Why I gave the famous Letter Cakes another chance

Letter-Cake mit Biskuit und Himbeercreme

OK, I have to say something heretical. The letter or number cakes as you can see here have disappointed me. Yes, you read right. I expected something as good as my beloved sponge roll with strawberry cream, at least if you make the cakes with sponge cake. The strawberry cream is a dream come true with a fluffy and light sponge cake. It has this light feeling to it, I expected this light feeling when I took my first bite from below letter cakes. And then I was disappointed. As I made rather narrow letters, the dough tasted crunchy, gooey, just not good. Even though I was happy about the additional fresh fruits, the better ratio of cream versus sponge cake, I was not happy. I wanted my favorite roll! I was depressed.

Letter-Cake mit Biskuit und HimbeercremeThese letter and number cakes were started by Adi Klinghofer on Instagram (she has a wide consortium of letter cakes). Her cake caught fire on Pinterest and soon were imitated by others. If you make letters cakes, you will generate clicks. But that is definitely NOT the reason why I wanted to post. Most definitely not!

Letter-Cake mit Biskuit und Himbeercreme If I post a new recipe, I want it to be something I can stand for. So I got sad. Because I didn’t dare to post said cake here when I made it the first time. It simply wasn’t up to my standards. But then I wondered, what exactly was it that turned me off? Compared to my beloved strawberry sponge roll? And the answer was the dough. It was too crunchy, to weird, to strange. So I decided to do it differently this time. I wanted my letters to have a wide width, big enough to get the sponge cake to really be fluffy. So I piped the margin on parchment paper and filled the inner part of the letters with my beloved sponge cake dough.

And I was already happier when I was baking it. Because this time I went with my beloved and trusted sponge recipe. I still used Anja’s idea to pipe on the sponge dough onto the parchment paper (in German). Somehow my go-to recipe gave me more courage, I had less problems piping it and it smelled so nice when I took the letters out of the oven. So I was hopeful. That maybe I had something to contribute to this hype. And when I served the cake during my coffee invite here in Hamburg, I was so nervous to try a piece (you can see my piece). But alas, I could finally relax, yes, this was just as good as my sponge roll, perfect!

Letter-Cake mit Biskuit und HimbeercremeThe good thing about this cake is that you can make about any shape as long as it has a wide enough width. Letters, numbers, a heart, you name it. So here comes my contribution to the famous letter or number cakes. Which, in my opinion, taste so much better with sponge cake. I have seen so many variations, people making them with sugar cookie dough (seriously?) or other crunchy doughs. I am sorry, but I strongly believe they should taste as fancy as they look. Which translates to light, fluffy, like out of a fairy tale. With a high ratio of cream compared to some fluffy cake part. So here we go.

Letter Cake with Raspberry Cream

Serves: Either two or three sets of letters/numbers/shapes, depending on size
Cooking Time: 30min preparation + 10min of baking + assembling

This Letter Cake is prepared with sponge batter, which we will pipe on the parchment paper so not to waste anything and is filled with raspberry cream.

Ingredients

  • Sponge Cake
  • 5 eggs, size L at room temperature, important: eggs have to be at room temperature
  • 100 grams of white sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • 75 grams of all-purpose flour
  • 30 grams of cornstarch

  • Raspberry Cream Filling
  • 300 grams of either fresh or frozen raspberries
  • 150+ 50 milliliters of milk
  • 1 package of instant vanilla pudding
  • 2 tablespoons of white sugar
  • 175 grams of butter, at room temperature
  • 175 grams of cream cheese
  • 50 grams of white sugar

  • For Garnish
  • Fresh fruit and berries
  • Mint leaves
  • French macarons, a recipe can be found here, meringue tuffs or some other matching sweets
  • Flowers

Instructions

1

For the sponge dough cut out a large heart/number/letter, be sure that it is at least 6cm in width as otherwise the dough will be too crunchy. My letters covered my baking sheet. Place paper heart/number/letter on bottom of your baking sheet and place parchment paper on top so you can see through. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

2

Then divide the eggs into egg white and egg yolks. Use a bigger bowl for the egg yolks. If you have a glass or metal bowl, use that one for the egg whites. Be sure that bowl is free of fat/grease and that your mixer was properly cleaned.

3

Now beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Beat until the color becomes much paler and you have a creamy consistency. This usually takes several minutes.

4

Clean your mixer thoroughly and beat the egg whites on medium speed with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Set aside.

5

Gently pour the egg whites on top of the mixed egg yolks and sift the flour and cornstarch on top. Don't skip this step. It is important that the flour mix was sifted.

6

Gently mix all ingredients with a wooden spoon. Try to incorperate the flour mix and egg whites without losing volume. Don't overmix.

7

Pipe onto prepared baking sheet with either cut-off corner of a plastic bag or piping tools. I recommend only piping the margins and filling the rest with a spoon. You should be able to produce three sets of letters. Carefully slip out the paper heart once you are done with the first set and place on a second baking sheet lined with parchment paper. While the first letters are baking, prepare the second. Don't let the batter sit for too long as it will quickly lose volume, but bake right away one letter after the other. Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly golden. Watch the oven carefully, it happens rather quickly.

8

Once out of the oven, immediately turn upside down so that letters face the surface and take off parchment paper. Don't wait until the letters are cold, they may break. Let cool completely. Repeat baking until done with all sets.

9

For the raspberry filling put raspberries and 150 milliliters of milk in a pot on the stove a bring to boil. As soon as raspberries are soft, take out and blend (e.g. food processor or even with a fork).

10

Put instant vanilla pudding, two tablespoons of white sugar and 50 milliliters of milk in a mug and stir until you see no lumps.

11

Bring pureed raspberries and milk to boil again and add the vanilla pudding mix. Stir constantly and bring to boil for at least two minutes until it thickens.

12

Transfer mixture to the fridge and let cool off for at least 10 minutes.

13

Meanwhile cream butter, cream cheese and 50 grams of sugar in a bowl with a mixture. Slowly add the cooled-off raspberry mix by the spoonful until you have a nicely colored cream. Put in the fridge for a little, covered in plastic wrap.

14

To assemble the cake, place one letter set on a sturdy surface (I turned my baking sheet around and used it as surface) and pipe on cream. Place second set on top and again pipe cream on top. Repeat with third set. Decorate as desired, see pictures.

Letter-Cake mit Biskuit und HimbeercremePS: The letters you see above are the initials of my husband’s and my first name. But as stated, you can make about any letter, number or other shape such as a heart as long as you make sure the width is thick enough!

PS2: I have made other versions of this famous cake, the below number cake is again sponge base with a lemon and mint cream filling. So good! Check out the recipe here.

Letter Cake mit Biskuit und Zitronen-Minzcreme

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14 Comments

  • Reply
    Anna
    Sunday April 8th, 2018 at 06:53 PM

    Liebe Jenny, dein Letter Cake sieht aber wirklich gut aus und schön, dass du ihm noch mal eine Chance gegeben hast! Mürbeteig finde ich geschmacklich auch irgendwie strange, ich bin da auch ganz bei dir und deinem Biskuit! Liebe Grüße, Anna <3

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Sunday April 8th, 2018 at 09:40 PM

      Er sollte mindestens genauso gut schmecken wie er aussieht! Biskuit passt da perfekt meiner Meinung nach!

  • Reply
    The Recipettes
    Friday April 13th, 2018 at 11:58 AM

    Liebe Jenny! Wir lieben deinen Blog und freuen uns auch immer ganz besonders wenn du vorbei schaust! Ach toll mit den Buchstaben. Danuta und ich bekommen da wirklich noch mehr Lust auf backen, aber du bist auch wahnsinnig talentiert. Ganz liebe Grüße, Manuela von The Recipettes

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Friday April 13th, 2018 at 12:03 PM

      Lieben Dank für die Komplimente!!!?

  • Reply
    Ulrike
    Monday September 3rd, 2018 at 03:43 PM

    Hallo, meine Frage ist…. Kann ich die Torte einen Tag vorher zubereiten und dekorieren?

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Monday September 3rd, 2018 at 04:36 PM

      Den Biskuitteig ja, in Frischhaltefolie aufbewahren, man kann auch die Creme bereits vorher zubereiten, aber ich empfehle erst kurz vor knapp zu dekorieren, da die Creme den Biskuit aufweicht.

  • Reply
    Bettina Cataldi
    Wednesday July 31st, 2019 at 05:44 PM

    Hallo Jenny
    Die Himbeercreme schmeckt köstlich!
    Bei mir ist sie aber noch etwas zu „flüssig“, leicht übertrieben gesagt.
    Kann ich auch noch etwas Gelatine reingeben, um sie fester zu machen?
    Oder hast du sonst einen Tipp für mich?
    Danke im Voraus, lieber Gruss
    Bettina

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday July 31st, 2019 at 06:12 PM

      Liebe Bettina, in den Kühlschrank für eine halbe Stunde, dann wird die Butter wieder hart. Und ja, du kannst Gelatine einrühren, insbesondere im Sommer hat man das Problem leider öfter. Melde dich gerne nochmal, ich hoffe das hilft.

  • Reply
    Maria
    Thursday August 13th, 2020 at 08:58 AM

    Hallo Jenny,
    kann man auch zum Beispiel Quark anstatt den Frischkäse benutzen ?
    Liebe Grüße

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Thursday August 13th, 2020 at 09:01 AM

      Liebe Maria, ich denke schon, ich habe es zwar noch nie probiert, aber sollte klappen. Würde ihn dann ein bisschen abtropfen lassen, da er ja etwas feuchter ist als Frischkäse. Berichte auf jeden Fall, solltest du es ausprobieren. LG, Jenny

  • Reply
    Michelle
    Saturday October 31st, 2020 at 09:57 AM

    Hallo Jenny,
    Ich habe den Kuchen gestern gebacken und es hat perfekt funktioniert! Sowohl Biskuitteig- als auch Himbeercreme-Menge haben genau ausgereicht und er hat toll geschmeckt. Sehr leicht und fruchtig.
    Vielen Dank für das Rezept und die ausführliche Erklärung. Alles Gute
    Michelle

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday October 31st, 2020 at 10:06 AM

      Oh, das freut mich sehr, wie toll! Wenn du magst, kannst du hier auch noch eine Sternebewertung abgeben.

  • Reply
    Gianna
    Tuesday March 28th, 2023 at 02:31 PM

    Liebe Jenny, Danke für dieses tolle Rezept! Auf der Suche nach einem Rezept wurde mir Mürbeteig angezeigt, das konnte ich mir auch nicht lecker vorstellen … Dein Teigrezept lies sich super verarbeiten und hat genau für meine drei Lagen “30” gereicht. Bei der Buttercreme habe ich allerdings die Himbeeren nach dem Kochen noch mal passiert, um die Kerne loszuwerden. Die Buttercreme gefiel mir geschmacklich sehr gut, allerdings war sie nicht so richtig homogen und ließ sich nicht so hübsch spritzen – es wäre auch knapp geworden mit der letzten oberen Schicht. Daher habe ich im Freestyle eine weitere Creme aus Schlagsahne (+San Apart), Zucker, Vanille und Mascarpone zusammengerührt. On top kamen Erd-, Him- und Blaubeeren und dazu Giotto, Bueno und Co. Es kam bei allen super an!

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Tuesday March 28th, 2023 at 09:40 PM

      Danke für deine Rückmeldung. Durch das Passieren der Himbeeren geht auf jeden Fall ein Anteil der Creme verloren, gut, dass du es hast kaschieren können. Ich habe schon öfter gehört, dass die Creme nicht so richtig homogen wird, ich kann mir das nur damit erklären, dass die Zutaten nicht alle die gleiche Temperatur haben, bei mir klappt es eigentlich immer gut, siehe auch die Bilder.

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