This is a mix of recipes I used from My Paleo Patisserie by Jenni Hulet.
It include vanilla joconde cake and buttercream.
Note: This is a time consuming recipe. If you only have an hour till your next work call, dont make this.
Also, dont stress out, this is hard and your joconde cake might crack, or your buttercream might curtle. Dont worry, it will taste good in the end! :)
Joconde Cake
Ingredients
2 tablespoons palm shortening or ghee
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons firmly packed maple sugar
3 large egg whites room temp (save the yolks for buttercream)
3 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Special Equipment:
15 by 10 inch jelly roll pan
Yield:
One 15 by 10 inch cake
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease and line the jelly roll pan with parchment paper, then grease the top of the parchment paper as well.
2. In a small saucepan, melt the shortening over medium heat, then set aside to cool. Pulse the sugar in a small coffee/spice grinder until fine and powdery and set aside 3 tablespoons. A very fine sugar is important to the texture of the cake.
3. Sift the flowers and sugar together into a bowl and set aside.
4. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the egg whites till foamy, then add the cream of tartar and continue beating until the mixture looks like softly whipped cream (soft peaks). Add the 3 tablespoons of reserved sugar, then beat on medium high speed till stiff peaks form. Scrape the meringue into a separate clean bowl .
5. Return the bowl to the mixer stand (no need to clean it out) and switch to the paddle attachment. Place the flour mixture and the three whole eggs in the bowl and beat on medium for about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and gently fold in the egg whites till only a few white streaks remain. Then gently fold in the cooled shortening.
6. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or till the cake has golden flecks and the top springs back when gently pressed.
7. Lay out a large flour sack towel on your work surface. Dust the towel lightly with arrowroot flour. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, loosen the edges with a sharp knife, then turn it out onto the towel. Remove the parchment paper. With the short end facing you, tightly roll up the cake using the towel, rolling the away from you. Rolling tightly helps prevent cracking. Let cool completely before using.
Buttercream
Ingredients:
6 large egg yolks room temp (use the 3 extra from the joconde cake plus 2 more)
1 cup maple syrup or honey
1 1/2 cup palm shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
1. Place the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the yolk on high speed for about 5 minutes or till thick and light in color. While the yolks are whipping, pour the maple syrup into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil the syrup till it reaches a temperature of 240F on a candy thermometer, 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Lower the mixer speed and pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks in a slow, steady stream. Try not to hit the beaters or the syrup will splatter all over the bowl. Once all the syrup has been added, beat on high speed till the egg mixture is completely cool. This should take 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the shortening bit by bit, beating till thick and smooth. Beat in the vanilla. (I used natural food coloring from Whole Foods)
4. If the buttercream becomes loss and liquidy, your egg yolks may not have been sufficiently cooled when you added the shortening. Chill the mixture slightly in the fridge, then resume beating. It will emulsion eventually. If it curdles, the shortening might have been too cold. No worries, just keep beating! Beating the mixture fixes pretty much anything!