Saturday, September 26, 2020

Ptich'e Moloko (Birds Milk) Cake!

This cake does take a little bit to make...definitely make it the day before, because first of all, it needs to sit overnight, and second of all, it might not work the first time as needed so you might need to make it a few times to get the egg whites to where they need to be, so have extra egg whites for sure :) 

We used agar agar powder we got from our local International market - Talin. We got the telephone brand and that worked splendidly. 
Everyone loved the cake and the presentation is quite impressive. 

The original recipe can be found here: https://finecooking.ru/recipe/tort-ptiche-moloko-po-gostu

We tried to have a sugar sculpture for topping, but after spending about 4 cups of sugar and a good couple of hours, we were not successful in creating a good sculpture... it may just be because it seems like they do not use straight sugar a lot of times but a sugar derivative to make the (not as good tasting) but more stable sculpture. If anyone has any ideas, we will gladly take em :) 

Final Cake!

Slice of Delicious Cake!



It was a Birthday, after all!




Ready to have toppings!

Ganach-ed!

Ready to rest!

mmm the cake layers to be baked


Ingredients:

For the Cake Layers

140 Grams flour
2 eggs
100 grams butter
100 grams sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Soufle:

460 Grams sugar
200 grams butter
100 grams sweetened condensed milk
160 ml water
2 egg whites
4 grams agar agar
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Glaze: 

90 grams chocolate, dark or bitter preferred
50 grams butter

For decorations - fruits or berries, whatever you have! Or, you could also attempt the sugar sculpture that we had a vision but no talent for! :) 

Directions:



1. Set 160 ml of water and add in 4 grams of agar agar. Leave to soak for approximately an hour.

Cake Layers: 

1. On two pieces of parchment paper, make a circle with a pencil of the size of your cake layers, we used about 9". Make sure to mark with pencil on the opposite side that you will be putting your batter onto. 
2. Preheat oven to 425 F
3. In a stand mixer, combine 100 grams of softened butter with 100 grams sugar and vanilla. 
4. Whis on high speed for a few minutes until combined. 
5. One at a time, add in the eggs, continue mixing. 
6. When combined, add in 140 grams of sifted flour. 
7. This will look like a cake mix now and should hold it's form. 
8. Divide the mixture into two, and spread into the shape of two circles on your parchment paper. Remember to keep the pencil markings on the under side. 
9. Bake each (or both at the same time) cake for about 8 to 9 minutes each until done.
10. If your cake has oozed out past the circle, you can now cut it to the shape you want. We used 9 inch rounds in a bigger springform so that the soufle would ooze around it. You can see that in the pictures, and if you are doing the same, then you don't need to cut it to a perfect circle. 
11. Cool completely. They will be thin, so this will not take long. 

Soufle *we had two people doing this step, one person doing the agar agar boiling and the other doing the egg whites): 

1. In the stand mixer bowl, combine 200g of softened butter wtih the 100g of sweetened condensed milk. 
2. Mix until creme consistnecy, it will be shiny and voluminous. 
3. Set aside for now. 
4. Bring the agar agar mixture we made earlier to a boil and mix until it reaches boiling. 
5. Add in the 460 g of sugar when all of agar agar is dissolved. 
6. Keep boiling until sugar is dissolved constantly stirring.
7. Boil until it reaches 230 degrees F or 110 Degrees C. This should take about 8 to 9 minutes. The mixture will foam and increase in volume. 
8. Place 70 grams of egg whites (about 2 to 3 eggs) into the stand mixer bowl.
9. Whip on high speed until they are slightly foamy. Add a tsp of cream of tartar. Keep mixing unitil stiff peaks. Add in the lemon juice tsp. Keep mixing. 
10. SLOWLY, on the side of the metal mixer bowl, pour in the agar agar mixture - should take about 30 seconds to fully pour it all in. 
11. You will see the whole mixture become denser, thicker, and increase in volume. It will also look very shiny. 
12. Add in the butter/sweetened condensed milk mixture we made earlier on LOW speed. 
13. When combined, stop mixing. 

COMBINE - DO THIS RIGHT AFTER MAKING THE SOUFFLE!!!!

1. Now, we need to work fast because this mixture will start to stiffen up due to the agar agar cooling down. So, work quickly and don't take a break! This is critical!
2. Get your springform pan, and line it with parchment paper, you can use your earlier parchment paper sheets that you baked on. 
3. Place one cake layer on the bottom. 
4. Pour in half of the Souffle mixture. 
5. Place the second cake layer on top.
6. Pour the rest of the souffle mixture on top. 
7. Spin the form around to settle the suffle while keeping the pan on the table, this will level out and settle the souffle. 
8. Place in the fridge and let it cool for a couple of hours. 

After it is cooled - add in the chocolate glaze

Chocolate glaze 
1. On a double broiler bring to a boil, and add in the 90 g chocolate and 50 g butter until well melted and combined. 

Pour the chocolate glaze over the souffle after the cake has cooled. 

Set in the fridge overnight. 

Decorate the next day with berries, sugar sculptures or fruit as desired. 

ENJOY!

What we liked:

THE CAKE IS DELICIOUS

What we didn't like:

It is a lot of hard work - BUT WELL WORTH IT!!! It is important to time the egg whites stiffening and agar agar mixture boiling properly or you will lose one or the other or both. We had to try it several times to get it right, but so so so worth it, once again. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

YUM! All the kiddoes and adults loved the cake. 

Next time:

Next time - make it again! Yum!

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