Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Tiger Cakes
October 13, 2015 at 6:10 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 23 CommentsTags: baking, cake
I first had a Tiger Cake a couple of years ago at a beautiful bakery in Montreal, but I had no idea what it was called. I don’t think there was a sign and I just pointed to it and I took it to-go. When I ate it I thought it was so delicious– moist and chewy with ganache in the center– that I kicked myself for not having gotten its name. I could tell that it had almond flour in it and its texture seemed like a financier, so I immediately Googled around in English and French (it’s limited, but thanks to my fluent mother, I can speak some– especially food words!). I found exactly what I was looking for on several French sites, les tigrés au chocolat. Although I once posted about a tiger cake, it was a very different animal, and I never did make les tigrés at home. I didn’t forget about them, though, and was delighted to see a recipe for Tiger Cakes in Baking Chez Moi. I have nominated the recipe several for TWD times now, and I am really glad that its time has come!
This batter is a lot like a financier, or maybe more like a friand, with melted butter and egg whites. It stirs together in just a few seconds. Dorie’s recipe has finely chopped chocolate mixed into the batter to give the tiger cakes their stripes, but a bunch of those French recipes I saw called for chocolate vermicelli instead. Makes sense to me…jimmies do look like stripes. I have a box of nice Dutch dark chocolate ones, so I went ahead and used them (and also saved the trouble of chopping up chocolate into tiny flecks). I just eyeballed the amount. Some folks had trouble getting their baked tigers out of the tin, and recommended greasing well. My mini muffin mold is non-stick and has only been used a couple of times so it’s still pretty slick. I used a bit of spray for added insurance and I didn’t have any sticking issues. The ganache on top isn’t strictly necessary, but it sure is good.
These were great…just what I remember from Montreal. Cute, too. I will definitely repeat this one.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
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a whisk and a spoon 
Cute! *_* Hope to make them sometime ❤
Comment by bookloverbabbles— October 13, 2015 #
How awesome that you mention Montreal! I’m from Montreal and have never heard of this place!! It looks amazing, I’m gonna have to check out if I can swing by anytime soon for a baked treat!!
Comment by Stephanie Leduc— October 13, 2015 #
these cakes are so easy to make it is hard to imagine skipping this recipe! these little two bite cakes are perfect for sharing too.
Comment by alisahuntsman— October 13, 2015 #
These are cute and tasty and vermicelli is a PERFECT idea to get the stripes!
Comment by Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)— October 13, 2015 #
Vermicelli is a great idea. Your cakes look amazing, really tempting.
Katie xoxo
Comment by Katie— October 14, 2015 #
Your cakes look great. I had to google chocolate vermicelli but what a great idea. Love how you style your photos.
Comment by Margrèt Jóhanna— October 14, 2015 #
looks SO yummy.
Comment by jessie sheehan bakes— October 14, 2015 #
Yes, these were so good. You must have been excited to find a recipe for the unknown cakes – always good when that happens.
Comment by Cakelaw— October 14, 2015 #
This is certainly the pastry to indulge while visiting beautiful bakeries in any French speaking countries. Good tip!
Comment by flourishen test kitchen— October 14, 2015 #
These were so delicious, had I known I would have voted sooner:) I also used a nonstick pan which worked well. I am happy to repeat this recipe.
Comment by Diane Zwang— October 14, 2015 #
I have seen chocolate sprinkles on ice cream… are chocolate vermicelli the same? Can you buy them stateside or online? That is a great idea!
Comment by Nicole @ The 2nd 35 Years— October 14, 2015 #
Yes, but some are made with nicer ingredients than others. I’ve seen the Dutch brand that I have at Cost Plus World Market stores, if you have one near you. Cocao Barry and Guittard also make nice sprinkles with real chocolate that you can get online.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— October 14, 2015 #
I will have to look for these. Thanks!
Comment by Nicole @ The 2nd 35 Years— October 15, 2015 #
I’ve never had a Tiger Cake but oh my, I really want one after reading this 🙂
Comment by saffronandhoney— October 15, 2015 #
How fun that you have a real world version of Tiger Cakes to compare these to! I’ve never heard of them before, but I’ll definitely keep an eye out for them in the future.
Comment by Ei— October 15, 2015 #
Your cakes look great! ‘Loved reading about your experience of pointing at one to buy it and then then looking it up to see what it was. I had a similar experience of buying a financier in France but I had no idea it would be so easy to make or that they were related to Les Tigres. Now I want to get some of those ingot shaped pans and look up chocolate vermicelli. Who would have thunk that such a thing existed. Thanks for the info on sources.
Comment by Summer— October 15, 2015 #
The chocolate vermicelli are a great idea for creating a stripe effect. I also used a non-stick pan, and bakers joy, and didn’t have problems with sticking.
Comment by Zosia— October 15, 2015 #
these look delicious and have such a cute shape!
Comment by Beauty of Baking— October 15, 2015 #
Your cakes look so delicious, and the ganache is perfect. The recipe was so easy to prepare and so easy to eat.
Comment by Nana— October 16, 2015 #
This one will be a repeat for me too – they were delicious!
Comment by Karen— October 16, 2015 #
Yum! I love your blog, your posts are amazing! I just followed, it would be great if we can support each other 🙂 I can’t wait to read more
Comment by La Pineapple— October 18, 2015 #
I really need to have my mom make these sometime, yummy!
Comment by Kirsten Ann— November 2, 2015 #
These sound absolutely heavenly!
Comment by attemptingeternallygratitude— February 26, 2020 #