Seen, reviewed, and re-seen on the web, I couldn’t resist trying the pillow cake recipe with cocoa cream and salted caramel. Super soft and delicious, it’s also very easy to make! I’ve also recorded a video recipe with step-by-step instructions so you can follow along with me. I hope it’s helpful in preparing this quilt cake, which is recognizable by its appearance, much like the Nua Cake with custard I presented to you a few years ago.
The main feature of this cake is its texture, soft and porous. It almost resembles a sponge roll, like the ones used for making filled rolls, for clarity. Perhaps it’s because, like sponge cake, the eggs are worked separately: the whites are whipped to stiff peaks and the yolks must be mixed with sugar before incorporating the other ingredients.
This pillow cake requires a good amount of sugar compared to all the other sweet recipes I usually present to you. I wasn’t too fond of all this sugar: for me, who doesn’t like overly sugary desserts, one slice was enough, while everyone else, friends and family who tasted it, showered me with compliments.
Therefore, my advice is this: if you like desserts because you have a sweet tooth, this cake will surely win you over. For everyone else, know that I will soon prepare a version with bitter cocoa in the batter and that I will certainly drastically reduce the sugar.
That said, I can tell you that the aroma is intense. Bite after bite, the vanilla pairs excellently with the Fabbri 1905’s salted caramel and cocoa cream. Thanks to the salty note, the underlying sweet ness of the quilt cake is tempered. The recipe for the pillow cake I selected has even less sugar than all the others, so I can’t imagine how sweet the others must be. But, as they say, to each their own!
I remind you that for all my blog followers and readers, there is a 20% discount on the Fabbri 1905 site. To receive it, simply write FABBRIRICETTEDIBEA20 before paying for the products you’ve added to your cart. On the blog, you’ll find plenty of recipes with the gifted products I’ve created over the months, from muffins to cakes like loaves or other savory treats like cheese chips with candy ginger and yogurt cream.
Below you will find recipes that you can make with cocoa or with the cocoa cream I used to create the quilt design of the pillow cake I am presenting today! Every link is clickable and will take you directly to the recipe you choose to read right here on my blog.
Remember that I’m waiting for you every morning in the Facebook group and fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day, an unmissable appointment to start the day with a sweet or salty treat!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Autumn, Winter, and Spring
- Energy 556.11 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 66.68 (g) of which sugars 41.61 (g)
- Proteins 9.50 (g)
- Fat 29.35 (g) of which saturated 2.81 (g)of which unsaturated 10.32 (g)
- Fibers 3.71 (g)
- Sodium 188.74 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 85 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for a pillow cake with cocoa cream for a 9×13 inch pan
- 3 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 1/3 cups flour (in my case for soft cakes)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tbsp potato starch (or cornstarch if you prefer)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (in my case sunflower oil)
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- 1 packet vanilla (or a vial)
- 1 cup spreadable cocoa cream (and salted caramel from Fabbri 1905)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
Tools for preparing the pillow cake or soft and delicious quilt cake
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Mixer
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Scale
- 1 Baking Pan
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Oven
- 1 Piping Bag
- 1 Parchment Paper
Steps for the super soft and delicious pillow cake recipe with cocoa cream
Let’s start by preheating the oven to 350°F static mode, so it will be well-heated when we bake the pillow cake! Gather all the necessary ingredients for this recipe, weigh them, and place them in front of you on a work surface. Of course, also gather all the listed tools for preparation. Now we can really start with today’s recipe!
Break the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. We will work the former with a pinch of salt and the amount of sugar. The latter, however, we will whip to stiff peaks with a pinch of salt. Don’t be afraid to add salt to sweets: it simply helps the eggs dissolve better during processing. Set aside the bowl with the egg white peaks and proceed with the preparation in the bowl where we created a nice dense and frothy cream of yolks.
Then pour in the amount of vegetable oil, in my case sunflower oil, and then the glass of sparkling water. Continue to work with the mixer or beaters. Take the flours: flour for soft cakes, potato starch, vanilla powder, and baking powder, preferably not vanilla. If you’ve sifted them before, you can gradually add them spoon by spoon; if you sift them into the bowl, as I did, use a spoon and do it with the mixer turned off. Otherwise, you’ll find flour everywhere in the kitchen.
Now that the flours have also been combined into the mixture, we can turn off the mixer for good and switch to the spatula. We will need to incorporate the egg white peaks into the mixture, gently, with an upward motion. I always recommend watching the video recipe, found below the first photo, to understand each individual step you’re about to perform.
Now take a rectangular baking pan. I recommend a size no larger than 9×13 inches, otherwise, the cake will be too low and not soft. Wet a sheet of parchment paper and squeeze it well. Then place it on the pan, arranging it carefully so that there are no edges where the quilt cake might leak during baking.
Pour the mixture into the pan and level the surface. Now take the piping bag and fill it with Fabbri 1905’s salted caramel and cocoa cream. Decorate the cake surface without applying pressure, using the classic diagonals of the quilt or the pillow or duvet, like grandma’s blanket if you will. If you wish, you can also dust the surface with white sugar or cane sugar. We are finally ready to bake the cake!
Place the pan in the center of the oven and let it bake for 25 to 30 minutes, reducing the temperature to 340°F, still on static mode. Always do the toothpick test before turning off the oven. Let the pillow cake with cocoa cream cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
All that’s left is for me to wish you a good appetite and remind you that I’m here every day on my cooking blog with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one!
Tips and Storage:
Main Tips: Make sure to whip the egg whites well with a pinch of salt until stiff. This is essential to achieve the same fluffiness as my vanilla pillow cake. Work all other ingredients well, first with the electric mixer and then with the spatula, to avoid lumps in the batter. The oven temperature is crucial to avoid drying out the cake, as is the central position for baking. Be careful when incorporating the egg white peaks into the mixture: slow, upward movements to avoid deflating the work done earlier.
You can store the quilt cake with cocoa cream in a cake storage container. This way, it will remain soft and delicious for days, as if freshly baked. After two days, it’s still soft and fragrant. I’m really happy to have tried this recipe recommended by you.
