks.
- Divide whipped cream into 4-6 small bowls. Dye with gel food coloring into various shades of blue, green, yellow, etc. Be sure to reserve some white whipping cream as well.
- Melt chocolate in the microwave in 15-30 second bursts, mixing in between. Optional: add in a teaspoon or two of coconut oil for a runnier consistency.
Painting Starry Night:
- With a paint brush, mark out roughly where the different components of the painting will be located on the cake with white whipped cream (i.e. tree, swirls, moon, stars, hills, houses) It’s helpful to have the original painting visible at all times to refer to during the painting process.
- Channel your inner Van Gogh and paint the Starry Night!
