The Cake Slice - A Baking Group and Our Second Cake

I'm a member of a baking group called The Cake Slice formed by Gigi and Katie. We are happily baking our way through a book called "Sky High : Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes" by Alicia Huntsman and Peter Wynne. To Read More, Click On The Recipe Title.


 Each year the book and subject will change and we'll munch our way through it . I love it!! For the month of November we made a Triple Layer Sweet Potato Cake. So make sure you go to the blog roll and see what variations our members made and drool over their beautiful cakes!







Triple Layer Sweet Potato Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing with a filling of orange cream cheese ... :: sigh::. It was so good, my picky husband who doesn't like sweet potatoes ate it and liked it. He thought it was a spice cake and I didn't tell him any different! The chocolate cream cheese icing was soooooo good! And the orange cream cheese filling went very well with the cake. I had a can of yams in syrup so that's what I used , I just rinsed them off and pureed them. I didn't have any orange juice concentrate so I just upped the orange extract to 1 tsp. It worked for me!




The cakes were made in 9 inch round cake pans that were buttered and had parchment paper on the bottom and then the parchment paper was buttered. They came out of the pans very easily. After they cooled completely I piped some of the chocolate icing around the edge of the cake with a pastry bag then put the orange cream cheese filling on the cake spreading to the piped edges.

The second layer was placed on top of the first and the process was repeated.



The rest of the chocolate cream cheese icing is slathered all over the rest of the cake (well , most of it, some how my fingers kept slipping into the bowl). Then it was time to cut it!



My family really enjoyed this, I hope you enjoyed seeing what we do as members of The Cake Slice. And just in case you want to make it , here's the recipe:

Triple Layer Sweet Potato Cake
Sky High: Irresistible Triple layer Cakes

Cake:
2 medium or 1 large sweet potato (12 ounces)
3 cups of cake flour**
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
5 eggs, separated
2 and 1/4 cups of sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 and 1/4 cups of milk

(**The recipe calls for cake flour and if you only have all-purpose flour on hand, you can substitute 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch.)

(*If fresh sweet potato is not available where you live you may use canned sweet potato, yams, and pumpkin puree)

Makes a 9-inch triple layer cake, serves 16-20 people

1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.
Prick the sweet potatoes in 2-3 places, place on a small baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until the potatoes are very soft. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms and the sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper also.
3. When the sweet potatoes are cool peel off the skin and remove any dark spots. Cut the potatoes into chunks and puree in a food processors. Puree until smooth. Measure out one cup of potato puree and set aside.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of electric mixer add the egg whites and attach whip attachment. Beat on medium speed until egg whites are frothy. raise the speed to high and gradually beat in 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are moderately stiff.
6. In another large bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sweet potato, butter, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after each egg yolk is added. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk in alternately in 2-3 additions. making sure to begin and end with the dry ingredients.
7. With a large spatula, fold in one fourth of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks remain. Making sure to not over mix or this will deflate the batter. Divide the batter among of the three pans.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out the cake layers onto a wire rack and cool completely at least 1 hour.
9. To assemble the cake, place one layer flat side up on to a cake stand. With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip and filled with chocolate cream cheese icing, pipe border around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with the orange cream filling smoothing it to the edge of the border. Place the second layer on top and repeat the process.Place the third layer on top and use all the chocolate cream cheese frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Cream Frosting:

makes 3 cups
10 ounces cream cheese*** at room temperature
1 stick of butter at room temperature
16 ounces of powdered sugar; sifted
1 and 1/2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled

(***1 cup of cream cheese maybe substituted with 1 cup pureed cottage cheese OR 1 cup plain yogurt, strained overnight in a cheesecloth OR equal amounts of neufatel cheese)

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar to cream cheese butter mixture. Making sure to scrape down the sides the sides of the bowl. Then beat until light fluffy 2-3 minutes.
2. Measure out 1 cup of frosting and set aside.
3. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining icing in the bowl and beat until well combined.

Orange Cream Filling:

1 cup of reserved cream cheese icing from above.
2 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 teaspoon of orange extract
1. Stir together all the ingredients until well mixed.