For my nephew's first birthday party I wanted to make something he could enjoy as well. I decided on making a two tier cake with one extra little cake for him only to enjoy. So for the adult cake I could go all out since he won't have any of it anyway.
For the baby cake (4 inch square baking tin) and the top tier (6 inch square baking tin) I used 1,5 times the biscuit recipe so;
- 300 gr eggs
- 150 gr sugar
- 150 gr flour
- pinch of salt
- lemon zest
This is enough to fill the two tins.
For the bottom tier (8 inch square pan) I used the same recipe, but next time I would double the recipe to:
- 400 gr eggs
- 200 gr sugar
- 200 gr flour
- pinch of salt
- lemon zest
I think this would make the bottom tier higher. And maybe next time I will use even less flour, maybe the cake would be more moist.
For the butter cream I doubled the recipe and this was more then enough since I also used some for my maccarons. Part of it I kept plain for the baby boy and the other parts I divided it in two so I could make mint butter cream and blueberry butter cream. The mint butter cream would be used as a crumble coating.
I baked the biscuit the day before to save time, but next time if possible I would bake it the same day. I think that might make a difference as well.
I started with the baby cake first and cut the biscuit in three parts. On the first part I brushed some sugar water to keep the biscuit moist. Then I spread a layer of crème pâtissière and topped it with some blueberry jam. The second layer was the same. Then I crumble coated it with some butter cream. The cake had to be refrigerated before I could decorate it.
Then I started with the bottom layer since this was the biggest. I also cut the biscuit in 3 parts and this time I sprinkled the biscuit with some mint liquer sugar water. Then I thinly spread some crème pâtissière added the blueberry jam and the blueberry butter cream. I did the same for the next layer. Then I crumble coated it with the mint liqueur butter cream and put it in the fridge.
For the second tier I had some mint butter cream left so I used part of it in the filling, but the rest was also similar to the bottom tier.
As for the decorations I looked online for some inspiration, but ended up with my own design of the cake. The bottom tier was covered in white fondant and the second and baby cake in baby blue fondant. As I still had lots of blue and gray fondant I decided to go for a blue and gray color scheme. My nephew loves birds and ducks so birds in the blue sky and ducks on the bottom tier. I didn't really wanted to make clouds so I just made some white decorations, also to cover the not so nice parts up. With a letter cutter I cut out his name and with a number cutter a "1".
I started with covering all the biscuits with fondant, starting from big to small. Then for decorating I did the top tier first. As I wanted the baby cake to be similar to the top tier I started decoration this one after. Last I decorated the bottom tier.
I'm very proud of the cake, but next time I will need to cover up the flaws a bit better. But the important part was that everyone loved the cake and I absolutely loved making it for my baby boy who is now a toddler.
I have a cake and I don't know what to do with it. I know it doesn't sound like a problem, but it kinda is. Since I'm in baking school every week I bring something home and then I also use the recipe to try out new things. So now I have a cake.
Last Tuesday I already shared some calories aka mocha cake with the neighbors so I want to give them a break this week. The cake is in my fridge till I can find it a new home. But boy, I had so much fun making it.
First I used the recipe for that ubersoft, light and fluffy, no butter cake:
- 200 gr eggs
- 100 gr sugar
- 100 gr sifted flour
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
oven temperature 170C
I put the egg, sugar and lemon zest in my mixing bowl and put the bowl in some boiling water continuing stirring the mixture till the eggs were somewhat lukewarm. Then I beat the mixture on high speed till it was fluffy and light yellow. Then bit by bit I added the flour, slowly incorporate it in the mixture, trying to keep as much air in as possible.
I poured the mixture in a baking tin that I already lightly buttered (the sideds) and lined the bottom with some parchment paper and baked int in a 170C oven for about 25-30 minutes.
It came out perfectly.
The cake was high enough so after it cooled I cut it in three layers (YEAH!!). I made sure I turned the cake upside down (the bottom layer has a flat surface so that has to be on top) before I started. And I placed the cake on some plastic foil so it's easier for me to put it in the box later.
At first I didn't know what to use to fill the cake, but I remembered I had some lemon curd in the fridge and some blueberry in the freezer so a blueberry lemon curd cake it is. Unfortunately I forgot to take out the lemon curd and I didn't remember until I was done decorating. I made butter cream for the first time and I was so exited about it that I totally forgot about the lemon curd.
I did however made a little blueberry jam spread with some frozen blueberries and a bit of sugar.
I couldn't make the Italian meringue recipe because I don't have a candy thermometer. So I searched online for a recipe that would work for me. I found that some people made butter cream with butter (of course) and lots of sugar and some indeed made it with egg whites or meringue mixture. For butter cream made with meringue there was one simple rule. Just as simple as 1-2-3. That reminds me of the 1-2-3 dough recipe, so easy to remember.
For the butter cream I used:
- 60 gr egg white (1)
- 120 gr sugar (2)
- 180 gr butter cut in little cubes (3)
Actually I only used 140 gr butter and a bit more egg white and I added some lemon zest, so it is possible to tinker a bit with the recipe.
I warmed the egg white with the sugar au bain marie (in a bowl on top of boiling water). I stirred it till the sugar dissolved. Then I poured the mixture in my mixing bowl mixing it on high speed till it was glossy and could form peeks. Then one by one I slowly added the butter cubes till it was incorporated and the mixture was smooth and light. At this point it was ready, but because I wanted some color I added some blueberry jam juice and mixed it for a little bit longer. Then I scooped it in a piping bag and got busy with it.
On the first cake layer I spread a small layer of blueberry jam but left some room on the edges and then covered it with some creme patisserie. On the edges I piped some buttons with some butter cream.
Then I place the second layer on top. I spread the remaining blueberry jam in the middle and added another layer of butter cream buttons. I also jazzed it up a bit by adding some fruit liqueur to the blueberry jam.
By this time I didn't had enough butter cream to cover the whole cake, so I covered the top with lots of button shaped butter cream.
Just for some color contrast I added the meringue buttons. So there you go. I have cake...
