I must tell you right away: the Rose Cake with royal icing is one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten in recent years!
Soft and sugary, this ancient cake is a true comfort food, and only the diet stops me from making it every day.
The procedure for this cake is easy (because I explain it to you step by step) just a bit long, BUT I assure you that it is absolutely worth preparing this sugary and super soft brioche, it finishes in a moment and everyone will ask you for the recipe, you will impress your guests.
It is an elegant dessert, ideal to prepare on big occasions (Christmas, Easter, Women’s Day and Mother’s Day, etc.) or celebrations (in the Christmas version, it can also be decorated with red fruits and brought to friends’ houses).
Start preparing with the poolish the day before baking it, so organize your time (I’ll also put my schedule, of course, you can start at the time most convenient for you, respecting the times between rising stages).
This leavened dessert is among my “Top recipes”, because it is really delicious and absolutely not to be missed, if you are looking for other tested recipes guaranteed to succeed that are flop-proof, search on the Blog, among my hits, in the special Section: “My Top Recipes”.
If you love leavened desserts, look in the category of my Blog: “Sweet Leavened“.
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 13 Hours
- Preparation time: 13 Hours 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Mother's Day
Ingredients for the Rose Cake with Royal Icing
- 1 Fresh Brewer's Yeast (25 g)
- 1.7 oz Whole Milk (warm, about 80 °F)
- 50 g Flour (strong, at least W 330, I used Caputo red)
- 200 g Flour (strong, at least W 330, I used Caputo red)
- 100 g All-purpose Flour (I used Caputo classic blue)
- 1 Egg (whole, medium size)
- 2 Egg Yolks (medium size)
- 0.7 oz Butter (soft, at room temperature for at least 1 hour)
- 3.4 oz Whole Milk (warm, about 80°F)
- 2 tbsps Sugar (about 25 g)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 5 oz Butter (good quality, at room temperature for at least 1 hour)
- 5 oz Sugar
- 2 tbsps Egg Whites (about 40 g)
- 5.3 oz Powdered Sugar
Tools
- Bowl
- Mixer Kenwood, with illuminated bowl and 1400 W power
- Spatula
- Knife
- Parchment Paper
- 24 cm Cake Pan, with removable bottom and not
Preparation of the Rose Cake with Royal Icing
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk (about 80°F), then add the flour and mix quickly.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment for 8-10 hours at room temperature.
By the end of rising, it should look bubbly like this.
Mix the poolish in the mixer with the paddle attachment (Ken speed at 2) with 200g of strong flour + 100g of all-purpose flour, the eggs, a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of sugar, and the milk.
When everything is well blended and not too sticky, add the soft butter little by little (not all at once). Work for another 10 minutes (Ken at 2).
Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook and work, still at speed 2, for another 5-10 minutes.
You should obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Then cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 1 hour and 30 minutes at room temperature.
In the photo above, you see the dough before and after rising.
Work 140 g of soft butter and 140 g of sugar with a wooden spoon to obtain a spreadable cream to put on the dough.
Roll the dough into a very thin rectangle (lightly flour the work surface).
With the help of a spatula, spread the cream over the dough rectangle, then roll the dough tightly along the long side of the rectangle and cut the roll into 10 equal “roses” (see photo above).
Place the roses in a springform pan (diam. 24 cm) lined with parchment paper at a certain distance from each other, putting the smaller ones in the center and let rise for another hour and a half under a dome.
Bake at 170°C (static) for about 40 minutes, placing an aluminum sheet under the pan because the butter tends to leak from the pan.
Prepare the royal icing, beating with the whisk for 3 minutes the 40 g of egg whites with 150 g of powdered sugar.
At the end of cooking, brush the rose cake with the icing of egg whites and powdered sugar and put it back in the oven for 1 minute.
Take the Rose Cake out of the oven, let it rest for at least 5 minutes, and then carefully remove it from the pan onto a serving plate.
Notes and Tips
– You can reduce the amount of yeast: make the poolish with 1 gram and the next day add 10 grams to the dough.
– This rose cake turns out perfectly even if worked by hand, without a mixer (it just takes a bit of strength), starting by working in a bowl and beating the dough well, when you’ve added the butter, move to the worktop and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and homogeneous.
– If desired, you can add to the butter and sugar filling: raisins, pine nuts, walnuts, almond flakes, various peels, chocolate chips … but I assure you it’s already delicious as it is!
The recipe is by Marina Braito from Coquinaria, a true guarantee when it comes to desserts.
The recipe is by Marina Braito from Coquinaria, a true guarantee when it comes to desserts.
Shopping Tips!!!
For perfect and convenient kneading, I often use my Kenwood Titanium Chef Patissier XL stand mixer with illuminated 7L bowl, built-in scale, and blender, 1400W power, a faithful ally in the kitchen for: kneading, weighing, whipping, melting chocolate, pasteurizing eggs.
If you are looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer model, you can safely choose to purchase the Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker, with 1200W power.
You can find both mixers on Amazon at a special price.
To weigh the ingredients, I use this handy Digital kitchen scale, with a large removable bowl, tare function, and built-in timer
I baked the cake perfectly and evenly in this springform pan with two bases (bundt and non-bundt), you can find it on Amazon.
