Persian-Love-Cake Variations - Tropic Snow Cake and Hold-My-Heart Cake

Persian-Love-Cake recipe is one of my favorite cake recipe now.  For our office - United Way fund raiser, I baked two different types of Persian-Love-Cake - one covered with Ganache Icing "Hold-My-Heart Cake" and the other with Persian-Love-Cake's fresh whip cream frosting topped with home made coconut flakes with banana - I call it the "Tropic-Snow-Cake".

Yield: 2
Prepare Two - 6x3 inch cake pans with buttered parchment paper at the bottom.
1/2 C Prepared Coconut Flakes
Preheat oven to 335'F

MISE-EN-PLACE:  Prepare a day before or allow 2 extra hours for Coconut Flakes and Ganache Icing preparation.
Fresh Home Made Coconut Flakes Preparation:
Save the fresh coconut flakes refused out of the "Juiceman" while making fresh thick coconut cream for the Pandan Chiffon Cake with Strawberries (from my blog) - frozen in Ziploc bag.  (I also have a Video demo of how Pandan juice and coconuts were processed at http://rockdavinci.blogspot.com/p/recipes-slide-show.html     Defrost it to bring to the room temperature.
After defrosting the coconut flakes, about 1 C, transfer it to non-stick fry pan, add 1 Tablespoon of sugar and toss to mix sugar and coconut flakes.  or add more sugar to your taste of sweetness you like.
Turn on the stove heat - Low.
At low temperature, toss coconut and sugar to 'dry' the coconut flakes.  About 3 min, but  not browned.  Do not toast to brown the coconut unless that's what you want.  Taste to make sure that it is the sweetness you want.
Transfer to a baking sheet lined with the parchment paper.  Spread coconut flakes evenly and flat on parchment paper.
Heat oven to 350'F.
Turn off the oven.
NOTE:  the drying time depends on your model of oven.  (My oven is a gas oven.)
Place baking sheet with coconut flakes in the oven - with the oven door cracked Open to further dry for 5 minutes **Depends on your oven - keep your eyes on it  - Do not Brown the coconut flakes.
Take it out and toss bottom to the top and spread evenly and flat on  parchment paper, again.
Place it back in the oven - 5 minutes with oven door cracked open.
Feel the coconut flakes, it should feel dry.  Store in air-tight container.

Making Cakes - yield two
Ingredients:
Prepare Ingredients for the regular Persian-Love-Cake.  http://rockdavinci.blogspot.com/2010/09/persian-love-cake.html
Divide the batter equally into two - 6x3 inch cake pans with buttered parchment paper at the bottom.
Bake till the tester inserted comes out clean and cake is golden brown.
Cool the cake pan inverted on cooling rack.

Cake Assembly - Total Frosting and Center Filling Ingredients for Both Cakes:
*Hold-My-Heart might need overnight preparation, depending on your available time to prepare.

2 C Pastry Cream for each cake's center filling
2 C Persian-Love-Cake Cream Frosting for each cake's center filling
2 C Persian-Love-Cake Cream Frosting to frost the cake
2 C Total Ganache Icing prepared on the same day, cooled to room temperature.  It has super shiny shimmer look.  Divide into 1/2 C and 1-1/2 C portion.

• Ganache Icing:  Formula includes at least 10 oz of 61% European chocolate couverture (get it from Wayne Gisslen's "Professional Baking", 5th Edition, or I am sure the Joy of Baking site has the recipe. If you would like me to provide you one, please request.)
• Cool 1-1/2 C Ganache Icing - room temperature - still in "fluid" state.
• Set aside 1/2 C Ganache Icing without cover to air dry under the fan--if you are in a hurry or set it aside overnight.  The texture will be medium thick and a bit dull.

1 medium ripe, but firm Banana - cut into slices
10 Air dried Maraschino cherries with no stem set on paper towel-no liquid (air dried overnight is even better)
Home made sweetened shredded coconut flakes

Assembly:  
Cake #1 - Tropic Snow Cake
1.  Insert a plastic knife to encircle the cake's edge to loosen the cooled cake.
2.  Use a serrated knife and slice over the 'top' of the cake to make it flat (and gobble the sliced piece :-) )
3.  Place a 6-inch cake cardboard on the sliced 'top' and turn it down.  Now the top of the cake is the bottom of the cake.  Place the cake on top of the cake decorator tray.
4.  Without removing the parchment paper, cut the cake into halves -- use the serrated knife to make 1/2 in incision all around the cake at half point while turning the decorator tray that it is sitting on.  Once you made a full turn, press the knife in deeper as you turn the decorator tray till the cake is cut evenly in halves.  Or use of those handy wire cake slicer on the D clamp.
5.  Remove the parchment paper.
6.  Brush off excess crumbs.
7.  Top the bottom half of the cake with 1/2 to 1 C of pastry cream.  Smooth out with small offset spatula.
8.  Top with banana slices.
9.  Top with 1/2 C of fresh cream frosting.  Smooth out.
10.  Place the top cake piece.
11.  Top with fresh whip cream frosting.  Smooth out all around.
12.  Sprinkle top and side with sweetened shredded coconut.   
Storage/transport idea:  Use a large bowl with cover that can hold the cake. (Unless you have a cake container or cake box from "Michaels", for example.  Invert the container.  Set the cake on the "cover" of the container.  Cover with the bowl part of the bowl as lid.
If you are transporting the cake, make two or three reversed double tape on the container's lid where the cake would be placed to keep the cake from sliding around.

Cake #2 - Hold-My-Heart Cake
Follow steps 1 through 6 of the Tropic Snow Cake above.
7.  Top the bottom half of the cake with Ganache Icing without letting it ooze off the sides.  Smooth out with small offset spatula.
8.  Top with 1/2  to 1 C of pastry cream. Smooth out.
9.  Top with air dried maraschino cherries - press them down to bury in the pastry cream
10.  Place the top cake.  Making sure it is sitting evenly.
 11.  Stir the ganache icing to make it smooth and pourable.
ganache icing)
13.  Hold the ganache icing bowl directly over the cake and pour as much and enough to cover the cake artfully and allow the excess icing to pour down the sides of the cake.
14.  Smooth out the top to make sure icing is even on the top, but this must be done within few second when the icing is poured.
15.  Stop. Enjoy the beautiful shiny ganache covered cake.

Variation:  Cover the air dried maraschino cherries with Ganache Icing.
Top the bottom half of the cake with Ganache and Pastry Cream and then press in the Ganache covered cherries into the pastry cream or instead of placing Ganache covered cherries into the center, place them in circle around the top of the top layer cake, then pour the Ganache Icing over the whole entire cake.  Top with piped whip cream and maraschino cherries.
or do whatever your heart desires.

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