Archaeology-Themed Spice Cake with Edible Pot Sherds

[gatharion]

I want to make an archaeology-themed cake for my partner's birthday. My idea is to do a multi-layer spice cake with each layer being a different type of spice cake. Something distinct, but complimentary to the others.
I was thinking: chai, orange, cardamom, and nutmeg as the predominate flavors for the different layers, but I'm open to suggestions and don't have any particular recipes in mind for any of them.

I've got pretty much no idea what to do for the frosting, though. What would be good for such a large cake and work with the different flavors?

I plan on using a 9" square pan for each layer.

I was also thinking of making some sort of edible pot sherds and bones to put in between the layers during assembly. Would you suggest using candy melts for that?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hello @gatharion while the flavors you have in mind complement each other, they won’t stand out. These flavors blend a little too well, so going to get lost. Cardamom is a fundamental spices in chai, so chai and cardamom are going to cancel each other out anyway. Orange peel is frequently added two teas so that may be another one that gets canceled out in the mix. While you bake four layers, the really create one flavor because the flavors are all already in the chai.

When you blend flavors you want flavors that compliment but contrast with each other so that you can distinguish one flavor from the other.

 

[gatharion]

That's a good point. Any suggestions?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

That's a good point. Any suggestions?

Keeping with the chai theme..,

Cake: chai

Filling: mango or passion fruit curd OR frangipane almond cream

Buttercream: honey Italian buttercream. The sugar in the Italian buttercream is replaced with honey. Stella Parks on the website Serious Eats created this recipe

when creating a 4 layer cake it’s very important that you create thin layers of cake and icing. The mistake people make is thick layers. It’s overwhelmingly sweet. If using standard 2” deep cake layers are sliced in half (torting) so they are 1”. The feeling is piped so it’s only 1/2” thick.

It’s also aesthetically pleasing when the cake is sliced and plated.

A layer before torting

dam the edge before adding filling no matter what type of filling you use.

A successful cake is a balance between flavors, sweetness, and texture. It’s also getting the taking into consideration what that cakes gonna look like when it’s sliced on the plate AND the amount of cake, filling, buttercream, and other elements will end up
in each slice.

 

[gatharion]

Thanks. I appreciate the advice!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thanks. I appreciate the advice!

good luck. I also love your idea of your putting little chocolate bones and pot shards in the filling. That’s a real nice personal touch. And yes candy melts would work fine for that I think.

 

[AyushGupta]

I want to make an archaeology-themed cake for my partner's birthday. My idea is to do a multi-layer spice cake with each layer being a different type of spice cake. Something distinct, but complimentary to the others.
I was thinking: chai, orange, cardamom, and nutmeg as the predominate flavors for the different layers, but I'm open to suggestions and don't have any particular recipes in mind for any of them.

I've got pretty much no idea what to do for the frosting, though. What would be good for such a large cake and work with the different flavors?

I plan on using a 9" square pan for each layer.

I was also thinking of making some sort of edible pot sherds and bones to put in between the layers during assembly. Would you suggest using candy melts for that?

That's a great & unique idea multi-layer spice cake. I didn't hear any such type of cake before.