Mini Joconde Sponge Cakes
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 24 mini cakes
- Total: 1 hr 30 min (includes cooling time)
- Active: 1 hr
Ingredients
Cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cake flour
Pinch kosher salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
5 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Buttercream:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more if needed
3 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed
Pinch kosher salt
1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Few drops pink gel food color
Few drops blue gel food color
Decorating:
1 cup your favorite jam
Purple candy melting wafers, melted and placed in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip
Sprinkles and/or sugar flowers
Directions
Special equipment:
a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, 2 more piping bags each fitted with a star tip, a 1 1/2-inch round cutter- For the cake: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray 2 half sheet trays (each 18 by 13 inches) with cooking spray and line each with parchment paper then spray the parchment generously.
- Sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar, cake flour and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the whole eggs until smooth and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Sprinkle in the granulated sugar and whip on high speed until the mixture reaches soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gently fold in half of the egg whites into the flour mixture until combined, then fold that mixture into the remaining egg whites and fold until fully incorporated. Fold in the melted butter.
- Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared sheet trays and spread evenly--it will not reach all four sides of a pan and that's okay. Bake, rotating 180 degrees halfway through baking, until the edges of the cakes are lightly golden and the surface springs back when touched, about 8 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the sheet trays to room temperature.
- For the buttercream: Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer, start whipping together the butter, powdered sugar and salt. Mix in a little bit of the milk at a time so the mixture is not too dry. Add the vanilla. Turn up the mixer speed and whip until the buttercream is smooth. If the buttercream is too wet, mix in a bit more powdered sugar; if it's too stiff, mix in a bit more butter. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure everything is combined.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Re-whip if the buttercream is cold.
- Divide the buttercream equally between 2 small bowls. Add the pink gel color to one of the bowls and whisk well to combine. Add the blue gel color to the other bowl and whisk well to combine. Transfer each buttercream to its own piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- For assembly and decorating: Working with 1 cake at a time, gently turn out onto a cutting board and remove the parchment. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cutter, cut each cake into 36 rounds. Pipe the pink buttercream around the edges of 8 cake rounds. Pipe the blue buttercream around the edges of another 8 cake rounds. Place 1 teaspoon of the jam in the middle of each frosted cake round. To stack the cakes, place any frosted cake round on top of another frosted cake round then top with a plain cake round. Repeat to create a total of twenty-four 3-layer mini cakes. Drizzle the melted candy melting wafers over the cakes, pipe a buttercream rosette on top of each and decorate with sprinkles and/or sugar flowers.