This cake was "born" in the Soviet Union. His "biography" is much shorter and more modest than other famous desserts. But the Tale cake managed to become a popular favorite, thanks to the rare combination of availability and low cost of the ingredients that make up its composition, as well as its unusual shape and exquisite taste.
Charlotte cream sponge roll with a layer of cream is a simple but tasty cake idea. The top of the sweet "log" and now continue to decorate with mushrooms and flowers from butter cream, slices of marmalade or jelly. Drawing on the surface of the cake and at the enterprises of the Soviet food industry, and at modern confectionery industries is applied arbitrarily: sometimes you can observe the characteristic handwriting of confectioners in different cities of the country, by which you can determine where the cake was made.
Looking through the pages of various culinary sites, one can confidently say that the Tale cake remains at the peak of popularity. Moreover, he already claims the title: beloved, original, and so on. The fact is that the inexhaustible imagination of homemade pastry chefs has decorated the classic recipe for the Tale cake with poppy seeds, nuts, raisins, and the dessert has changed beyond recognition. Of course, this is how many famous cakes appear, but "Tale" with new ingredients is no longer that "fairy tale", but rather - "Fantasy", "Fiction", a non-rigorous retelling based on a famous plot.
In any case, it is interesting and worth a try.
Cake "Fairy Tale" - basic technological principles
To modify any cake, it will not hurt, for a start, to familiarize yourself with its original recipe in detail.
The basis of the cake is a biscuit. The recipe for the main biscuit dough, as usual, consists of sugar, eggs (egg powder) and flour. Nothing complicated, but in order to change the composition of the test by adding other components, nevertheless, some knowledge of the biochemical processes that occur during its mixing and baking is necessary.
The biscuit dough becomes lush thanks to the whipping of egg white. In the process of the mechanical preparation stage, air molecules are embedded between the egg whites, and upon subsequent heat treatment (baking a biscuit) they expand, and the biscuit further increases in volume.
When whipping, egg white is converted into "threads" that, when bound together, hold air bubbles. But air bubbles are much lighter than, for example, the smallest particles of flour. Therefore, the finished biscuit dough must be baked immediately after its preparation: so that the heavier flour molecules do not displace the air and the dough does not settle.
The vegetable protein (gluten) of the flour is also embedded in the structure of the dough, but for the most part during the baking process, since the flour has almost no time for the gluten to infuse and swell: it is necessary to keep air bubbles in the dough. If you add other, heavier ingredients (raisins, poppy seeds, whole nuts) that do not contain binding elements to the biscuit dough, then they will settle on the bottom of the container, and the structure of the dough will become heterogeneous, and the quality of the finished semi-finished product will deteriorate.
Therefore, it is better to put experiments with adding ingredients to the Tale cake on cooking cream, impregnation, and leave the dough unchanged.
But this is not all about the biscuit portion of the cake. The original “Fairy Tale” cake resembles a log in shape, for which purpose the biscuit cake mix after impregnation and lubrication is minimized. This stage seems difficult for many beginning confectioners.
There is one secret that will help to roll a biscuit into a beautiful roll, without tears and cracks: the standard recipe for biscuit dough needs to be slightly changed to slightly increase the elasticity of the finished cake mix:
Replace some of the eggs with water;
Reduce the amount of sugar in the dough. Sugar contains a large amount of moisture, but after baking it evaporates, and the remaining solid crystals form a golden crust and quickly dries the finished product;
Add corn starch to flour, proportionally reducing its amount: starch absorbs water faster than flour, and holds it well. Accordingly, the biscuit will turn out to be more friable and wet;
Considering that the composition of the standard biscuit dough with the addition of moisture will change and become a little heavier; so add baking powder so that the baked biscuit has a more lush structure.
If you do not decide to change the composition of the dough, then bake the biscuit in a semi-cylindrical form, according to the main recipe, and after cooling, cut the semi-finished product into 3-4 layers of the same thickness, soak them in syrup and coat with cream.
For the Tale cake, two types of cream are used - white butter and Shallott. Of course, a brighter and more memorable taste has a custard with a chocolate flavor, which is smeared with biscuit cake mix. White cream, with a neutral taste, is used for the external design of the cake - it is applied to the surface under the biscuit crumbs and for decor, tinting also in pink, yellow and salad color.
Adding nuts, raisins, poppy seeds and other ingredients to the cake recipe, you definitely need to focus on chocolate "Charlotte", as a combination of tastes is the basis of cooking and confectionery. Nuts and raisins go well with the taste of chocolate, but as for poppy, here it’s worth considering: traditionally, in baking its combination with milk, honey, dates and other dried fruits is used; from spicy spices - cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg. Considering that poppy seeds are small and fairly light, they can be added to biscuit dough after processing.
1. Biscuit for the cake "Fairy Tale" - an original recipe (according to the textbook for confectioner-technologists, 1984)
Ingredients:
Flour 350 g
Eggs (D-1) 580 g (6 pcs.)
Sugar 345 g
Essence 4 mg
Yield: 1000g
Syrup for impregnation 100 g
Sponge cake 80 g
Fruit or candied fruit 30 g
The moisture content of the finished product: 25%
Routing:
Beat whites and yolks separately for dough. Add sugar to the yolks and continue whipping until it is completely dissolved. Add the essence to the yolks. Combine the yolk mass with proteins whipped to a stable foam, adding yolks one at a time and continuing whipping. Set the mixer aside and work on with a silicone spatula. Sift the flour into the egg mass gradually, while mixing the dough with a top-down motion. Immediately pour the dough on a pre-prepared baking sheet (cover it with parchment greased with oil) with a thin layer, and bake the biscuit in a preheated oven for 7-10 minutes.
Cool the finished product to the work surface. Remove from the baking sheet with parchment and flip the paper up. Carefully separate it from the biscuit and shift it to the bottom. Soak the biscuit.
2. Cream "Charlotte" for the cake "Fairy Tale" - the main recipe
For cream:
Milk, whole 250 ml
Egg 70 g (2 yolks)
Sugar 190 g
Vanilla powder 2 g
Cognac or dessert wine 2 ml
Butter 210 g
Yield: 500g
Routing:
The first way: grind the yolks with sugar, carefully beat the mass. Pour in a hot stream into hot milk (80-95? C), quickly stirring with a whisk. Cook the cream in a water bath, 10 minutes from the moment of boiling. Cool to 20? C, add cognac and vanilla powder. Then beat with butter until creamy.
The second method: mash yolks with a small portion of sugar (50-70 g) until white. Pour the rest of the sugar into milk and boil. Pour milk in a thin stream into the egg mixture, whisking the mass with a whisk. Strain if lumps form. Cook the resulting mass for a couple until thickened. Then proceed as described in the first method.
3. Cream the main cream for the cake "Fairy Tale" with nuts
Ingredients:
Icing sugar 90 g
Butter 265 g
Vanillin, crystalline 3 g
Condensed milk with sugar 100 g
Cognac 2 mg
Nut mass 50 g
Yield: 0.5 kg
Routing:
For cream, use any nuts to taste. They need to be fried (dried), peeled from the integument and crushed in a mortar or chopped very finely.
Beat butter with icing sugar until white. Do not stop whipping, add a little condensed milk. After add vanillin, cognac. At the end of whipping, pour crushed nuts into the cream and mix with a spatula.
If you want the nut flavor to be brighter, add one more part to the sponge crumb, which covers the side surface of the Tale cake with nuts.
4. Sponge cake for the Tale cake with raisins - the second way
Ingredients:
Flour 100 g
Raisins, light small ("Kishmish") 80 g
Sugar 90 g
Eggs (d-1) 240 g (4 pcs.)
Water, warm 30 ml
Essence 4 mg
Salt
Cooking Technology:
Beat the eggs, separating the whites from the yolks. Beat the chilled proteins in a larger container, without sugar. Add sugar and a small pinch of salt to the yolks, pour warm water at the end of whipping. Combine both egg masses by adding the yolks to the proteins in small parts, stirring the mass with a spatula. Add a little sifted flour. Put the dough on a sheet sent by oiled paper, and bake at 200? C for seven minutes.
Semi-finished biscuit cake after cooling, turn the paper up, remove it and soak in syrup.
Prepare raisins. Wash it, steam it with boiling water for 10-15 minutes, then drain the water and dry it on a napkin. Spread raisins evenly on a layer of cream prepared according to the main recipe, but without the addition of nuts (No. 3), applied to the biscuit cake mix. Roll the roll. Top the sides of the cake with Charlotte cream. Sprinkle the sides with biscuit crumbs, and put candied fruits on top, apply the pattern with white cream.
White cream cream for decoration, if desired, divide into 3 parts of 50 g, each of which is painted in green, red and yellow.
5. Semi-finished biscuit cake "Fairy Tale" with poppy seeds
Ingredients:
Pastry Poppy 50 g
Flour 100 g
Fine salt
Refined Sugar 40 g
Corn Starch 20 g
Icing sugar 80 g
Essence (honey + apple) 4 mg
Cinnamon 1.5 g
Eggs of the highest category 5 pcs.
Baking powder 5 g
Warm water 30 ml
Syrup for impregnation 100 g:
Liqueur, apricot 50 ml
Sugar 125 g
Water 100 ml
Cream "Charlotte"
Apricot jam
Butter cream
Cooking Technology:
Paste poppy seeds and sugar for biscuit dough with a blender into the pulp. Mix it with sifted flour, starch and fine salt. Beat the yolks with sugar, adding warm water and essences to them. Beat whites until stable and increase in volume by 5-6 times, then combine them alternately with the yolk and flour mixture. Further actions - in accordance with the technological map in the recipe number 1.
To make the syrup, boil the sugar with water over low heat until the volume decreases by 25%. Pour cognac, dessert wine or apricot liquor into the warm syrup. The biscuit with poppy seeds is ideal impregnation with Amaretto liquor.
After the impregnation, soak the biscuit for at least 3-4 hours, covered with a cotton cloth, and before applying white cream, grease with apricot jam. This combination will give the cake "Tale" with poppy seeds an unusual and bright taste. Chocolate cream "Charlotte", in this case, apply to the surface. For decoration, use a little white cream, with the addition of dyes, and candied fruit.
6. Tale cake with poppy seeds - an unusual recipe
For the test:
Condensed milk 250 g
Oil 90 g
Baking powder 15 g
Eggs 3 pcs.
Poppy, confectionery 70 g
Honey, liquid 120 g
Almond essence 5 mg
Flour 240 g
Cream:
Boiled condensed milk 250 g
Vanilla Sugar 6 g
Oil 210 g
Syrup:
Honey 100 g
Milk 70 ml
Cognac 50 ml
For surface and decor:
Cream "Charlotte" 330 g
Candied fruits 50 g
100 g sponge cake
Cooking Technology:
Beat honey with eggs, add water. Beat milk and butter separately. Combine both masses, and, continuing to beat, gradually pour the mixture from poppy, baking powder and sifted flour. Add flavors to the batter, pour onto a greased leaf and bake over medium heat.
In warm boiled milk, add honey, cognac and, having moved, soak the cooled biscuit cake mix with the prepared syrup.
To prepare the main cream, beat the butter with the addition of white vanilla, gradually adding boiled condensed milk. Lubricate the sponge cake soaked in milk-honey syrup and roll it into a roll.
To make a cake, prepare the Charlotte cream according to the recipe number 3. First, grease it all outside with chocolate custard with nuts, and then sprinkle the sides with crumbs. Top with charlotte cream and candied fruit to taste.
Tale Cake - Useful Cooking Tips
To make the biscuit semi-finished product easily rolled up, without tears and breaks, add a little less sugar to the dough. The biscuit will be baked a little longer, but it will retain plasticity. Sweet dough during baking fries harder, and the finished product dries faster. No need to worry that the cake will turn out unsweetened: it also contains impregnation and cream, which also contain sugar.
Please note that in cream cream intended for decorating confectionery products, only special food powder paints of industrial production are added: beetroot, carrot and spinach juices are not suitable for this purpose - they mix poorly with milk fat and the cream will blur.
The Tale cake is often decorated with mushrooms, making the legs of white cream, and the hats of biscuit dough. How to cook mushroom caps? When pouring the dough on a sheet, leave a couple of spoons of dough. Put it in a confectionery syringe, and with a smooth nozzle, without cloves, drop small drops of dough on paper, in a separate form. Brown in the oven. Preparations for decoration can be baked in a regular preheated pan, previously greased with fat. Remember that the dough will increase in volume after baking, so the droplets should be as much smaller that the mushroom caps are neat, of the right size.
