Galaxy cake

INGREDIENTS:
For a dome-shaped cake with a diameter of 20 cm:
For the base:
4 eggs
90 g all-purpose flour
30 g starch
60 g granulated sugar
50 g powdered sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
a pinch of salt
vanilla

For the white cream:
300 g mascarpone
200 g white chocolate
250 ml liquid cream
100 g powdered sugar
vanilla
5-6 tablespoons milk
15 g gelatin powder

For the chocolate cream:
200 g dark chocolate
200 ml liquid cream (at least 30% fat content)
50 g butter
a pinch of salt
3 yolks
60 + 20 g sugar
36 ml water

For the syrup:
100 g sugar
200 ml milk

For the glaze:
225 g liquid glucose
225 g sugar
225 g white chocolate
150 g condensed milk
115 ml water
16 g gelatin sheets
confectionery paint (dark, medium and light blue, black, purple and pink)

For sprinkling:
silver edible brocade
dark blue edible brocade
small silver sugar balls

For the edges of the cake:
100 ml liquid cream
2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar

PREPARATION:
The base
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Once they are almost ready add the powdered sugar and cream of tartar and keep whisking into snow.
In a separate bowl beat the yolks, sugar and vanilla into a thick cream. Sift the flour and starch onto it. Add the whisked egg whites and stir with a spatula so that they combine. Spread the mixture into a thin layer in two wide baking trays (covered with baking paper).

Galaxy cake

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 7-8 minutes or until it browns. Leave the base to cool and cut 4 circles with diameters of 20 cm, 18 cm, 16 cm and 12 cm out of them.

The syrup
Heat the milk and the sugar until it melts. Leave it to cool.

Chocolate cream
Bring the liquid cream to a boil and remove from the heat. Add the butter, a pinch of salt and chocolate (broken into small pieces). Stir until they combine.

Beat the yolks together with 20 g of the sugar until you get a fluffy light cream. Heat the water with the remaining sugar up to 117°C. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer boil the syrup for 2-2 ½ minutes after it starts boiling.
Pour the hot syrup slowly over the beaten yolks while continuously beating with a hand mixer. Once the syrup gets absorbed keep beating for about a minute more.
Mix the two creams (chocolate and the light/yellow one) and stir until they combine.

White cream
Melt the white chocolate in bain-marie. Whip the liquid cream with the powdered sugar until you get a thick cream. Add the mascarpone and melted chocolate and beat again with the mixer.
Soak the gelatin in milk for about 5 minutes. Melt it in bain-marie and pour 2/3 of it into the white cream while beating with a mixer.

Mix the remaining 1/3 of the melted gelatin with the chocolate cream, again using a mixer.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
Use a dome-shaped metal bowl. Put some of the white cream and cover it with the smallest base (12 cm diameter). Syrup it with several tablespoons. Put some of the chocolate cream and cover with the next base (16 cm). Syrup and add the white cream. Next is the 18 cm base. Again syrup and cover with chocolate cream. I chose to make it so that only the white cream is visible from the sides once the cake is ready. For this reason while putting chocolate cream I also added some white cream along the edges. This is a matter of personal choice.

Galaxy cake

Cover with the biggest base (20 cm) which has the same diameter as the bowl. Syrup it lightly and leave the cake in the freezer for a few hours or for the whole night until it freezes completely.
In order to turn the cake around and take it out of the metal bowl hold the base and pour hot running water onto the bowl. Turn the cake around. Put it onto a cake stand/plate and return it to the freezer while you prepare the glaze.

The glaze
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for about 5 minutes.
Bring the water, sugar, condensed milk and glucose to 103°C. Remove from the heat and add the gelatin sheets (drained using your hand) and white chocolate broken into pieces. Blend them until they are homogeneous. Filter the glaze in order to remove any air bubbles.
Divide the glaze into 4 bowls – 3 small ones which will only be an accent to the main color and one in a big bowl. Paint the big bowl dark blue using confectionery paint. I used navy and black colors. One of the small bowls was painted medium blue (royal blue). The others were painted light blue (blue sky) and a mixture of purple and pink (rose/violet).

Galaxy cake

Let the glaze to cool down to about 35°C. Take the frozen cake out of the freezer and put it onto a baking tray or a cake stand that will allow you to glaze. Firstly pour half of the dark blue glaze so that it covers the cake completely. Pour a little of the dark blue glaze into a big glass and add a few spoons of the other colors without stirring.

Galaxy cake

Repeat this process several more times and then pour the mixture onto the cake without any stirring. The effect is similar to marble. Sprinkle the cake with silver and dark blue edible brocade and then with small silver sugar balls which will represent stars in the night sky.

Leave the cake for a few minutes so that the glaze can harden and then transfer it into a cake mold. Pip whipped cream or the white cream that you prepared earlier along the edges of the cake.

Galaxy cake

Galaxy cake

Galaxy cake

Galaxy cake

Galaxy cake

Galaxy cake

Galaxy cake