It’s happening. We found out we are having a baby! And to celebrate I thought I would kick things off by making a food every week that is the same size as the baby. 3 weeks is the first time we can see the baby with the naked eye and it is the size of a vanilla bean seed.
How else to embrace the delicious floral nature of the vanilla bean than with a vanilla butter cake topped with a vanilla chantilly cream? This is one of my “dinner party cakes”.
I love how fast and simple this is and yet makes such a stunning impression on guests. Vanilla is such a classic flavor.
Makes one 8 inch layer cake
For the cake;
1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for dusting the pan
3 eggs warmed slightly (see step 2)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste ot the seeds of 1 vanilla bean pod
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
14 (yes, the gods have spoken) TABLESPOONS of butter, melted and cooled
For the Chantilly Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or the seeds of one vanilla bean pod
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides and the base of the pan with butter or spray , and dust it with granulated sugar. Set aside.
If your eggs are cold, place them in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. Having your eggs warmed will help with the next step of beating lots of air into them.
In a stand mixer (or large bowl with hand-held electric mixer), beat the eggs with the sugar for 4 to 5 minutes. Don’t skimp on this step! The mixture should be pale and almost doubled in size. When you lift up your beater, the mixture should fall in thick ribbons.
Add the vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract, and salt and mix gently.
Sift the flour over the egg mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the batter until no streaks remain. You want to be careful not to deflate all that air you just spent time beating into the eggs and sugar.
Add the melted butter to the batter and fold gently but thoroughly using a spatula until the batter is well-mixed.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The cake should start to pull away from the sides. It will puff up considerably in the oven, but will deflate a bit once you take it out, which is fine.
Run a knife around the edges of the pan and let the cake cool for 5 minutes. Turn it out into a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the Chantilly cream, beat the cream with the vanilla bean paste and sugar until stiff peaks form. Serve the cake sliced and topped with the cream.
I serve it with coffee or after dinner cordials. You can also add fresh fruit or macerated fruit of your choosing to this dish. Shaved chocolate on top wouldn’t be illegal, either. Enjoy!