I created this cake earlier this year and made it several times since then, but thought to share it with you now because this little jewel can really brighten up these gloomy autumn evenings!
This cake reminds me somehow of Finland, not only for its colors, but also for its ingredients and its taste.
I love how balanced this cake is. At the same time, it succeeds to be both fresh and full of flavor, but still not heavy.
Also, this month Due fili d’erba turns 3 and it’s crazy to think that time has gone so fast. Things have changed since last year, many things. For starters, now I am officially the main contributor to this blog. When Due fili d’erba was created, its point was to keep a friendship going even from afar and also to share with friends all the new interesting experiences that living abroad was bringing. Now this blog has grown to be a thriving community of people that share the same interests and passions and for me it is turning into a job and, as soon as I’ll finish my studies, it will definitely be even more! Just hang on in there with me because in the future this will be my main job and then we’ll have even more fun together!
You might wonder what is the point to keep on calling this blog Two blades of grass, since now it’s mainly me that curates it, but you see, this blog could never be anything different than that. I couldn’t pretend that my blade of grass would consist of just me when Klaus is always going to be the other half and without the other blade of grass, that is Desirée, the other founder of the blog, all this would have never started. Without their moral and practical support, there would be no Due fili d’erba. So now you see how I cannot and don’t even want to take all the credit (and for you people who are reading this in Italian, do thank Desirée for the copywriting and perfect grammar!). Also, I find the idea of two blades of grass that intersect a nice metaphor for you all readers that come here and for a little while share with us some of your time; it’s like if our paths would cross and then continue on different directions, but will forever have had that moment together.
This cake seems a good way to thank you all for reading this blogging and following us in our social media accounts. Since it is so Finnish, it reminds me of the enthusiasm I had (and still have, you have no idea of how many projects I have in my head!) when I first started to blog all the interesting traditions and foods I was discovering here in Finland. So here it goes:
Thank you, dear readers from all over the world, may our friendship be long and prosper!🖖
For this cake I used two 11,5 cm / 4 ½ inch pans. What to do if you don’t have such mini pans? Well, you have several options:
* Double the ingredients and use two bigger pans of 16 cm / 6 ½ inch
* Use a bigger pan and the same amount of ingredients and make a two layer cake
* Buy two small pans (smaller cakes look cute, it’s easier to frost them, serve many people because the are so tall and are still small enough to finish without fearing diabetes)
Yum
- 3 eggs
- 100 g (a little less than ½ cup) butter
- 60 g (a little less than ⅓ cup) sugar
- A pinch salt
- 15 g (⅛ cup) cocoa powder
- 70 g (½ cup + 1 tsp) flour
- ½ tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tbsp baking soda
- ¼ tbsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
- 50 g (½ cup) blueberries
- Lemon zest
- ¼ tbsp lemon juice
- 400 g cream cheese
- 15 g (⅛ cup) powdered sugar
- 20 g (1 tbsp) honey
- 100 ml (a little less than ½ cup) heavy cream
- ¼ tbsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
- 40 g (¼ cup) white chocolate
- 20 ml (1 tbsp + 1 tsp) heavy cream
- 100 g (1 cup) blueberries
- Preheat the oven to 175°C/350F.
- Separate the yolks from the egg whites.
- Beat until fluffy the yolks, the butter and the sugar.
- Add to the mixture the sieved cocoa powder, the flour, the baking soda and baking powder and mix well.
- Whip the egg whites with the pinch of salt until firm peaks will appear.
- With a spatula, carefully fold in spoonfuls of egg white mixture into the batter (do not overmix!).
- Place baking paper and grease the borders of two 4.5 inch (11,5 cm) springform pans and divide the batter into the two pans.
- Bake both cakes at the same time (they are so small that they fit together!) for 25 minutes. Check if the cakes are cooked by inserting a toothpick into the cake: if it will come out clean, the cake is cooked.*
- Smash the blueberries with a fork, add the lemon zest and juice and mix. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whip the cream cheese, the powdered sugar, the honey, the heavy cream and the vanilla sugar or extract until the frosting will be homogeneous and firm.
- Sieve the blueberry and lemon mixture and pour the obtained juice (circa 30 ml) into the frosting. Mix well.
- Once the cakes will be cooled, remove them from the springform pans, even them out with a knife and cut them into two lengthwise, so to have four layers.
- Place the first layer on a plate or cake stand and spread a thin layer of frosting, levelling it out.
- Spread some blueberries on the frosting, being careful not to go too close to the edges.
- Repeat the procedure for all the layers and cover the cake top and sides with a very thin layer of frosting. Place the cake and remaining frosting in the refrigerator for at least half an hour to let them harden and stabilize and frost the cake a second time with a thicker layer of frosting.
- Warm the heavy cream, pour it on the white chocolate and mix well.
- Pour on the cake the ganache and let it drip from the sides.
Nancy
I’m thinking of making this and am wondering if you are using more than two eggs? Thanks.
Thais FK
Hi Nancy! I used 3 eggs for two 4 1/2 inch pans. If you have bigger pans I’d suggest to double the dosage. I’d love to know how it will turn out!