Filling
- 6 tbsp = 6 x 14 g = 84 g unsalted butter
- 1 cup = 135 g brown sugar
- 3/4 cup = 168 g golden syrup
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
I had probably read the recipe at least three times before commencing, though hadn't sought out other sources to subsidize my knowledge. In her writeup, SK had detailed a labourious mission with regard to dough formation, though barely described the filling and assembly. She had taken to constructing the dough manually, only introducing a food processor in the final stages for decoration. My approach would utilize a greater number of tools, which reserved arm strength for assembly but consequently led to more dishes.
SK's recipe was stated to make 8 layers of 9 in rounds, with enough excess to coat the exterior with crumbs. I had initially regarded the ingredient list with some skepticism, for 115 g of butter and 3 large eggs did not seem any more than the quantities I'd normally use for 6 in cakes. Then, I reached the specified quantity of flour: 455 g of AP flour. It all made sense: They were cookies that would be rolled quite thin.
- 170 g honey *
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 115 unsalted butter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 eggs
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 455 g AP flour, separated into 300 g and 150 g portions
The cookie dough commenced in a saucepot over the stove. Honey, eggs, butter, and a pinch of salt would be emulsified over heat. Once bubbling, baking soda would be added, inciting volume throughout the solution. This process was not unlike making Dalgona, though it was far more forgiving. Honey inherently contains water, making for seamless formation of a sugar syrup that is less temperature-sensitive that merely sugar and water. A candy thermometer was not required to ensure success, unlike Dalgona. The addition of butter also prevented the formula from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning with the introduction of heat.
But instead of tempering the eggs in the saucepot, I did the reverse: Eggs were whisked in a stand mixer, then the foamy dalgona-like formula was streamed in while mixing. This was, by no means, easy with my compact apparatus, and some of the mixture would be lodged onto the mixer head, hardening immediately. Thankfully, none of it clumped to the sides of the bowl.
In hindsight, I saw no obvious benefit to separating the flour into 300 g and 150 g portions. The stand mixer incorporates the flour readily and the dough remained warm and easy to work with. At this point, I had questioned why SK described the dough process as being so brutal; it wasn't any harder than the standard enriched bread dough.
Baking and assembly, on the other hand, were the areas where I struggled.
The dough was to be portioned into 8 equal pieces.
For my first piece, I had forgotten to subtract weight of stand mixer bowl, resulting in a portion nearly double the intended amount. This round emerged too thick and not quite cracker/cookie-like.
- Weight of bowl + dough = 1529 g
- Forgot to subtract mass of bowl: 1529/8 = 191 g → first portion about 180 g
Corrected equation:
- 1529 g - 629 g = 901 g
- 901 g / 8 = 112 g
Ultimately, I managed 7 layers instead of 8 due to an erroneous first calculation.
The dough should have yielded: 8 rounds, 112 g each;
Instead, I obtained: 7 rounds, 1x 180g, 6x 120g
Once the cookie is rolled out, it cannot be transferred from another sheet. Thus, one must roll out the cookie on the sheet intended for baking. Silicon is ideal as it prevents slippage, though I did not possess enough silicon mats for 6-7 cookies.
Note that baking on silicon mats caused air bubbles to form underneath, while parchment ensured a comparatively level underside.
350 F for 5-7 mins is the correct bake time. There is leniency with an oven with fluctuating oven temp, though do not let the cookies bake for any longer than 2 mins more. I began to rotate the trays between the middle and lower rack in the end to speed up the process: 5 mins, swap, then 2-3 mins until the tops were golden brown.
Contrary to SK's directions, I did not cut the dough in advance of baking, as I hadn't decided upon the size of the cake at the time. In addition, I wasn't sure if I could roll out all dough portions to be of equal diameter. Should one round be 9 in, another 8 in, and another 6 in, I'd have trouble during assembly.
When cutting, I made sure to make several incisions at various points along the circumference before loosening the shape, as any accidental tugs could cause the cookie to crack at its thinnest section.
- 290 g sour cream
- 252 g heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract *homemade - 868
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste *not traditional by any means
- 111 g (23 + 88) granulated sugar
- 76 g sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp gelatin dissolved in water, cooled to room temp
- Using a hand mixer, whip heavy cream until foamy. Add in 1/3 of the sugar, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste and continue beating to soft peaks.
- Add in remaining 2/3 of the sugar and sweetened condensed milk and beat to stiff peaks. Do not overmix.
- Fold in sour cream, followed by gelatin mixture.
- Set aside until ready to use. Alternatively, cover tightly with cling film and store in fridge until ready to assemble.
SK notes the importance of allowing the cookie layers to soften with time, harmonizing flavours within the cake. Given my preference for a comparatively stable filling, I decided to brush each layer with milk to maintain plushness and prevent separation. Simple syrup would not be used given that both the cookies and filling already contained solid and liquid sweeteners.
This approach was akin to assembling Tiramisu, but with large rounds of homemade graham cracker cookies swapped for airy, meringue-based ladyfingers.
150 ml of 2% milk would be poured into a pitcher, though about 100 ml would be used for 7 layers of 6 in rounds.
In hindsight, it would have been ideal to form the cake using a ring mold, then loosen the mold slightly to pour in remaining cream filling. Of course, this would require a greater amount of cream than used in my iteration. The mould would only be removed after chilling to cover the surface with crumbs; allowing the cream to solidify would prevent the base layer from smearing while coating.
It is worth noting that the consumption experience would evolve with time:
- 10-16 h after assembly, the cake was light, airy and only moderately sweet
- At the 24 h mark, the cake begins to exude moisture, resulting in a denser crumb
- At the 48 h mark, the cake will be evidently sweeter, with the flavour of honey becoming more prominent and the layers denser and more saturated than the previous day due to the presence of honey
- Allow adequate time and space for construction. At the bare minimum, one will require the stovetop, countertop, oven, and space for cooling racks.
- Specialized equipment and tools aren't mandatory, but will undoubtedly assuage the otherwise arduous process.
- A stand mixer assists tremendously with dough formation, reserving upper body strength for assembly
- Silpats/silicon mats facilitate rolling of dough, and transition easily between countertop and oven. While they may incite air bubbles on the underside, this is hardly noticeable in the final product
- A food processor blitzes cookies into crumbs in seconds, eliminating the need for a Ziploc, mallet, and unseemly banging
- A scraper assists with division of dough in addition to smoothing the edges of the cake. That said, it is not pivotal to achieve seamless surfaces on the cake, for the frosting purely acts as adhesive for the crumb topping
- A turntable enables one to easily coat the sides of the cake
- Acetate strips can be fitted underneath the cake before coating with cookie crumbs for a cleaner presentation. Mind you - the crumbs will be messy no matter what precautions are taken.