Baking With Julia; #301; Martha Stewart

Who knows what? Hello, I'm Julia Child. Welcome to my house. What fun we're going to have baking and all kinds of incredible cakes, pies and breads,

right here in my own kitchen. Martha Stewart started out as a caterer. She did many weddings and has written a popular book on weddings. Martha joins me today to bake this grand and glorious three-tiered wedding cake. Learn how on baking with Julia. Funding for this program has been provided by Starbucks Coffee. This program is also brought to you by Farberware, Manufacturers of Millennium Cookware. New and improved from the name you trust. Farberware, Farberware Millennium. Re-engineered for today's cook. At this program is also funded by Lando Lakes,

makers of a butter people have baked with since 1921. And King Arthur Flower, offering tools ingredients and flour for all your baking needs. By the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you. This beautiful wedding cake, look at it, this is a yellow buttercream and these are marzipan cherries and they're all edible, even the stems of the cherries. And little golden raspberries? And little golden, they're just beautiful. This is Martha Stewart's almond wedding cake and tell us what's inside. I can show you. This is one layer cut in half of the dense almond cake. In between really flavorful apricot jam filling and on top of the apricot jam is a jack was made out of almonds. And you know when I first learned about that clause?

In 1961 when I got your mestering the art of French cake. And that's the most delicious crunchy layer that really has another dimension. It's only beautiful to look at as marvelous eating. At eminently edible I call it. And all of the parts that can be made ahead and stored. Indeed and I'd like to show you how to make this orange. Let's make it right away because it's a little peculiar. First you need nine and a half ounces of almond paste. And I get the almond paste from the grocery store. There's a block of almond paste that you can buy in most supermarkets. Let's start it out. And so I just throw this in here. Break it up. Almond paste is really ground up almonds, egg white and sugar. And now you need one full cup of sugar granular sugar. And 18 tablespoons of butter or two sticks plus two tablespoons of unsalted butter. And now just process until the mixture is smooth. Try to have all the ingredients at the same temperature.

Room temperature when you start. Oh yes. I like this cake because it gets better as it ages. That's one of those cakes that just taste better and better. Scrape it down one more time. And I'll just do it once more. There. This is nice and let's look at that consistency. You can see it still has a little graininess which you'd like because of the sugar. No. But it is smooth. It hasn't gotten oily or anything. No. Not at all. Once for this into your bowl of the electric mixer, it's good to have a heavy duty mixture Julia. I'm almost up two bowls, I think. At least. Okay. Let's scrape it all down. Waste anything. This is too valuable and you don't want to disturb the measurements if you don't put everything in.

Okay. Now you have to add to this six eggs. Would you like to break the eggs? No. Okay. So it's six eggs. Whole eggs. Great eggs. Large eggs. I think it's wise always to use the same size of egg, don't you? Oh, yes. Always. I grew my own egg so there's all the size. So I have to sort of compensate every now and then. Okay. Do they taste better home grown, do you think? Definitely. Next time. Bring some. I should have. I should have. And so just mix that up until it's smooth. While it's doing that, sift one cup of cake flour. Now I put in slightly less than a cup just because I know after you sift it, as soon as a little bit more volume. But I like sifting like this. I think I learned that from you too. And now just take a look at it. I always like to look at the mixture to make sure that it is scraped off.

This looks very smooth. Looks perfect. So you can see that lovely mixture. Yes. It's beautiful. You have a nice color. And now just gradually put your flour and sprinkle it a little bit at a time on top of the batter and fold it in. Now some chefs use their hands to do the folding, but that's all it has. Well then when the telephone rings, who's going to answer the phone, right? You're going to need to make this recipe six times for the wedding cake. A little bit more. But you see how quickly it goes. It's a very easy cake. There are no egg whites to be. You know, it's just a very simple, simple dense almond cake. We call it dense. I think that's a good way cake.

You often like it to be dense because it cuts very beautifully. You'll see how this slices and there. It's perfectly incorporated. So I prepared the small diamond and it is buttered and floured all around the perimeter and the bottom. And then I've cut a piece of parchment paper and inserted it right in the bottom. Right in the bottom. You don't want it sticking. You can always loosen the edges, but loosening the bottom is the difficulty. It looks lovely, I must say. Yes. It is great cake. It's nice having it nice and deep. Well it cooks a long time. One and a half to two hours in a 300 to 325 degree oven. You have to watch it closely. You don't want to burn it. You don't want to make it dark. Notice that that layer there is a beautiful golden layer. It's just bright. Out being burned at all. That burning it will not do. And then so we'll just smooth this out. I like to shake it a little bit. Okay. So here we have our first layer ready for the oven. You better make it six times.

More. I'll put this piece ready. And always in the middle of your oven. Preheated. Right. Heavens to Betsy were out there with this looks like an artist palette. You can fix your fingernails or something. It looks like it doesn't all these odd tools. These are the tools of the marzipan makers trade. And you'll see how we improvise. It's a very interesting way to make a delectable and beautiful confection. You're going to make these. Golden raspberries. And these beautiful white, clean and cherries and beliefs. We try to use the best almond paste the same as we use in the cake. One pound almond paste. One pound almond paste. One pound of confectioners sugar that has been sifted. We don't want any lumps. No lumps. And just add this to the bowl. You want a very, very fine light mixture to form the fruits.

And the flowers and the leaves. Whatever you're making out of marzipan. And you add one third of a cup of caros syrup. You can use egg whites. But we want these to last a long time. And we don't want to deal with the egg white problem that we hear about. So we're going to use caros syrup. And I've already pre-measured one third of a cup. Caros, that's clear, carrot syrup. What in the world is that made out of corn? Go corn syrup. Of course I forgot that. When it stops, take it out. And it's got a source. It's a very stem. So what we do is turn this out right on our board and knead it a little bit by hand just to bring it all together. We don't want to heat it a little. No, no, no, no.

Not at all. Work in a cool room. Not hot if it gets too hot it will get oily. Because of all that oil in the almond. But look, it's beautiful. And form this into a flat rectangle. You don't want to waste any of it. And wrap it in plastic wrap. What you really want it to do is sit in the refrigerator, chill it for a couple hours. Even overnight is good. So you want to get this cooled off. And it will mill together nicely. And then refrigerate it. Tight, make sure it's airtight. And I always put it on a cookie sheet or something in the refrigerator. There, chill it, let it rest. We have a piece already prepared here. So this is the same dough that we just made. Nice and cold. Well, it's not too cold. You don't want it really, really cold. It's cool. But if it gets too cold, you won't be able to form it. It'll crumble.

Now, I'd like you to try too. We'll take a little bit. Okay, well, here's enough for a cherry. And you have to really work it with your fingers. You want it smooth as can be. And roll it into a ball. Make sure there's no air spaces left in that ball. Look, perfect. Come on first. Say that this is getting a little uneven. Yeah, that's okay. Because we're going to now. I want to show you what indeed is awful out of these. Well, we are. This is a large wedding cake. And we should start making these all what we can advance. And you keep them in airtight containers. More as a panel will last a long time. So now we have a round ball. Using the edge of a knife. This is a little candy maker's knife. We want to make those little indentations that a natural cherry has. A little on that side, a little on this side. You know how cherries are divided in half. So you can do that. And using this tool, we want to make the cherry stem. So already, we're getting something that's looking quite a bit like a cherry.

Yeah, do it on the other side too. And leave the top without. Okay, that's good. That's good. You don't have to go all the way around. And right here, we'll make the. There. That's not good for us. That's not good for us. It does. And then we'll put these right here. And I'll show you how to color in a moment. But let's make raspberries too. We're going to do the same process again. A little bit smaller since golden raspberries are pretty cool. Oh, they are. They're cool, full goldberries. And they're very, very sweet, very different in taste from the red raspberries. Or the brandy wine raspberry. And now, you know how raspberries have that peculiar tiny indentation. Well, we found that this side, the very, very finest side of a grater, works very well if you just roll. It's not wonderful. See, it makes it. Yeah. You look just like either a strawberry or a raspberry.

It has that effect. Isn't that cute? No. And raspberries too are going to need a place for a top. So I'm just using this star like top. See, perfect. And I use this tool to make your. There. So now we have two raspberries and two queen and cherries. And we have to now show how to make the leaves. Take a little bit of your marzipan. Again, need it very well. Now these are all little tools. These rollers can all be gotten at a confection making store. Just look in the yellow page. Cake decorating stores. Now we want it thin because the thinner and the more delicate, the more beautiful our final result. And leaf cutters can be found also at the same place. So here we have. This is the top of the raspberry leaf.

Oh, isn't that pretty? So here we have. That's charming. Very pretty. No. So here we have two of those. And these are very nice little leaf cutters too. But these are all the tools and that if you have them, the job is not too difficult. OK, so this is a rubber leaf with veining. So usually I would take a knife and vein the leaf one by one. But with this, all you do is just press on your leaves and you have a perfect love. You see, it's all very, very, very much easier than you can imagine. Certainly. Isn't that? So let me show you now the next step. Stems. Yes, we want cherry stems. You just roll in your hands and then on the marble or in whatever surface, it's very fine as possible. Little snakes. Now if it gets too long, just cut it in half and keep rolling. This is time consuming.

It's delicate. But the result pays off. The more fine, the better. OK, so here's a stem. And you want to taper it a little bit because a real, true cherry stem has a fatter end. So here is our cherry stem. OK, and then we can just make that end a little with our fingers. These powdered colors are petal dusts, which are non-toxic, colors, organic. Well, I don't know what it's made out of. But anyway, they are OK. And I'm using a little bit of buttercup, a little bit of spiced pumpkin, and a little bit of brown for the end of the stem. If you're going to do the leaf, for example, we want to get this leaf just slightly green. So find a brush that you like and brush just on the edges of the leaf, just a powdering. See how delicate it is. I think you'll have to start two or three months ahead.

No, not really. No, not really. And then proceed. There, that looks good. Now, I forgot I didn't make a little indentation right here in the leaf. You must do that. That's good. I mean, that makes it more realistic. Yes, it does. See, all these little touches you think of, you know, what do you have to do that for? But I'll tell you, it really makes a difference. And then the leaves, because we just want tinge of color, just along the edges. So there. And now for the cherry, a larger brush, a nice soft brush. And a little bit, I think, I love this color. That is bingo. And buttercup together. And you just want to blush that cheek. You can do as much as you want. Or as little there. That's the queen and cherry. And for the golden raspberry, that's a little bit more yellow and just a little bit. And we need a little bit of the pumpkin color. If you see these on the vine,

and on the bush, these are just about that color. And then you insert your leaf right on the top. And you can fix it a little bit more like that. You can use also if you're worried about it sticking just a toothpick of caros syrup. Just a drop. But here you have your raspberry. And the stem, a little brown on the tip of the stem as it would be in nature. Right there. And the rest, a little bit of green on the stem. There. And that can be inserted with a little carol syrup right in here. It just pulls it in. That'll hold the stem. And then you have your cherry. Now, after you've made your 3,000 cherries, how do you keep them? You don't need 3,000. Don't get, don't scare everyone away. This is a wonderful method. These little plastic containers. And guess what? That wrapping that is a stain of our existence? Well, cut it up.

Don't throw it away. And you just place your freshly made marzipan in its little nest. And it stays perfectly. And then you cover it. And you cover it with yet another sheet of bubble. You have a warehouse. All different kinds of things. You can do that. But they really do stay well like this. And then you put the plastic cover on it. Yes, airtight. And then they won't dry out. And they won't go stale. Good. OK. And no, Martha is going to make her famous buttercream. Well, this is a very nice one. I'm calling it the border variety because it's neither Italian or any buttercream or Swiss. It uses only egg yolks instead of the egg whites or the whole egg. And what I do with the egg yolks, because you know there's an awful lot of filament and fiber and albumin, is I always put the egg yolks through a strainer. To break it up. That's a good, some fine piping. Exactly. And you don't want that one little glitch to get into your tube

and then you have to take it all off. So this really avoids any lumps from the eggs there. And now we're using joyous. 16 egg yolks. Sounds like a lot of two pounds of butter and two cups of sugar in this frosting. Well, that's an enormous cake. Well, it is. And you don't want to run out of frosting. You certainly don't. Okay, here. And now if you want to get the sugar syrup, it's two cups of sugar and one and a half cups of cold water to get to 239 degrees. I'll just turn that up to high. And it should get to that right away. And I see that you are using the tried and true method of a cold water and a spoon to test. Let's see what we have here. It's almost thread stage. It's almost forming that. As soon as it gets just to the thread stage, then you have to watch out, don't you? Yes. And when you're using this very, very hot syrup, I find it's very important to always keep dish of cold water, ice water nearby. If you get anything on your fingers, put your finger right into that.

It is water. Don't put it in your mouth because then you'll have a burnt lip and a burnt finger. We're at 239 degrees. Great. So we're there. Okay, so we'll turn it off. This is the softball stage or 239. When you pick it up in your fingers and look water, it's just barely holding shade. Now, turn your mixer on and very, very slowly pour the syrup into the eggs as they are beating. What we're doing is cooking the egg yolks, but not poaching them. You're perfectly shaking. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It's perfectly safe. But this is play hot, but we don't want to get them too hot all at once, so you have to be very good. You don't want to curdle them. And now in improvisation, you can get a little attachment that works very well, but we're using your copper bowl filled with ice. And I'm going to add some ice water. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, look, Julia, it's creamy.

It's cool. No. It's smooth, and it has volume. So now is the time to start incorporating the butter. Two pounds of butter that I've softened with the flat beater until it's very creamy. And remember unsalted butter. If you use salty butter, you will not have a good taste in frosting. If you don't have butter in there. Wow. But it's capable through over 50 people. Oh, yes. Yeah. So don't worry. And remember, this is a wedding cake. It has to taste good. A butter frosting is imperative. I mean, it's getting to look like butter cream. Mm-hmm. If it starts to get you cold, remove that ice bowl, you know, because you'll start getting lumps. Now, oh boy, is it looking good? Just scrape down the edges and the bottom, all the way to the bottom, because you want to get that butter totally incorporated. And we are almost ready to add our flavorings. Mm-hmm.

I thought with the almond and the apricot filling, we would use a little ramen. Oh, my goodness. Not with a half tablespoon of vanilla. And half a tablespoon of vanilla. Oh, no. A rum. And a dark rum. Oh, good. That makes that wonderful, wonderful flavor. There, I think that's good. Smells delicious. Well, there you have it. Rich. Beautiful. Notice how I clean the beater. Mm-hmm. Because you don't want a clean finger, you always have to say it. Exactly. Mm-hmm. And these must be washed in the dishwasher and very, very hot water. You don't want to leave any butter on it. And now just stir it up again with your rubber spatula. And you have... Oh, it's delicious. I seem ready to put on the cake. I think we ought to have a little taste of it. Oh, true. Would you like to hear it? Yeah, do you think it's really any good?

Well, tell me what you think. Good. Oh, and you can taste the rum and it's not too much. It's just right. Very delicate. Thank you. Delicious. In the next episode, Martha will show us how she assembles the cake. First, she makes a crisp almond filling and fits it into each layer. Next, she ices the cake, constructs the support system for the three tiers and decorates the entire cake with the Marzipan fruits we just sculpted. The final step, it goes without saying we eat it. Mm-hmm. All on the next episode of Baking with Julia. Complete recipes for all the breads, cakes, cookies, and pies in this series and more are available in the Baking with Julia Cookbook. Over 500 pages detailed instruction and 100-color photos to order call 1-800-918-3600. This program made possible by

Farberware, Manufacturers of Millennium Cookware. New and improved from the name you trust. Farberware, Farberware Millennium. Re-engineered for today's cook. At this program is also funded by Land O'Lakes, makers of a butter people have baked with since 1921. Funding for this program has been provided by Starbucks Coffee. And King Arthur Flower, offering tools ingredients and flour for all your baking needs. By the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you. One-up of tea! Thank you!

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