I’ve been in kind of a baking slump lately, and to help pull me out of it I’ve resolved to do a cake purely for my own enjoyment. This wound up being a cake based on a podcast, because I’m absolutely obsessed with podcasts. I listen to probably 40 hours of content a week. I’ve them going at work, in the car, while cooking… everywhere.
I’ve discovered a particular love for horror podcasts, despite not being remotely into horror in most other mediums. The king among the horror pods, as far as I am concerned, is The Magnus Archives produced by Rusty Quill. Both my husband and I are completely addicted, and you can find us whipping out our red thread to dissect the plot and theorize after each new episode.
The basic story of The Magnus Archives is as follows: Jonathan Sims works as an archivist at The Magnus Institute, which is dedicated to taking and cataloguing statements of alleged paranormal incidents. After Jon runs into technical difficulties trying to digitize statements, he begins to record them on tape. These tapes compose the podcast for the most part, with meta commentary at the end of each episode. What first seems like a series of disconnected incidents eventually turns into a rather complicated web of interlinked events and people, and the archivist and his staff become increasingly entwined in the world of the supernatural.
There’s very little more I can say about the story without giving away enormous spoilers. Let me just say this: the writing is fantastic, the characters are lovable and well crafted, and the podcast serves up mysteries without ever making the listener feel strung along. This is a meticulously plotted out story, not a mystery box full of disappointment.
Despite being one of my favorite things on the planet right now, The Magnus Archives hasn’t exactly provided me with a ton of pastry inspiration. At least not for the first 80 episodes or so. But in 2017, an episode called A Guest for Mr. Spider dropped. It’s a spoiler-laden delight and I don’t recommend listening to any of the episodes out of order (including this one), but what matters is it features a pale green cake and some very unhealthy pink flowers. Both were a gift for a certain Mr. Spider, who does not like them.
I’ve been wanting to make a sickly green cake ever since. Since I had a lot of kind of… well, not-so-bright-green culinary grade matcha laying around, I figured now was the time.
Podcast decoration aside, this is a very good cake. Chiffon cake is light and not too sweet, and the buttercream has a fantastic flavor even without super high grade matcha. Make sure not to skip the steps where you mix the matcha into hot water, however, as it helps develop the flavor of the tea a bit.
A CAKE FOR MR. SPIDER
GREEN TEA CHIFFON CAKE (modified from a Taste of Home recipe )
7 eggs, separated
2 cups (230g) sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
2 tbsp (10g) matcha powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120ml) water, room temperature
1/4 cup (60ml) water, boiling
1/2 cup (120ml) grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pre-heat your oven to 325°F/160°C. Grease only the bottoms of two tall (3″ or higher) 7″ round cake pans, then place a 7″ parchment round in the base of each. Make sure the sides of the pans are ungreased, as the cake will need to cling to them to rise properly. For even more even baking, place a metal flower nail flat side down in the middle of the pans to act as a heating core.
- In a small bowl, combine the matcha and boiling water and briskly mix them together until you don’t see any clumps. Combine the matcha mixture with the sugar, egg yolks, room temperature water, grapeseed oil, water, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisking until foamy and well-beaten. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Fold the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture until just combined.
- Using clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar to stiff peaks. Fold gently into the egg yolk mixture just until it’s no longer streaky. Split the batter evenly between the two cake pans and knock pans sharply on counter a couple of times to remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 35-50 minutes, or until toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn cake pans onto a piece of parchment and allow them to cool upside-down in the pan. Once completely cool, use a knife to release the sides of the cake from the pan and turn the cakes out. You may use them as is, but I like to use a knife to level off the tops and remove the eggy layer on top of each cake.
MATCHA ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
2 cups (400g) sugar
1/2 cup (120ml) water
1 tbsp (15ml) corn syrup
1 lb. (450g) butter, cubed and at room temperature
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup (110g) shortening, room temperature
1/4 cup (60ml) water, boiling
2 tbsp (10g) matcha powder
Note: The shortening and powdered sugar in this recipe add stability to the buttercream and help to prevent curdling. In my experience it makes the buttercream much easier to work with without negatively impacting the flavor. If you don’t want to use them, simply omit the powdered sugar and replace the shortening with an equal amount of more butter.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a bowl with a hand mixer ready), but do not beat them yet. In a saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pot and boil the sugar to 240°F/115°C.
- Remove the sugar from the heat and immediately begin whipping the egg whites on high speed. When they reach soft peak stage, gradually drizzle the hot sugar into the whites while still beating. Try not to hit the beaters with the sugar. Continue to beat the meringue until stiff, glossy, and cooled down to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, combine the matcha and boiling water and briskly mix them together until you don’t see anymore clumps. Pour the matcha into the meringue and mix to combine. Add in the butter, shortening, salt and powdered sugar mix the buttercream until smooth.
DECORATION:
I’ve focused on the recipe and not a tutorial for decoration, though I’ll delve briefly into the methods used.
I mixed black and brown food coloring into some of the matcha buttercream to pipe on the stems and writing, and experimented with wafer flowers for the floral details. I felt like they’d be easiest to imitate a wrinkled/wilted look, and I was right! I’d never made wafer paper flowers before this project, so it was fun to learn. Fondant, silk or even real (food safe!) flowers could just as easily be used. Pro tip: a few tears and a little brown food coloring around the edges make any type of flower look wilted. Finally, I decorated the cake at serving time with some sugar threads to imitate spider webs. I’ve outlined how to make sugar thread in the past, and you can find that in this entry. Just skip the pink color! I also airbrushed a bit around the bottom edge with a moss green color.
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