Cherry Blossom Friendship Cake

cherry flavored 2-layer sponge cake decorated with fresh yoshino cherry blossoms and the word friendship written in Kanji

The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C is now on since March 26 until April 10. There are several events but the most popular activity is walking along the tidal basin to ooh and aah at the cherry blossoms. I've seen the spectacular blooms just once in 1992 but never went back to avoid the huge crowd that descends on the district the entire 2 weeks. Besides getting pushed and stepped on by tourists and tripping on exposed roots, finding a parking space is nearly impossible unless you drive there at 6 in the morning.

photo: National Parks Services, Washington, D.C

Instead of going to Washington, D.C. to join the festivities, I am celebrating at home by watching my favorite Japanese and anime movies (Seven Samurai, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Gojoe, etc.) and making sushi and onigiri. And to thank the Japanese people for this beautiful gift to the U S of A, I baked a cherry flavored sponge layer cake decorated with cherry blossoms from my tree. The buds aren't in full bloom yet as it is still early; they will be on the second week of April. I cut some of the lower branches and forced the buds to open indoors. I wrote "friendship" in Kanji, the design and idea I got from A WORLD OF CAKE although I did not follow the cake recipe in the book. You can use your favorite layer cake recipe and words of your choice written in Kanji.

Cherry Blossom Friendship Cake
sponge cake
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons milk
a few drops of natural cherry flavor
a few drops of red or pink food dye
1½ cups cake flour, sifted

frosting
creamy cherry frosting

garnish
fresh or candy flowers
brown and black writing icing tubes

• Line two 8-inch round pans with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a standing mixer with paddle attachment, beat eggs on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add sugar and beat on high until pale yellow in color and mixture has thickened. Add milk, cherry flavor, and food dye and mix well. Continue beating on low while slowly adding flour. Mix until smooth and creamy. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake test is done. Remove from pans and let cool on wire rack. For the frosting, omit vanilla and add a few drops of pink food dye and cherry flavor to the Creamy Vanilla Frosting. Remove parchment paper, fill, and frost the cake. Decorate with fresh edible or candy flowers.

I think there are too many flowers growing on the cake (^_^)

These are old photos of my cherry tree in full bloom

Daring Bakers: Meringue Coffee Cake

yeast coffee cake filled with meringue, garam masala, cashew nuts, and chocolate chips

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Jamie of Life’s a Feast and Ria of Ria’s Collection. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Thank you Ria and Jamie for a delightful challenge. The sweet and delicious yeast coffee cake is a pleasure to make and to eat. The dough is very easy to work with and the soft fluffy moist cake resembles brioche but with less butter and eggs. I specially loved the crispy chewy nougat-like meringue that oozed out while baking. I didn't make any changes to Ria's dough and filling recipes, except for the additional spice (bay leaf) in the garam masala.

Meringue Coffee Cake
Ria's version
dough
4 cups bread flour
¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoons active dried yeast
¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup water
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
10 strands saffron

meringue
3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sugar

filling
1 cup chopped cashew nuts
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon garam masala
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

egg wash
1 beaten egg

garnish
confectioner's sugar

• Prepare the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine 1½ cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast. In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. Add the 10 saffron threads to the warmed liquid and allow to steep off of the heat for 10 minutes. This will give the mixture a distinct aroma and flavor and a yellowish-orange hue. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup flour and beat for 2 more minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.
• Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue: In the mixing bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.
• Prepare the filling: Mix the sugar with the garam masala.
  
• Assemble the Coffee Cakes: Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper. Lightly knead the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about ½ inch from the edges. Sprinkle half of the sugar/garam masala mixture, half of the nuts, and half of the chocolate chips evenly over the meringue. Roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down.

• Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal. Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring. Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings. Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F . Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool. Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with confectioner’s sugar.
  

I was inspired by the beautiful cakes with savory fillings on the DB forum and made individual cakes/buns filled with Spanish sausages, blanched baby spinach, roasted red bell peppers, and scrambled egg. The sweet and salty buns are perfect for Sunday brunch.

filled with fresh butifarra sausage, roasted bell pepper, spinach, and scrambled egg