Retro birthday cake

I love it when people ask me to make something and don't give me any instructions what so ever on flavor or decoration. I get to make whatever I feel like making.

And this is what I felt like making. Although my sister only asked for one cake to me it didn't feel like a party with only just one cake so I decided to make a two layered one.

I wanted to make the top layer with chocolate biscuit and fill it with some chocolate butter cream, raspberry jam and ganache and the second layer would be an orange biscuit with an orange curd, apricot jam and some "bokkenpootjes" butter cream.

I started with baking the biscuit for the two cakes using 1,5 of the biscuit recipe. For the first batter I added quite some cocoa powder. I didn't know that normally you would substitute 10% of the flour with cocoa powder so I added about 3-4 tablespoons of cocoa powder. It turned out just fine so no worries.
For the second layer I added some orange zest to the batter. 

Then when the cakes were cooling down I started to make the first batch of butter cream. For the chocolate butter cream I added 200 grams of melted pure chocolate to the basic butter cream. For the ganache I used equal parts of whipping cream and chocolate. For the sugar syrup I used equal parts of water and sugar and I added a dash of amaretto liqueur. 

I made the orange curd the day before using my lemon curd recipe:
- 300 ml fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 100 gr room temperature butter
- 100 sugar
- pinch of salt

Unfortunately the curd wasn't as smooth as I hoped. So I poured the mixture back in the pot and heat it all up again. Then I added 2 tablespoons of custard powder and let it cook for a couple of minutes. So instead of orange curd I ended up with some orange crème pâtissière which was even better. 

The second batter of butter cream I mixed 1/3 with some crushed bokkenpootjes and to 2/3 I added 3-4 tablespoons of orange crème pâtissière.

When the cakes cooled down I cut them in 3 layers each. Each layer of the cake got sprinkled with some sugar/amaretto syrup to keep them moist. 

The first layer on the chocolate cake was raspberry jam. And on top of that a thin layer of chocolate butter cream. Then the next layer was chocolate ganache and a thin layer of chocolate butter cream. Then the whole cake was covered in chocolate butter cream. 

The orange cake had a first layer of thinly spread apricot jam, orange crème pâtissière and a thin layer of orange butter cream. The next layer was a thin layer of orange crème pâtissière and some bokkenpootjes butter cream. Then the whole cake was covered in orange butter cream. Both cakes went into the fridge till the butter cream was hard. 

I used 1 kilo of white marshmallow fondant and 250 gram of purple fondant for the decoration. For the top cake I didn't had a paper cake bottom as it would be stacked on top of the other cake, but next time I would use one. It will keep the two part separated while cutting the cake. 

Both cakes were transported separately and stacked together on site. Too bad the light was horrible for the last picture, but everyone loved the cake!

Butter cream

I can't believe I don't have a separate entry for butter cream. I've been using it a lot these days but it seems like the recipe is tucked away somewhere. This butter cream is so great it deserves it's own entry.

I've seen my American friends make butter cream by just creaming butter and powdered sugar together, but this is not that kind of butter cream. This one is sooo much better and less sweet.

You need:
- 85 gr water
- 225 gr sugar
- 100 gr egg white
- pinch of cream of tartar
- 500 gr room temperature butter in cubes

Boil the water and the sugar till 121C. When the temperature reaches about 115C whisk the egg white with the cream of tartar till firm peeks. Then on high speed mix in the sugar syrup mixture and continue to mix it till the bowl cools off. Then add the butter cube for cube till it's a smooth batter. This is the basic butter cream. To this mixture you can add whatever flavoring you want. 

So far I've tried adding:
- 200 gr melted pure chocolate for some chocolate butter cream
- 200 gr coconut paste and some Malibu liqueur for some coconut butter cream
- 2 tablespoons of orange liqueur
- 3 or 4 tablespoons of orange curd for some orange butter cream
- 3 or 4 tablespoons of bokkenpootjes
- 3 or 4 tablespoons of cherry syrup for some cherry butter cream

- a couple of dashes of mint liqueur and mint syrup 

- some scoops of homemade blueberry compote 

Coffee bavarois cake and Brussels banket / paleis banket

Today we were shown a different way of making a bavarois cake. This time we didn't use a mold for the batter but we piped it directly on baking paper. The recipe for the cake batter was very similar to the biscuit recipe. 

We used:
- 150 gr eggs
- 100 gr sugar
- 45 gr shifted flour
- 35 gr flour + 10 gr cocoa powder shifted
oven temperature 220C

We started with heating the sugar and the eggs in a double boiler till about 40C. Then we mixed it on high speed till it was light and fluffy. The batter was then divided in two. In the first part we fold in the flour. In the second batter we fold in the flour and the cocoa.

Then we poured the batter in two piping bags and pipped the batter on a baking tray. The cake has to bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or till it bounces back on your touch.

After it comes out of the oven we immediately took it off the baking tray and turned it upside down on some baking paper covered with some sugar to cool.

We covered the bottom and the sides of a cake mold and I sprinkled it with some coffee liqueur. We even had enough cake to make 2 smaller ones.

I accidentally used the wrong side of the cake to cover the outside. 

This bavarois is a milk based bavarois and has a sightly different recipe:
- 9 gr gelatin powder + 45 gr water
- 25 gr egg yolk
- 75 gr sugar
- 300 ml milk
- 150 ml whipped whipping cream
- liqueur to taste

First we mixed the egg yolk with a bit of sugar and heated the rest of the sugar with the milk. When the milk was hot we add some to the egg, mixed it well and then poured it all back so it could cook on 80C for a few minutes. Then we added the gelatin and mixed it till it all dissolves. This is the time where we added some coffee liqueur to make it extra tasty. When the mixture thickens a bit we folded the whipped whipping cream in. Of course it was possible to mix in come crumbled cookies or fruit, but since the top layer would be coffee flavored only the coffee liqueur was enough for us.

We poured this mixture in our cake mold and put it in the fridge to set. After that we covered the top with a layer of coffee glaze.

We even had time to make almond cookies called Brussels banket and or paleis banket. I have to admit I have never heard of these cookies, but they were surprisingly easy to make. All we needed was:
- 250 gr almond paste
- 1 egg
- bigarreaux (preserved sweetened cherries)
- apricot jam
- wafer (ouwel papier)
- pink fondant
oven temperature 180C

We mixed the almond paste with the egg till the mixture was loose enough to pipe. Basically you can make them any shape, but typically they are round and have a cherry in the middle. Or they are rectangle with some pink fondant in the middle. 

Because they are very sticky we piped them on wafer. That's the white "paper" you see sticking from under the cookies.

We baked them till golden and after they come out of the oven we brushed them with some apricot jam to break through the sweetness a bit. And the rectangle cookies were covered with some pink fondant in the middle. I never had them before, but they were pretty addictive.

Pate a decor

After a two week break it is finally time to share what I've learned in the first lesson of this new phase.

We were taught how to make this fancy bavarois cake. I remembered looking at those cakes in the store and thinking wow they look so fancy. Now I know it's only a mold they are using.

In class they had several molds to choose from and they were very expensive. I've been told they were as much as 60 euros each! But even without fancy molds you can make a fancy cake.

As the mold had to be filled with two different kinds of batter we started with the first layer. For this we needed:
- 50 gr powdered sugar
- 50 gr melted butter
- 50 gr egg white
- 50 gr flour
- few drops of food color

This recipe is so simple since all we did was put all the ingredients together till it was a smooth batter. This batter would be then poured in the molds and we made sure it filled all the cavities. Then the mold would go into the freezer till the batter is frozen enough for the second layer.

For the second layer we use:
- 56 gr sugar
- 56 gr almond flour
- 75 gr egg
- 50 gr egg white
- 12 gr flour
- 10 gr melted butter
- 7 gr sugar
200C oven temperature

First we had to whisk the 50 gram egg whites with the 7 gram sugar till they were fluffy. Then we mixed the sugar and almond flour together with the egg and mixed that with the butter and flour mixture. And this would then be folded in with the egg whites.
This would be then spread over the frozen first batter layer and then baked till golden.

After the cake has cooled we used a mold to cut out the bottom and we made sure the sides fits tightly. 

Then it was time to make the bavarois. For this we used:
- 9 gr gelatin powder
- some lemon juice to taste
- 150 ml fruit puree
- 100 ml sugar syrup
- 250 ml whipping cream

First we let the gelatin bloom in 45 gram water. Then we headed the fruit puree with the sugar syrup and the lemon juice till it almost boils. To this we added the gelatin and stirred it till all the gelatin dissolved. Then we whipped up some whipping till almost stiff.
When the fruit mixture is thicken a bit we mixed in the whipping cream and poured in in our mold. After the bavarois has set we took off the mold and we ended up with this fancy little treat.

I didn't wanted to make a fruit layer on top, but one of my class mates had some left so I used it to cover one of the cakes. 

The fruit puree we used just tasted awful on it's own, but in the bavarois it wasn't too bad. Personally I would've make it with some fresh fruit, frozen fruit or even fruit out of a can instead of the puree we used.

The end result wasn't as light and fluffy as I though it would be. It reminded me of a "kwarktaart" although it didn't had any "kwark" in it. 

I didn't had the chance to make this cake at home, but if I would I would make it slightly different so it's lighter and fluffier. But this is something for next time.

Transformers birthday cake

It's so funny how fast things can go and to be honest fast is the way I like it. I went to see my friend the other day and I showed her some pictures of the cakes I decorated in the last few weeks. Then she mentioned that it was her son's birthday and asked me if I wanted to make his birthday cake. Without hesitation I off course said yes.

I had two days to plan and put the cake together because on the day of the birthday I just wanted the cake to be done so I could work on some details if needed. I got a carte blanche on the cake since my friend says she trusts my judgement so she didn't gave me any requirements. Luckily  the birthday boy said he loves transformers so I got something to work with.

I checked online for some inspiration and found a cake design that I liked. My classmate wanted to have some practice so he came by to help.

I went and got everything I needed for the cake and on the day before the birthday I baked 2 cakes using the recipe for "biscuit deeg".The first layer would be a chocolate cake with a cherry compote and cherry butter cream filling and the second layer would be a vanilla cake with raspberry jam and butter cream filling. 

For the cherry compote I used a jar of cherries, drained the juice and cooked it till it reduced in half. Then adjusted the flavor by adding sugar and lemon juice. When it was to my liking I scooped some tablespoons in a bowl for my butter cream. Then I added the cherries and let it all simmer. With a bit of potato starch and water I thickened the cherry mixture and I let it cook for a minute or so.

For the butter cream I used:
- 85 gr water
- 225 gr sugar
- 100 gr egg white
- 75 gr sugar
- 500 gr room temperature butter

I stared with cooking the water and the sugar till it was 121C. At around 115C I stared mixing the egg white with some sugar till it was firm. Then when the sugar syrup reached the right temperature I slowly added it to the egg white mixture and continue to whisk it till the bowl cooled. Then slowly bit by bit I added the butter till everything is fully corporate. I mixed some butter cream with the cherry syrup and kept the rest for masking both cakes.

After filling and masking the cakes we covered them with fondant that we already colored. Then we made the details and carved out the transformers logo.

I didn't stack the cakes until I arrived at the party. My friend, her family and especially the birthday boy were very impressed by the cake.

It was super fun to make this cake and everyone loved it! 

Two tier happy cake

It was unbelievable how fast this phase went. And the thing that surprised me most is how much fun I had with royal icing and how pretty the cakes turned out. 

On the last day of this phase we all had to cover and decorate a two tier cake. As the school opens at 9 am we could start as soon as we arrived. 

I started with making some royal icing. I found some very pretty cake designs online and I wanted to combine the designs for my cake. I wanted my cake to be covered in white fondant with blue accents. But first I cut my cake in 3 layers and filled them with a cherry compote and apricot compote. Then I covered it with some butter cream and let the cakes chill in the fridge till the butter cream hardens.

In the meantime we made some piping bags with different colors and we started with rolling out our fondant.  I also made an attempt on piping orchids since they had to dry out for a bit. I made some smaller once and some bigger ones.

I love the color blue and like how it pairs with white and yellow. Since the fondant was white blue and the orchids were white blue with a yellow/red accent I decided to use the same color for my decoration.  

Then it was time to put it all together. After both cakes were covered with fondant I used some pearl colored powder mixed with alcohol to give the cakes a nice shine. After the alcohol vaporized I stuck 3 straws in the first layer of the cake and cut them off about 1 cm above the top. This would be supporting the second layer of the cake. After that it was decoration time! 

At first I placed all the orchids on top. Then I though the second layer looked a bit bare so I removed the bigger orchids and placed them on the second layer. Next time it is better to have a plan first because the orchids were not fully dried yet and left a little stain on the white.

For someone who didn't had a plan of how to decorate the cake I was so very pleased with the end result. And what was more important is that it tasted soooo good! I made a lot of people happy with this cake so there you have it: my two tier happy cake.

Pressure piping

This class has all been about royal icing; in particular about pressure piping. With this technique you can make the whole animal kingdom, if you wish. The key is to know when to press and when to stop and to know how to build your animal step by step. Most animals are made out of a round shape or a water drop shape. By putting more or less pressure on your piping bag you can give it any shape you wish. 

Here are some very fun and cute samples of what can be done with pressure piping. 

Today was the first day we covered and decorated a real edible cake and as I don't see myself making a lot of animals with pressure piping I decided to decorate my cake with flowers. I have to say I am getting really good at it!

As this module is all about using royal icing for decoration we all got to work with a cake that the school made earlier. It was quite a big cake so I manage to cut it in 4 even (yah!) pieces. On the cake I sprinkled a bit of sugar water. This is just a simple syrup made of 50% sugar and 50% boiling water and to make it extra flavorful we added a dash or two amaretto liquor. After that I spread some cherry jam on one layer and some apricot jam on the other. On the last layer I used half cherry and half apricot. Then I coated it all with some Italian butter cream. This is not simply butter and some powdered sugar creamed together, but made with egg whites, sugar water and butter. Because the base of this butter cream is a meringue mixture it's silky smooth and not overly sweet. I think I can eat a whole bowl of if just by itself! 

After the cake was covered it has to be chilled in the fridge for a bit so the butter cream can firm up. In the mean time we kneaded some white fondant and since I love blue I added some color to it. 

I spend the afternoon making flowers and decorating my cake. 

And I was very pleased with the results.

I even had time to decorate a ginger bread house!