Jan 21, 2009

Tunnel Cake

Tunnel cake
I wanted to make this cake for so long, and finally I did. It is a luscious dessert, fit for royalty, and I am not talking about it’s original look, but rich nutty taste with tons of cream!

Tunnel Cake

For the filling:
6 egg yolks
300 g sugar (I only used 150g, don’t like it too sweet)
2 powdered vanilla puddings + 6 tbsp of flour
(if no such pudding available then 6 tbsp of corn starch + 6 tbsp of flour+ 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 liter/4 cups milk
250 g /18 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine

White cake layer:
6 egg whites
6 tbsp of sugar
6 tbsp of flour
1 tsp baking powder

Brown cake layer:
5 eggs
5 tbsp of sugar
100 g ground walnuts
2 tbsp plain bread crumbs

For the base/roll:
250g ground walnuts/walnut meal
150g ground biscuits/butter cookies
1 cup milk
4 oz semi-sweet baker’s chocolate
9 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
9 tbsp powdered sugar

To decorate:
Whipped cream with stabilizer, nuts to make it look like rocks on the side
Also chocolate can be drizzled all over, just play with it

Prepare to make the cake in the order above, starting with the filling. Mix egg yolks with pudding and flour, or corn starch and flour, sugar, and some milk from the one liter. Let remainder of the milk boil, reduce heat, and mix in the pudding mixture, stirring constantly, and cooking for few minutes.
Let it cool completely, stirring it often so it doesn’t get skin on the top. Once cooled, mix in previously mixed butter or margarine. This will reduce clumps of butter/margarine, and you’ll have a smoother filling.

When the cream is cooling, you can start with cake layers. For both layers I have used a jelly roll pan, because there were no instructions, but I think 9x13 inch baking pan would do better.
For the white one, mix egg whites with sugar until stiff, then add flour with baking powder. Bake on medium heat, about 380 F, making sure it doesn’t brown. Didn’t track time, so just test with toothpick.

For brown cake layer, mix eggs with sugar until nice and smooth, then add walnuts, and bread crumbs. Bake at same temperature, also until toothpick comes out clean.
Now make the base, which will allow for tunnel look, because of it’s cylinder shape. Mix walnuts, cookie crumbs, butter, powdered sugar, adding milk gradually, because you might not need the whole cup.
Once you get a workable mass, add melted chocolate, and mix well. You do all this with hands.
Then make a cylinder shape out of the cookie/walnut mass on a long platter. Top it evenly with about half of the filling, place the white cake layer over it(cut the excess, if any), top with about another half of filling, then place the brown layer over it (cut excess, if any), remember to leave just enough filling to spread over the last/brown layer so whipped cream would hold better. Decorate, cool well, and enjoy!

Recipe source:
My aunt from Serbia sent me a “Fat and happy” magazine, originally Macedonian publication, formerly known as “Food and wine” (hope I got all that right; also printed in few other Balkan countries. Thank you auntie Ljubica!


Dragana said...

Picture perfect! Definitely a dessert to impress a crowd. I will try it on my wine group soon soon.

Sara said...

This looks beautiful, I love trying new cake recipes!

SweetSensation said...

torta izgleda fenomenalno! :)

Navita said...

lovely cake...n it makes me jump up n go in the kitchen..

ok now i have few questions-
1. wht is stabilizer (in whipped cream)?

2. when layering the cakes...was it easily done...or they cracked or didn't fold (when cooled)...plz plz plz let me know the trick !

hugs n thanks!

nicisme said...

That's a work of art! I'd love a slice.

Marija said...

It's so beautiful! I wish I could come over for a slice :)

maslinka said...

savrsenstvo bez mane :)

Medena said...

Thank you all! :)

Navita - I usually use powdered whipped cream, and it already has stabilizer in it. But if you will buy liquid whipping cream, stabilizer helps cream hold it's whipped shape. Here is a link of how it looks:

As for the cake layers, they are workable, and assemble easily. Keep in mind I have used jelly roll pan, and I probably could have used regular pan, for thicker layers... Also use parchment paper for easy transfer from the pan. You just peel it off the cake layer, and that's it. Take the cake layer with your hands and assemble. Cut excess. Good luck! :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

nlo said...

svaki kolač dovedeš na jedan poseban nivo, ovo zaista izgleda prekrasno:))

cosmo2503 said...

Zaista je urađen vrhunski, svaka čast.
I recept mi se posebno dopada, ipak je različit od jednog koji ja imam (ova čokoladna krema je fenomenalna).

Anonymous said...

Malo je reci divna, fantasticna je!
Moj recept se razlikuje od tvog a o izvjedbi i da ne govorim :-))))
vidi i sama:http://biserko.coolinarika.com/slike/prikazi/38900

pigpigscorner said...

Looks really pretty! Love the layers.

Anonymous said...

It's the kind of cake you just want to look at for the pretty. Looks great!

Veronica said...

Beautiful. It's a visually appealing cake that would look great sitting by itself on a plate. Well done.

lisa (dandysugar) said...

This is a beautiful delicious looking cake!

farida said...

So pretty and impressive! You should write a dessert cookbook, girl.

Anonymous said...

Neki dan sam se slomila dok sam na engleskom postavila Vam pitanje za banan rolat-tortu i sad tek vidim da vi govorite nas:)))Vidim komentare drugih,a i sad sam Vas tek vidjela na coolinarici:)
Prije nego se usudim ovaj tunel praviti, u kojim dimnezijama pleha bi se kore kolaca trebale peci?

Medena (-Melitta-) said...

Cao Azra!
Ja sam pravila u plehu za rolate, medjutim ovaj kolac se inace pravi u obicnom plehu, da kore budu deblje. Ako bas hoces ovako kao ja, tanje kore, onda rolat pleh, a moj je dimenzija 31cm X 44cm, manje vise pola cm, a to je nekih 12.5" X 17.5".
Zapamti, da bi dobila lijep izgled tunela, sve zavisi kako ces lijepo oblikovati onaj dio sa keksom, dakle rukama lijepo oblikuj pravo tunel, onda fil i kore same se oblikuju prema njemu.
Pozdrav, i nadam se da ce ti se svidjati! Super je kremasto, i fino!