cosmic dome cake
This Filbert Gateau with praline buttercream, filbert (or hazelnut) genoise and ganache glaze was perhaps the most frustrating Daring Baker’s Challenge for me yet, which really shouldn’t have been since it IS cake, and I should be fortunate I was in my element. I want to attribute it up to the heat and the fact that this wasn’t the most seasonally appropriate cake to make, but I just wasn’t as inspired with this month’s challenge.
I thought I’d experiment with this cake by trying a dome shape. I received a Betty Crocker bake and fill kit a few years ago, which included a dome baking pan. I didn’t actually bake the cake in the pan (the depth of the center would mean increased baking time = dry cake). Instead, I baked the cake as a sheet and cut out circles of various sizes to fill the cake.
The praline wasn’t sufficiently incorporated into buttercream, hence the chunks. It still tasted delicious but I knew that piping anything decorative on the surface of the cake would be nightmare. I decided to try it but as expected, the constantly clogging tip just wasn’t working. (While I think I’ve done a decent job covering up the blemishes between touching up the cake and avoiding photographing at certain angles, I can technically still say that the buttercream is part of the decoration, as that was a requirement in this challenge.) Anyway, after some deliberation I decided I would decorate with chocolate modeling paste.
I rolled out the modeling paste onto a thin sheet and cut circles out of it, and painted the circles with edible gold dust.
Cutting out and arranging the circles proved meditative and helped quel an otherwise frustrating experience. In the end, I was pleased with the mod/abstract aesthetics of the cake. But right up until the end, even cutting the cake proved challenging. The firmer chocolate circles pressed into the soft sides of cake from the pressure of the knife, so I had to freeze the cake to firm it up and wait another day to actually cut into the cake.
Another challenge down and boy am I glad this one is over. To see what other Daring Bakers have concocted this month, click here.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I cannot see where you messed up. The cake is absolutely gorgeous!!! It looks too good.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
What a nice visual twist.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:26 am
It looks incredible!!
July 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Thanks for the nice comments!
PC - I scraped off the buttercream decoration and poured some ganache over it. Just a tiny portion was affected.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:25 am
This is simply amazing. You did a fantastic job!
July 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
i absolutely love your cake! It’s so unique! You definitely thought outside the box!
July 30th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
*speechless with admiration*
July 30th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Holy SMOKE ! That one screams ‘fancy pastry shop’! GREAT!!!
July 30th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’ll echo Leslie - HOLY SMOKES! That is one awesome cake! I bailed on this one, in large part because of the heat. I made the buttercream and came close to a meltdown after I discovered that my cream had spoiled. So, I took a deep breath and decided that my sanity was more important this month!
July 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
wow this is so beautiful!!! well done you!!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
That almost looks like a Chinese lantern! So pretty, and beautifully decorated. I’m impressed!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I am awe! Your cake looks amazing!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
This looks absolutely amazing!
July 30th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
That is one stunning cake! Beautiful!!!!
July 30th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I too was frustrated by the un-seasonality (is that even a word?) of this month’s challenge. However, no matter what time of year it is, your cake looks amazing!
July 30th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Stunning and elegant; what an impressive imagining of the challenge! The way you have finished the cake is gorgeous - the decoration would even be suitable for a modern wedding cake!
July 30th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Your domed cake is genius! I’ve wanted to try one for some time now but I’m quite ready yet.
Beautiful and so unique!!
July 30th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Most unique cake of the challenge! Beautiful too.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
What a cool version of the gateau! It looks out of this world! Really!
July 30th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Thats a very pretty and imaginative cake.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I beat my head over how to decorate this cake creatively.
Looks like you nailed it!
Beautifully.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:19 am
What a lovely interpretation, so unique and fun!
July 31st, 2008 at 9:32 am
Holy cow, this is my favorite variation so far! It looks incredible!
July 31st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
this. is. a. STUNNING. Cake. !! I love it!
July 31st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
That looks gorgeous !
July 31st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
LOVE what you did with you cake!!! Very Original!!!
July 31st, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I love your take on this cake! Very unique and I heart those rings that you decorated the cake with!
July 31st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
man, even though it was a struggle, the cake looks unbelievable.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:20 pm
This is one gorgeous cake!
July 31st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
WOW not only a beautiful cake but very luxuruious too. I love the golden rings and circles a very special touch.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Technical difficulties aside, it looks absolutely gorgeous! If it weren’t cake, I’d want to hang it on my wall!
July 31st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I saw your photo and thought “OOOooo!!! What is THAT???” What a striking beauty of a cake!!!
August 1st, 2008 at 1:17 am
What a fun rendition… Very pretty and so playful.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:02 am
This looks really striking!!
August 1st, 2008 at 6:58 am
This is a gorgeous cake! GORGEOUS! I love the way you did it, from a sheet pan! The decoration is really elegant!
August 1st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Wow!! Your dome cake looks amazing!!
August 1st, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Simply Gawdjus!!!!! I thought about making a charlotte, too. But…first time around, wanted to see where it would go. I love your style, kiddo!
August 4th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Absolutely gorgeous!! I love that you made the cake a dome shape.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Wow! Your cake is gorgeous! I love that you made it so unique!!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Very ambitious, but you really pulled it off. This is a stunning cake and I would be sweating too when the time came to cut it, but you did a great job.
-a fan of all things cake.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
You did a lovely job on this one. I like the dome, and it has kind of a Christmasy look to it too
. I’m also quite glad it’s over, mostly because mine didn’t come out this lovely 
.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
holy smokes.. that looks divine! i love the edible gold.. makes it look sooo cosmo.. haha.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Wow! What an amazing cake. I am sure it tastes as good as it looks
September 7th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Can you believe I am just catching up with everybody?!! Well, I am and let me tell you this took my breath away it is so gorgeous! Awesome!