London Fog Cake

zoethepastrysmith
Apr 19, 2020
5 min read

A delicious, rich, and creamy cake, this recipe combines my Tea Cake (made with Earl Grey) and my Swiss Meringue Buttercream (made with Vanilla), to make a cake reminiscent of a London Fog tea latte. This recipe also has my step-by-step instructions for decorating a perfect cake.

Earl Grey Tea Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ¾ cup Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Baking Soda

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Vegetable Oil

1 cup Milk

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 cup Tea

2 x 6" Cake pans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325℉. Line a cake pan with parchment on the bottom, and non-stick cooking spray on the sides.
Boil 1 cup of water and add 2 teabags. Set aside to steep.
Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in your mixing bowl. Whisk them all together, this will help prevent lumps.
In another bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, milk, eggs and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl. Then pour in the tea (it may still be hot, that's ok). With the paddle attachment, mix on low until everything is combined. Scrape the bottom with a spatula. Mix on medium speed for about two minutes, until the batter is smooth and consistent. This can also be done with a hand mixer or a spatula, though mixing by hand will take a little longer.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. The batter should come about ½ or ¾ up the sides. Don’t over-fill, as the cake will rise in the oven.
Bake about 20-30 minutes, turning half way through. It will be done when a toothpick comes out clean, and the cake springs back up when you gently press the top. Bake time will vary depending on the size of your pans, so make sure you're checking on them every 10 minutes.
Let cool in the pans for about an hour, then de-pan and bring to room temperature.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients:

100g Egg Whites

200g Sugar

300g Butter - Room Temperature

1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:

Combine egg whites and sugar in a stainless steel bowl, or your stand mixer bowl. Heat over a double boiler, whisking frequently, until the sugar granules have all dissolved. The egg whites should be warm.
Pour into mixer with the whisk attachment, and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form, and the meringue is room temperature.
Reduce to low speed, and add the soft butter in small pieces. When all the butter has been added, bring up the speed and mix until smooth, scraping down the bowl a few times.
Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
The buttercream should be smooth, silky, and ready to apply to cake.
If your buttercream looks curdled, lumpy, or just not smooth by the end, this may be because the butter was too cold. Move your mixing bowl onto the double boiler for one or two minutes, whisking the whole time. Return to the mixer with the whisk attachment, and mix on high speed. Repeat until the buttercream is smooth, silky and shiny.

Assemble the Cake

With a serrated knife, slice off the dome from your cakes, to make sure your final cake is straight and level.
Slice each of your 6" cakes in half across the middle, to create two layers per cake, 4 layers total.
Spread a small dollop of icing on your cake board or plate, then place the first layer of cake on top. This will help secure your cake to the board.
Spread about ¼ cup of buttercream on top of the cake, then place another layer on top. Spread another ¼ cup of buttercream onto each layer, until all four layers of cake are stacked.
Spread a thin layer of buttercream on the top, and then apply buttercream to the sides. With a palette knife, smooth the buttercream along the sides to a thin layer of buttercream, just enough to mask the cake. This is a crumb coat. Put the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes, until the icing is stiff.
Apply more icing to the top and sides of the cake. Use a scraper to go around the sides of the cake, making it as smooth as possible. Try not to over work it.
With an offset spatula, smooth the icing on the top of the cake. (see the photos below for more detail)
Decorate with the remainder of your icing in a piping bag with a star tip, or however you like.
Refrigerate cake for up to a few days. Remove the cake about an hour before serving, it is best enjoyed at room temperature, when the buttercream is smooth and silky.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the Earl Grey Tea cake (follow this link for more detailed instructions)

Make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream, with 100g egg whites, 200g sugar, and 300g butter. (follow this link for more detailed instructions)

Let the cake cool to room temperature, then remove from the pans.

With a serrated knife, slice off the domed top of each cake, to ensure the final cake is straight and level.

Slice each cake in half across the middle, to create two layers out of each cake.

You should end up with 4 even layers of cake.

Spread a little buttercream on your cake board (or plate) to hold the cake in place.

Place the first layer of cake on the board, and spread some buttercream on top of it.

Repeat with the second layer of cake.

And the third layer.

And top with the fourth layer. Try to save the most even layer of cake for last, so the top of the cake is as smooth as possible.

Spread more buttercream across the top of the cake, allowing it to go over the edge.

Spread buttercream along the sides of the cake. It's okay if you can see cake through this first layer of buttercream, this is just a crumb coat.

Smooth the buttercream along the sides, removing any excess. This should just be a thin layer of icing.

Smooth the buttercream along the top, removing excess, and try to make the edges straight and square.

When the crumb coat of icing is smooth, put the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes or longer, until the buttercream is stiff and solid.

Remove from the fridge, and add more buttercream on top.

Apply buttercream generously to the sides.

Make sure all of the cake is covered.

Use a scraper to smooth the buttercream around the sides of the cake. You'll be removing some of the icing, but try not to use too much pressure, as you don't want to see the cake through the buttercream.

Fill in any gaps that may have appeared with a little more buttercream.

Again, use the scraper to smooth the sides of the cake.

With an offset spatula, smooth the top edges of the cake.

Hold your spatula away from the cake, and bring it towards the centre. Clean the spatula in between every stroke.

With an offset spatula, spread the icing on the top of the cake side to side, in a kind of zig zag pattern. This ripple pattern will look nice and neat, even if you have trouble getting the top perfectly smooth