SPIDERMAN CAKE

1 1/3 Cups Sorghum Flour
2/3 Cup Cornstarch
2/3 Cup Tapioca Flour
1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon Guar Gum
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
¾ Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
12 Tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) Unsalted Cultured Butter, diced
5 Large Eggs
½ Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 Tablespoons Mexican Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter two heart shaped cake pans and one 4 oz. ramekin. Line the heart shaped cake pans with parchment: place plan over parchment, trace the outline of the pan, then cut the parchment to fit. Place prepared pans and ramekin on a cookie sheet to bake and set aside.

In a large mixer with the paddle attachment, combine all of the dry ingredients by mixing on low for several rotations. Add the butter and mix until you have a dry, slightly lumpy mound.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream until very smooth. Add the Mexican vanilla and whisk until combined. Alternating the egg mixture with the butter- milk, add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix on high until very fluffy, taupe and smooth.

Your batter is now ready to bake. Pour batter into your prepared cake pans + the ramekin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. The ramekin will only take about 20 minutes to bake and will need to be taken out ahead of the other cakes, so stay close by.

Allow cakes to cool in the pans for at least 15 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Peel off parchment paper.

Now make your icing:


Koo Jeong-A, (b. 1967)
Without Title, 2002
Watercolor on Paper, 31 x 23cm
Collection of the Artist
Yvon Lambert Gallery
South Korean Artist, living in Paris


CREAM CHEESE ICING

2-8oz. Packages cream cheese, softened
125g Unsalted butter, softened
3 Cups Confectioner’s sugar
½ Teaspoon vanilla
Red food dye

In a stand up mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar and the vanilla and continue to mix until there are no longer any visible lumps. Add enough food dye to make the icing as red as possible. I used about ¼ teaspoon of gel food coloring; if using liquid food dye you will only need about 5-6 drops and if you are using powdered food coloring, use ½ teaspoon.

To construct your Spiderman cake, take the small round cake, place it in the empty space at the top of one of the heart shaped cakes and cut the round so that it perfectly fills in the empty space. Using a toothpick, insert it into the cut cake round so that it will remain in place. Repeat this process for the other heart shaped cake.

Now, spread a generous amount of your red cream cheese icing on the top of one of the cakes, being careful as you cover the additional cake round you added to the top of Spiderman’s head. Place the other layer on top of the first and then cover the cake with your remaining icing.

Now comes the store-bought part of the construction. I shamefully broke down and purchased the black icing that makes the spider web and store bought fondant for the eyes.

Why? Because the red icing nearly destroyed our kitchen. Covering the tiles, the floor, the countertops and the both of us; I just couldn’t go there with black icing.

To make Spiderman’s eyes, cut off a piece of the fondant and carefully roll it out to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Take a piece of paper, cut out a slanted triangle and measure it to the cake. If it’s too small, start over, if it’s too big, just trim it down to size. Place your stencil over the fondant and using a very sharp knife, cut around the stencil, Repeat this process to make the other eye and then carefully center them in the middle of the cake.

Now, take your store-bought black icing (I bought the Wilson’s with the plastic piping tips) and pipe on your spider web.

Serves 10

	1 comment
Cheekalina says Sep 25, 2007 - 8:28 pm	Wow! That’s a great cake! I especially appreciate the comment about the other Spider Man. Too funny! And oh! I could hear it being said too! Now if only I could transport you here to decorate for me… LOL
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