Happy Mothers Day!

My momma she loves me, loves me like a rock

And to thank her for all that love, this year I’m made her a maple cake. We talked about maple cake a few weeks ago. Apparently in the 80’s my mom had a piece of maple cake that she thinks about to this day. I have no idea what went into that cake, but I can make something that is full of maple goodness. This is  a joconde soaked in maple liqueur with maple butter cream. Janice made this cake for a birthday for a few weeks ago and got rave reviews. The joconde recipe came from Joe Pastry, and the butter cream is a Martha Stewart recipe. Soaking in the liqueur was Janice’s idea.

Joconde

• 6 room temperature egg whites
• 2 tbsps granulated sugar
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 5 tbsp all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease 2 9 inch pans and line with parchment paper.
2. Whip egg whites to soft peaks. Add granulated sugar and continue whipping till stiff peaks.
3. In another bowl, add whole eggs, almond meal and confectioners sugar. Beat until light and foamy.
4. Add flour, beat just until incorporated.
5. Fold egg whites into the egg and flour mixture.
6. Fold butter into batter.
7. Pour into pans, being sure to separate evenly.
8. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until the center of the cakes spring back when touched. Let cool for a few minutes in the pans then turn out on to wire rack to cook completely.

Maple Liqueur Syrup

• 1/3 cup Maple Liqueur, like Gelinotte by Intermiel
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. Bring sugar and water to boil in a saucepan.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes
3. Add maple liqueur
4. Brush over cooled cake layers.

Maple Buttercream

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups maple syrup
• 1 1/3 cup unsalted butter

Directions

1. Using a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk yolks until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
2. At the same time, in a large saucepan, heat maple syrup till it reaches 240 degress. Keep a close eye on the syrup as it will bubble up quite a but while heating.
3. With the mixer running, slowly pour syrup down the side of the bowl. Be careful not to splash the hot syrup.
4. Mix until bowl is just slightly warm.
5. Add butter in pieces, making sure each piece is thouroughly combined before adding the next.
6. Ice cake.

The buttercream is ridiculously good. I had to stop myself from sitting down with the bowl and eating the leftovers with a spoon while watching the hockey game.

Enjoy!

PS: I know the song is about a boy and his mom, I just think it still applies.

PPS: Please don’t laugh at my piping skills, I’m working on it!