Cake With Four Different Layers...flavor Conflict?
Decorating By Newbie0514 Updated 12 Feb 2012 , 10:54pm by CakesHeaven
So I'm looking to make a cake with four different layers and I'm having trouble choosing four layers that taste good together. This cake is for a project for a class and I've come up with four different cakes that fit my theme and symbolism, but I'm not sure of the different flavors. Right now I have a simple White Cake with strawberries, a rich Chocolate Cake, an Applesauce Cake, and a Yellow Cake with pineapples. I have no idea about the icing yet...any ideas? any suggestions will be helpful.
I've attached the links to the individual recipes so you can get a better idea:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/white-almond-wedding-cake/detail.aspx (I think I'm going to take out the almond extract and add strawberries to the mix)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/too-much-chocolate-cake/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/applesauce-cake-v/detail.aspx
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/is-it-really-better-than-sex-cake-recipe/index.html
Personally I think the spice in an applesauce cake would not work well with your other three--2 of which are stronger fruit flavors. Since chocolate works well with fruit flavors that to me is OK...perhaps you might think of an orange or lemon cake instead of applesauce. I would think you'd want a complimentary blend of flavors and not a competing group.
Speaking of which...that's a lot of flavors going on there! Any reason why you need to have 4 different layers? And honestly I'd go with a cream cheese frosting. It's a good neutral taste that goes with all those flavors.
If it was me, I would make the four flavors add up to a whole flavor profile. A banana split cake would have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and banana cakes with maybe a pineapple buttercream. A tiramisu cake, a cappuccino cake - all can be done deconstructed with each layer being part of the flavor profile of the whole dessert.
A tropical cake could be coconut, mango, passion fruit, and vanilla bean.
Banana split is also a very good idea, as well as tiramisu.
Spumoni with cherry or strawberry, pistachio, chocolate, and vanilla.
Icing can be either plain vanilla BC or chocolate ganache, but this is going to depend on the flavors and fillings inside the cake.
Without going into too much detail, this cake is inspired by the elements. We're reading a poem in class and the author describes the spirits of women and how they acted in life, and relates them to the elements. So...
Earth, which represents a prudish woman, is the chocolate cake
Fire, which is an angry woman, is the applesauce cake
Air, which is a pure woman, is the white cake
Water, which is the promiscuous woman, is the yellow cake (is it better than sex? cake)
and i agree with carmijok. I was worried about the spice. Can anyone think of a cake that would represent fire?
Also, I really like the idea of a tropical cake or a fruit themed cake. Thanks guys for these ideas!
Rather than applesauce, which to my way of thinking is rather blah and not firey at all, why not go to a spice cake and use one of the more "firey" spices like chili or cayanne pepper? Just keep in mind that with the firey spices a little goes a long way. You could also melt some 'red hots' candies in the liquid for your recipe and use that to give a firey kick to a simple spice cake recipe.
You could go with a true spice cake, but it might overwhelm the whole cake.
I would pick red velvet to represent fire.
What about a cheesecake layer for the promiscuous woman?
Since when are people expected to eat cake from all 4 tiers? If the flavors don't "go" together, don't eat them together. There will still be people who enjoy each flavor. And promiscuity reminds me of the Scarlet Letter, and Roxanne putting on her red dress to sell her body, I think that one should be red velvet. You can do a cayenne chocolate for the fire
Anna, the OP is talking layers, not tiers.
Disregard...... Yeah, that combo sounds weird.
ha! I was thinking tiers, too- wow that was going to be one big cake
I like the banana split idea as well...you already have strawberries, chocolate, pineapple, and vanilla...why not incorporate banana- and do a whipped cream like frosting?!
but red velvet would be a good fire.
What I'd do:
Earth - Almond or walnut
Wind- Vanilla bean
Fire- chocolate chili (add 2 tsp. chili powder to your chocolate cake recipe)
Water- strawberry or raspberry
Vanilla buttercream
I also agree that red velvet sounds good. It doesn't sound like an applesauce layer would go good with those other flavors. I like the Banana split idea as well.
Great, now I can't get that famous old phrase, "I'm as angry as applesauce!" out of my head.
I vote either chocolate chili or red velvet for fire.
Thanks for all your help and suggestions....I think I have a good idea about where to start now!
Once I red your elements, Fire I thought of a spicy red velvet. You can add a little cayanne pepper to the recipe to give it a little punch but be careful as a little goes a long way.
Good luck and let us know what you choose and how it went
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