Dominican Cake

Dominican Cake

Dominican Cake

Dominican cake is my favorite cake and my Mom's as well so I baked one for Mother's Day. Dominican cake is a rich and dense cake and so delicious. My Mom is from the Dominican Republic and I remember her baking Dominican cake for birthdays or special occasions when I was a child. This cake always brings me back to great memories of watching Mom bake. The smell throughout our apartment was out of this world. I followed ingredients from a cookbook my Mom loves, Mujer 2000 recetas de cocina by Silvia H. de Pou. I added lemon zest and lemon juice. I also used unsalted butter instead of salted butter as the recipe calls for. I used guava jelly for the filling, but use any filling you like. I have used pineapple preserves and dulce de leche fillings in the past. Lemon curd or orange marmalade would also be a great option. See recipe below.

Dominican Cake with lots of sprinkles on top

Cake Ingredients:

2 sticks Unsalted Butter, softened and each stick cut into 8 pieces

2 cups Sugar

4 Large Eggs

1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla Extract (CariDom)

3 cups All Purpose Flour (King Arthur)

3 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 cup Whole Milk

1/8 teaspoon Coarse Salt

Zest of 1 Lemon

3 teaspoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Pretty slice of cake

Directions

Take Wilton Bake Easy Non-Stick Spray and spray into 2 9-inch round cake pans (I used 2 Wilton heart shape pans), line with parchment paper and spray over the parchment paper. If you do not have a spray just spread butter all over the pans, line with parchment paper, spread more butter over it and sprinkle flour shaking off excess flour; set aside.

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, set aside.

Dominican Cake goodness!

With a stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed, mix butter until it is creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Add sugar little by little, and continue mixing until it is light and creamy.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.

On low speed, add in some of the flour mixture and some of the milk. Do this a few times ending with the flour mixture. Scrape sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Mix again for 10 to 20 seconds.

Yummy Dominican Cake

With mixer on low speed, add vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest and combine, about 20 to 30 seconds.

Spread cake batter evenly between the 2 pans using a spatula to smooth tops. Lightly tap the pans against the counter top 2 to 4 times to settle the batter and pop any air bubbles.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven so keep an eye on it. Cake is ready when you insert a toothpick or cake tester in the center of the cake and it comes out clean. My cake was ready in 33 minutes.

Cool cake in pans for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and then flip cakes onto wire racks. Peel off parchment paper, flip cakes right side up, and cool completely before frosting, about 1-2 hours.

Guava on the cake

Merengue (Frosting) Ingredients:

3 Egg Whites

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1/2 cup Water

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed Lemon juice

1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract (CariDom)

I used Goya Guava Jelly for the filling

Directions

Using a stand or hand held mixer, mix egg whites on high speed for several minutes until stiff peaks form.

In a small pan, stir sugar, water and lemon juice until sugar dissolves and caramel forms a syrup-like but transparent texture. Keep an eye on it so it does not burn. I messed it up the first time and had to start over so do not give up. Use a candy thermometer and when it reaches 235 degrees, it is ready. To be sure, you can test the texture by taking a little of the syrup with a small spoon, and add a drop of the syrup to a paper towel. If it forms a little ball, it is ready. 

Turn mixer to high speed and add vanilla extract, and the hot caramel mixture little by little to the egg white/whipping cream mixture. Keep mixing until it reaches a thick but soft consistency like whipped cream cheese. 

If you wish, add coloring at this time and stir with spatula. I used AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Deep Pink. Use by dipping toothpick in gel and then into frosting and stir gently with spatula. Each time, use a clean toothpick so frosting does not get into gel color. Repeat until you reach the color you desire.

Set aside, and let it cool completely before frosting the cake.

Ready to frost

Cake Filling:

1/2 jar Goya Guava Jelly 

Decorate Cake:

Once cake and frosting cool completely, line edges of cake platter or cake circle (Wilton 10-inch) with strips of parchment paper to keep edges clean as you frost the cake. 

Use a grip liner over the cake turntable so the cake does not move while frosting. 

Place the cake on a cake circle and onto a cake turntable. If you do not have a cake circle just cut out a 10-inch circle from cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil. If you do not own a cake turntable, just use a large cake platter.

AmeriColor and Sprinkles

With a spatula or knife spread Guava Jelly over the first layer and frost as desired. 

I decorated with Wilton Pink Sugar and Wilton Valentine's Mix of hearts, pink, red and white sprinkles. 

Let frosting set overnight or for 2-3 hours in the fridge in a cake carrier and bring to room temperature for 1/2 hour just before serving.  

Here are previous Dominican cakes I posted on Two Frys over the years:

http://twofrys.blogspot.com/2011/02/dominican-cake.html

http://twofrys.blogspot.com/2012/05/dominican-cake.html

http://twofrys.blogspot.com/2014/06/dominican-cake.html

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys