Skip to main content

Earl Grey Layer Cake with Bergamot Curd #SpringOnThePlate #MelissasProduce #Sponsored

  This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Melissa's Produce.
I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development,
but all opinions are honest and they are my own. This page may contain affiliate links.

Can you believe that February is already over? And we even had a bonus day in February. But with the advent of March, I begin to see the steady parade towards the Vernal Equinox and Spring which is my favorite season.

Last week I noticed that Melissa's Produce* shared a photo of yellow dragonfruit on one of their social media channels. So, I reached out to my contacts at Melissa's Produce to see if they would want to sponsor a series of posts. I had my eyes on making some Spring-y, sunny dishes. And they did! I received a selection of yellow produce and set out to make some #SpringOnThePlate recipes.

I received several Bergamot Oranges (you can read about them on the Melissa's Produce website here). Berga- what?!? If you've ever had Earl Grey tea, you are probably familiar with that  distinctive citrusy scent that is bergamot. But what is it? And from where does it come from?


Bergamot is an aromatic citrus fruit that is common throughout the Mediterranean. The fruit is roughly the size of an orange, but has the coloring of a lime or a lemon, depending on ripeness. The fragrant oil in its rind imparts that tart, acidic, spicy quality to Earl Grey tea.

Since I had just made poppy seed-lemon cake (that recipe will be shared for March's #TheCakeSliceBakers on the 20th...stay tuned), I decided to make a riff on that by swapping out Earl Grey tea for the poppy seeds and filling the cake with a bergamot curd. I added a touch of corn meal for texture, but you can use almond flour if you want it less grainy. Also I frosted the cake with buttercream and, in honor of all the mimosa corsages all over Italy for Festa delle Donne which is celebrated in Italy on Sunday, March 8th, I decorated my cake with buttercream mimosa flowers.

Ingredients makes one 9" three-layer cake

Cake
  • 1/4 C butter, softened
  • 1 C organic granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • 1 t lemon extract
  • zest from 1 bergamot orange
  • 1 C whole milk
  • 1-1/2 C flour
  • 1/3 C corn meal or polenta
  • 3 t baking powder
  • 1 T Earl Grey tea
  • 1/4 t salt
  • Also needed 9" round baking pans, parchment paper

Bergamot Curd
  • 1/2 C freshly squeezed bergamot juice
  • zest from two bergamot oranges
  • 1/2 C organic granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 6 T butter, cut into cubes

Buttercream
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/3 C water minus 1 T
  • 1 T freshly squeezed bergamot orange juice
  • 1 C organic granulated sugar
  • 1 T organic corn syrup
  • 2 C butter, softened
  • yellow and green food coloring, as needed (I prefer vegetable and fruit-based dyes)
  • Also needed: piping bag and tips

Procedure

Bergamot Curd
Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan.


Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.


Transfer curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.


Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 9" round baking pans by buttering them and lining the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until lightened and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add in the egg yolks, lemon extract, and bergamot zest. Mix again, then pour in the milk.

In another mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: flour, corn meal, baking powder, Earl Grey tea, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and fold in gently with a spatula until just moistened.

In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until medium peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter, taking care not to deflate the egg whites too much. Divide the cake batter evenly between three cake pans. 


Place pans on baking sheets and place them in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the layers are firm and golden. Remove the trays from the oven and cool the cakes completely on wire racks.


Buttercream
Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat on high until they are thick, pale, and ribbon off the whisks.

Combine water, bergamot juice, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan. You can attach a candy thermometer to the side; I just kept testing until it reached soft-ball stage. If you're using a thermometer, heat until it reaches 238 degrees F. For testing otherwise, dip a spoon into the syrup, then into ice cold water. The syrup should immediately set up into a soft ball. Mine took about 8 minutes to reach the correct consistency.

Once the syrup is ready, remove it from the heat. While one hand hold the mixer, use the other hand to pour the syrup into the yolks. When all of the syrup is added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until the yolks have doubled in size and have reached medium peak stage. The bowl should be cooled and just lukewarm to the touch. Mine took about 9 minutes.

Begin adding butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. The more butter you add, the more firm the buttercream will be.

Once your buttercream resembles what you think of as buttercream, add in the food coloring. I pulled out about 1/4 and dyed that yellow; I dyed the rest green.


For Finishing
Once the cake layers have cooled completely, use a serrated knife to cut the layers flat. Spread a generous amount of curd between each layer and place them on your serving platter.

Smooth the green buttercream over the top and along the sides, keep about 2 to 3 T of the green for the stems of the mimosa flowers. Dye the remaining green a little darker green; I actually ran out of green and had to use blue butterfly pea flower powder. So, my dark green verged on dark teal. Oh, well. 


Pipe stems on the cake, then add yellow dots to emulate the blossoms of the mimosa tree.


Place cake in the fridge to let the buttercream set. Remove from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
You may find Melissa's...
on the web, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram

*Disclosure: I received product for free from the sponsor for recipe development, however, I have received no additional compensation for my post. My opinion is 100% my own and 100% accurate.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce