The Prophet & His Bride Anniversary Cake
Here is an anniversary cake in honor of Aleister and Rose’s wedding, celebrated every year on August 12th. It is a three-layered cake with graduating levels, liberally sprinkled with flower syrups, fresh fruit, flavored whipped creams, topped with candied flowers and a bride and groom topper.
Cake Ingredients:
24 large fresh egg whites, beaten
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups white whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla
Filling Ingredients:
4 cups whipping cream
3 cups blackberries
3 cups sliced peaches
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup black elderberry syrup
1 cup rose water
1 cup orange flower
Flower Ingredients:
12 fresh violet flowers
12 fresh baby rose flowers
1 egg white, beaten
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
Prepare the candied flowers two days before so they have plenty of time to dry. Pick the violets, and baby roses with stems 2″ to 3″ long. Make sure they are clean with no bugs or dead buds on them. Use tweezers to handle them. Dry for 1 day on a paper towel.
Whisk the 1 egg white in a small bowl. Using a small watercolor brush. Apply a thin coating of egg white to all surfaces of each flower making sure to brush in-between and around the individual calyxes. Gently tap a spoonful of sugar all around the flower head while turning the stems. Repeat with more sugar to make sure all the surfaces are coated. With several clothespins hang each sugared flower from the stem on a clothes hanger to allow the egg whites and sugar to thoroughly dry. When fully dried, cut off the stems and decorate the top of the cake with just the flowers.
To make the angel food cake begin by pulling out the eggs an hour ahead to be brought to room temperature. Separate the eggs putting the yolks in the refrigerator to chill and beat the egg whites together in a high-sided bowl. Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until they form soft peaks. Cream of tartar helps to stabilize the egg whites by increasing their heat tolerance and volume and prevents crystallization. Add the sugar and the vanilla gradually to the egg whites and continue beating. Gently fold in the sifted flour, sugar and salt mixture with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter evenly into three consecutive round baking pans of 6″, 9″, and 12″ rounds that have been buttered, have a base of parchment, and are flour dusted on the pan sides.
Bake the two larger pans in a 350°F. (180ºC.) oven for 35 to 40 minutes, but only 20 to 25 minutes for the smallest round, or to when the tops are golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Set the pans on racks to cool for 1 hour.
While the cakes are baking make the syrups. The elderberry syrup will most likely be available by bottle ready to be used, so only the rose and orange syrups need to be made. Place two small saucepans on the stove. Place the bottle of orange water in one and the bottle of rose water in the other. Add one cup of sugar to each, turn on medium-high, and whisk until they reduce and thicken. Use a separate whisk for each one so the flavors don’t get muddled. Set aside and cool completely before using.
To remove the largest cake from its pan, run the edge of a knife between the side of the cake and the pan. Place a lightweight but sturdy cutting board on top of the cake. Hold both securely and invert onto the cutting board. Do the same the other cakes, remove their parchments and cool completely before frosting. When completely cooled, center the platter over the cake and invert again. Use a pastry brush to move away extra crumbs from the cakes.
The entire cake will be prepared with three different cake layers with different creams and fruits. Whip the 4 cups of cream until stiff, which will turn into 8 cups of whipped cream. Divide the whipped cream into three bowls: a large bowl with 3 cups, another with 2 cups and the third with 1 cup. The first bowl will be flavored with 1 tablespoon of black elderberry syrup. The bowl with 2 cups of whipped cream will be flavored with 2 teaspoon of rose flower syrup, and the third bowl will be flavored with 1 teaspoon of orange flower syrup. Have the peaches already cut and blackberries in bowls ready to assemble.
Begin by sprinkling the top of the largest cake with the blackberry syrup. Coat the top and sides of this cake layer with a layer of the elderberry flavored whipped cream mixture. It will be a shade of lavender. Stand the blackberries up in the cream all around the edge on top of the bottom layer of cake first and fill in the middle. Place the middle-size cake on top of the blackberries, carefully centering it. Sprinkle that cake with the rose syrup. Spread the rose flavored whipped cream on the top and sides of this cake. Be careful not to drop the topping on the exposed blackberries. Carefully lay the sliced peaces across the rose cream. Place the third and smallest cake on top, centering it. Sprinkle the orange syrup on the cake and cover the top and sides with the orange whipped cream, careful not to drop the topping on the peaches below. On the very top, place a bride and groom topper, and decorate the cake with the candied violets and roses.
Correspondences:
For a wedding, nothing less than a wedding cake will do. In honor of Crowley’s Holy Guardian Angel, we use angel food cake layers as a cloud light vehicle for a fruit and cream dream of a cake; with rose cream in honor of Rose. Egg whites and whipped cream are of water. The candied violets, cream of tartar and white whole-wheat flour are air of earth. Candied rose flowers and granulated and powdered sugars, are of air; and blackberries, elderberry syrup, peaches, rose water, and vanilla extract are water of air, while the orange flower is water of fire.
