Eiffel Tower Cake for my birthday 2023
Yesterday was my birthday and I knew exactly what kind of cake I wanted to make for myself: a small chocolate cake, with a whipped cream and strawberry filling, and a chocolate cake collar. This technique is also called a "chocolate cage" and I had been wanting to try it. Most of the cakes I made are transported somewhere else, so I had to wait for an opportunity to make a cake for home.
For the cake layers, I went with this recipe for Chocolate Malt Cupcakes from the Browned Butter Blondie website. Instead of cupcakes I baked it in two 6-inch cake layers. Upon closer inspection it turns out the malt in this recipe is only in the frosting. This was misleading! I ended up adding three tablespoons of malt powder. The recipe calls for coffee, and I swapped this for 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder. Next time I would actually use a whole teaspoon. The batter is very liquid. The layers baked up great in about 26 minutes.
For the frosting, I used this buttercream recipe from Handle the Heat. I like this recipe because it uses less sugar and the blog post describes a lot of variations you can make. I'd made it previously using what turned out to be too much milk, and I had a lot of problems with it. This time I used just one tablespoon of milk, and I added two tablespoons of malt powder. I couldn't taste the malt powder so next time I'd go ahead and add three. But it's still delicious and I like knowing it has less confectioner's sugar.
I whipped 1/4 cup of heavy cream and it was just enough to fill in between the two layers. I'd piped a dam using a slightly smaller tip than the 1/2 inch round I usually use, because I wanted there to be more whipped cream. I pressed as many chopped fresh strawberries as I could onto the whipped cream, however, you still couldn't detect them very much among all the other flavors. I'd say serve more strawberries on the side, which is what I did.
Once the cake was frosted, I left it out so I could work on the cake collar. This was my first cake collar, so I watched every instructional video on YouTube! I measured the circumference of the cake with a piece of kitchen string, and the top with a ruler. I then cut a piece of acetate to measure. I melted a whole bar of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate ( 4 oz) in the microwave and put it in a piping bag. I only microwaved it until most of the chocolate was melted, and I stirred away the remaining lumps. This is enough - you want it to be flowing, obviously, but not hot. When cutting off the tip of the piping bag for the chocolate to flow, you want to be careful and start small. However, you definitely want to cut a big enough opening that the chocolate lines are not too thin. They wouldn't look as showy, and they would likely crack. I did end up having to remake the chocolate collar, because I let the first one set a bit too much, and the buttercream was a bit too crusted. I'd left the cake out of the refrigerator so the collar could adhere, and I couldn't believe how firm it got anyway. But this was just as well, because in the end I didn't really care for the design of the first collar. I'd piped some straight lines, and then loops on top. With the second collar, I only piped loops - much prettier and more reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower! For this second collar I only melted 3 ounces of chocolate, versus 4 for the first collar, and that was plenty. When I tried to adhere the first collar I scored the buttercream. So, while the second collar set, I warmed up a bench scraper and smoothed that out. I think the buttercream being freshly scraped also helped the second collar to adhere.
It was a bit of a guessing game in terms of how long to wait for the chocolate to set. I ended up testing with my finger the chocolate ribbons that had overflowed onto the table. As soon as I saw the chocolate had dulled a bit and the ribbons held their shape even when I pressed with my finger, I put the collar on. It took about 20 minutes. I made sure the bottom of the collar lined up with the cake board, and carefully brought it around the cake. It worked great! Then I placed the cake in the refrigerator so the chocolate would harden before removing the collar. This part is easy, but you should do it slowly and carefully. My collar held up great, but next time I'd cut the acetate a bit shorter to have a tad less overlap, because when you remove it the extra chocolate could cause a crack in the portion of the collar near the seam. But I just cut carefully as I went along removing it, and it came out pristine.
I made a chocolate Eiffel Tower using a mold and some leftover chocolate from the first cake collar. I placed some strawberries around the top of the cake inside the collar, leaving the front bare so as to better appreciate the Eiffel Tower.
This cake brought me some comfort and joy on a hard birthday. This was a milestone birthday that caused me to struggle with many regrets and disappointments I have, made many times worse by the recent loss of my mother, and very hurtful because the person I share my life with did not even bother to get me a card. I ended up eating alone in the sunroom, but it was all right. I set the table with a nice tablecloth and napkin, and a green plate and a pretty wine goblet which was a gift from a Japanese co-worker and friend a long time ago, someone who really appreciated me. I had salmon patties, asparagus and scallion smashed potatoes, and in an exception for me, several glasses of Pinot Grigio. I then brought out my cake, put on candles with my new age and lit them, and sang happy birthday to myself. I blew out the candles and made a wish. Enjoying my beautiful cake, looking out at my lovely garden and hearing the birdsong, and receiving a timely message from someone who hasn't forgotten me, made it seem like I was in a Paris café on a summer night. I enjoyed the moment and realized that my mother had always been right when she used to say that it's much better to be alone that in the wrong company. Happy Birthday to me!
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