Captain Ahab and Bird's Milk Torte #CakeSliceBakers

About 8 years ago, I spent a summer in Moscow as an exchange student. I was captivated by the mournful beauty of Russian culture. When I returned to the US and went to grad school, I met a sweet Russian-American friend who gave me a piece of her favorite candy—Bird’s Milk—even though she only had a small, imported box and it was like gold to her.

When I saw the recipe for Bird’s Milk Torte as a selection for January 2019's Cake Slice Baker’s challenge from The European Cake Cookbook, I knew I had to try it!

“Bird’s Milk” is kind of an unfortunate translation of a Russian idiom meaning a super rare delicacy, similar to the expression “scarce as hen’s teeth.” It doesn’t quite translate into a tasty sounding dessert (though it is). Obviously, birds don’t make milk (yech!), but it still sounds kind of gross.  I am a very adventurous eater, and will try almost anything once—but I don’t do no brains or weird animal milk. I digress...

Bird’s Milk Torte involves no weird animal milk—it’s a sponge cake enveloped in a marshmallow-like souffle and coated with a chocolate glaze.

While brainstorming about this blog entry, I thought I might title it “From Russia with Love.” However, after several attempts at the eponymous souffle, I wasn’t feeling a lot of love—it was more the war part of War and Peace. The recipe calls for agar gelatin, which I have never worked with. The recipe tells you to dissolve the agar in water and boil for a few minutes before adding 2 cups of sugar. My first batch of syrup crystallized, resulting in grainy meringue. My second batch was smooth, but more of a soupy (delicious) marshmallow sauce that did not set up in the fridge.

A huge mess. Still tasty, though. My husband and I ate it out of the pan.  We classy like that.




One of my favorite Bible verses says “...we are not of those who shrink back...” I was determined to conquer my marshmallow-y white whale. I would not be overcome. Bird's Milk Torte, you will not beat me! I will go Captain Ahab on your squishy self!

A dozen eggs, 5 lbs of sugar, and 2 sponges later and I think I figured it out! See the end of the recipe for some helpful tips.

Priviet, krasavitsa!

The decorations were inspired by this lovely little sugar bowl I bought in Moscow.  It is a traditional handcraft called "khokhloma." I'm not quite Esme Squalor from Series of Unfortunate Events, but I do really like this sugar bowl.

I brushed copper luster dust on some strawberries and their leaves, poured some dust in a bowl and rolled blueberries and blackberries in it.  I also added a drop of tan and olive food color to some white chocolate thinned with a little cooking oil to make the piped detail.

I was very pleased with how it turned out!  I think it is striking and elegant.  It is, as you might expect of a cake made of marshmallow, intensely sweet--so cut the pieces small. And savor it :)

Your cake dividing skills need some help, bruh...not quite even layers.  But still yummy.

Bird's Milk Torte

(slightly adapted from The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk)

Sponge Cake:

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Apricot Cake-Soak:

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1/4 cup sweet wine or white grape juice plus a splash of vinegar

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put a parchment round in the bottom of a 6" round cake pan.  Do not grease the sides.  Wrap the base and sides of an 8" spring form pan separately with plastic wrap and assemble.

2. Using a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and sugar on high speed until they are very fluffy and pale yellow--4 to 6 minutes.  Sift together the flour and baking powder, and carefully fold into the wet mixture.

3.  Gently pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake 18-25 minutes.  When baked, immediately run a knife around the edge and turn onto a wire rack while hot.  When cool, slice in half and spread each layer with the apricot mixture. Place one round in the center of the prepared spring form pan.

Vanilla Meringue

1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon agar**

1/2 cup water

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon lemon juice

4. Cream together the butter and sweetened condensed milk.  Set aside.

5. Combine agar and water.  If using flakes, allow to soften for 20 minutes.  Cook over medium heat for until mixture begins to simmer--about 2 minutes.  Add the sugar in batches, being careful not to get lots of granules on the side of the pan, and wash down the sides with a wet pastry brush.  Boil until the mixture is over 180 F on a candy thermometer.

6. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.  When the syrup is at the correct heat, pour it into the beating eggs in a thin and steady stream.  Add the vanilla and lemon, and whisk until the meringue is glossy, fluffy and thick--at least 4 minutes.  When the bowl is no longer hot the touch, add the butter mixture and beat an additional 2--3 minutes.

7.  Assemble the cake: quickly spread half of the meringue on top of the cake round in the spring form pan.  Place the second round on top, then cover with the remaining meringue.  Level the top with an offset spatula.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Glaze:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup dark chocolate chips

8.  Heat the cream in the microwave until it is hot like lava.  Pour over the chocolate chips and allow to sit for a few minutes.  Stir until combined.

9.  Remove the sides from the spring form pan.  Place the cake on a wire rack, and evenly pour the glaze over the top.  Use an offset spatula to spread it over the sides.  Place on a cake stand and garnish with fresh berries.

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**Tips:

--The author of the cookbook has a YouTube channel, and many of the recipes from the book are featured in videos.  It is helpful to see how she makes the cake, as some of the written directions can be a bit vague.

--Agar comes in various forms: powder, flakes, and threads.  I live in the desert Southwest of the US, and the only kind of agar I could find were flakes.  The recipe calls for a tablespoon of agar gelatin, which is roughly equivalent to 2.5 tablespoons of flakes.  I had only used 1 tbs of flakes, and think that's part of what went wrong with my second, soupy meringue.

--Each time I made it, the cake overflowed from the 6" pan--not sure why.  I whittled it down to free the edges and it worked fine.  When baking the sponge, do not grease the sides of the pan.  It will collapse.  Instead, line the bottom with parchment, and after it is baked, run a knife around the side and turn it onto a cooling rack while still very hot.  If you wait, chunks will tear off the side.  Trust me.

--As I mentioned, this cake is very sweet. The recipe calls for wine in the filling, but I wanted to be able to serve it to my kids.  I thought about using white grape juice, but found this non-alcoholic rosé grape juice at Walmart among the large selection of rotgut wine in preparation for Valentine's Day in a college town.  It was tart and worked great.  And it was $2.00.  If you decide to use juice, add some vinegar or lemon to cut the sweetness--this cake really needs that.

--Also, the recipe in the cookbook calls for 1 cup preserves and 1/2 cup wine.  This made way more than I needed.  I adjusted the recipe to use half.





--In lining the spring form pan with cling wrap, wrap the base and sides separately.  This cake is very soft (it's made of marshmallow for crying out loud), and I found it nearly impossible to move it without the base.


--While making the meringue, be very careful while adding the sugar, and wash down the sides of the pan with a brush and water to prevent crystallization.  Nobody wants a grainy marshmallow.


Enjoy!!

About the Cake Slice Bakers:

We're a group of bakers that bake through a cake-centric cookbook each year.  Every month, we choose from a selection of four of the book's recipes.  Follow the Cake Slice Bakers on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for baking inspiration and pictures of past bakes.  You can also check out the CSB blog where links are updated monthly.  If you're a blogger and want to join us in baking, send an email to thecakeslicebakers@gmail.com.  If you are a baker but not a blogger and want in on this baking action, there is a new Facebook Group: The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends.  Check out the thumbnails below to go to see what other members made!

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