Figs N Roses Cake

Hrushi weds Rupa.

That is the headline story of this week on this blog. Technically I was not allotted much of the wedding planning work yet as it should be foodies get to take care of the F&B by default.

This was a small wedding compared to the weddings of my 3 cousin sisters, both my cousin bros opted for small weddings. We had a Halad or the ceremony of pampering the groom on the previous night of the wedding followed by a party at home. The wedding day began with the NahaNe or the bathing ceremony then the MangalAshtake and the Saptapadi at the temple hall followed by a lunch in celebration of the union of the two souls. The wedding food was catered by a Marwadi Maharaj. It was the regular popular fare of Suki batata bhaaji, Puri, Mutter paneer, Mix vegetables in a creamy gravy, salad, papad, pickle, Dal tadka, rice, gajar ka halwa and Kulfi slices. Everything was a crowd pleaser on taste. The guest list consisted of just 60-70 people who are close to the family.

For the party at home I made Undhiyu, Chili paneer, and two cakes plus a regular dinner followed. One cake was a chocolate cake similar to Hrushi's BD cake for the kids. The Chili paneer is something the kids loved so much that they ate leftovers the next day too choosing it over even the cake.

The Figs N Roses were the flavors of choice, Figs representing the sacredness and prosperity of the relationship and Roses for the love uniting the couple.

This cake served almost 30 people quite generously. My uncle MJ loved the subtle rose scent in the cake and the cream. Most of the family described it as a moist rich and delicate taste. I started work on this cake 3 days in advance. First baked the sponge, second made the mascarpone and third day that is on the morning of the Halad, I assembled it and let it chill in the fridge till it was brought out to be cut by the couple.

For the sponge I used Sanjeev Kapoor's eggless recipe doubling the quantity for my needs and the major change of using rose syrup instead of vanilla essence besides some adjustments in sugar.

To recreate it later noting the recipe.

For the sponge

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon soda bicarbonate

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar (I used Demerera)

100 gms Amul butter (regular salted)

1 tin Amul mithai mate

2 cups Milk

3 teaspoons Kalvert's rose syrup

Baking Dish size : 2400 ml round, glass dish, 275 L X 275 B X 70 H mm

Lets begin by baking the rose scented sponge.

Grease the glass baking dish with butter and dust it with flour. Keep aside the prepared dish.

Fluff up the all purpose flour along with the sodium bicarbonate and baking powder. 

Whisk together the sugar and butter till frothy. Drain the tin of Amul mithai mate into it and mix well.

Tip: In the tin measure out the milk and mix with the spoon to get the max of condensed milk from the tin that's sticking to the walls.

Mix everything together. In the end add the rose syrup and mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared glass dish.

Since we are using a glass dish baking temp has to be reduced by 20 degrees to get the same finish as you would with a baking tin and this quantity is double than the original so bake it longer. I required about 40 mins of baking at 160 deg in Convection mode and 180 deg at the end for 10 mins more.

Let the cake cool completely before frosting. Since I made it before hand I cooled it to room temperature and then put it in the fridge to chill.

For the Filling and Frosting

3.5 cups Homemade Mascarpone cheese 

(made from1 litre Amul fresh cream)

3 teaspoons Kalvert's rose syrup

1 cup icing sugar

5 large Fresh figs

handful of roasted pistachios sliced rough

Chill a splash proof bowl in the freezer. Measure out the mascarpone cheese. Tip in little icing sugar at a time, add the rose syrup and whisk together till all the icing sugar is used up and you get stiff peaks.

Now remove the cake onto a plate and slice it horizontally into two sheets. 

Place one sheet on to a decorative plate or board that can hold this large cake.

Frost the top cut side with 1 cup of the creamed cheese. Cut up 2 figs and distribute them on the cream layer. Place the second sheet of cake. Frost it with the remaining 2.5 cups of rose mascarpone cheese cream. 

Finally decorate with remaining figs. For the center piece cut up the fig upto 3/4th and then keep it in the center and spread it to bloom it like a flower. Cut up a fig into half and slice up and decorate the outer ring of the cake.

Sprinkle the rough chopped pistachios on top of the figs. 

For the glaze (optional)

2 tablespoons honey 

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Mix together the honey and balsamic vinegar. Using a spoon drizzle over the figs.

Let the cake chill completely atleast for 12hrs before serving.

Notes: 

1. This cake is quite moist

2. Very sweet obviously for Indian tastes. If I am making this for my family I would skip the 1/4 cup sugar altogether.

3. Since I baked this in a glass dish I got a really golden cake. Baking it in a tin would fetch me lighter shade.
4. This cake uses condensed milk, I used Amul's which in thinner than Nestle's Milkmaid.
5. Next time I would reduce the milk by half a cup and the batter is just slightly thinner than foldable cake batter.

Verdict :  

We really enjoyed this cake and though the decoration is simple the taste is sublime as you bite into it. You first taste the rose mascarpone cream and the fresh bite into the slice of fig and finally the deliciously soft milky cake. Delicate fresh flavors is the character of this cake.

Sharing here the cutest click of the wedding.