It's my second son's 11th birthday! I am making a cake for him, and like this idea from http://www.fox.com.au/scoopla/trebuttong-now/blog/2014/6/amazing-rainbow-tie-dye-number-surprise-cake/
(extracted picture from above blog link)
Instead of using pre-mix cake, I am making my own sponge. A friend has joined me too, and we each made our own. There are two cakes involved and it takes some time to complete. So, plan your time well :)
Cake Sponge 1
Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
1/2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup full cream milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Food Colour Dyes
Method
1. Grease loaf tin and preheat oven at 160C.
2. In a clean and dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites and add caster sugar In 3 batches. Beat till stiff.
3. In another mixing bowl, beat egg yolks till very thick and creamy. Add in milk.
4. Mix cake flour and baking powder thoroughly. Sift into yolk mixture and fold gently.
5. Scoop 1/3 meringue into yellow batter and fold in gently.
6. Pour into remaining meringue and fold in gently until there is no more white streaks. Gently fold in melted butter and extract.
7. Divide the batter among a few bowls and mix in a different colour in every bowl.
8. You may pour individual coloured batter into piping bags, but I am using a spoon to do the drizzling.
9. Tap a few times to release potential air bubbles.
10. Bake for about 30 - 40 mins or until skewer comes out clean when poked in the centre. Do not overbake.
11. Remove cake from loaf tin to cool completely.
12. Once the cake is completely cooled, slice it. Freeze for about 30 min. (This enables nice cuts)
13. Use a cutter to cut out shape. Freeze again till hard (probably at least 4hr or overnight).
Tip:
"Glue" the cut out shape by gently brushing with melted butter on the touching surfaces and align the cakes into a row. The butter will hold the pieces in place.
Note:
Frozen Cake 1 helps to keep the slices in place during second bake, otherwise the shapes may float and not align well.
Frozen Cake 1 helps to keep the slices in place during second bake, otherwise the shapes may float and not align well.
Cake Sponge 2
Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
1 tbsp melted butter
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup full cream milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Some dried cranberries, lightly coated with some flour (optional)
Some dried cranberries, lightly coated with some flour (optional)
Method
1. Grease loaf tin and preheat oven at 160C.
2. In a clean and dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites and add caster sugar In 3 batches. Beat till stiff.
3. In another mixing bowl, beat egg yolks till very thick and creamy. Add in milk.
4. Mix cake flour and baking powder thoroughly. Sift into yolk mixture and fold gently.
5. Scoop 1/3 meringue into yellow batter and fold in gently.
6. Pour into remaining meringue and fold in gently until there is no more white streaks. Gently fold in melted butter and extract.
7. Scoop a layer of batter at bottom of loaf tin. Put the rest of batter into a piping bag.
8. Arrange the frozen colourful cake into the tin.
9. Pipe out the batter to gently cover the colourful cake completely . (I added some dried cranberries here and there as I went along)
10. Give a few light taps and bake for about 30 - 40 mins. Do not over bake or the colour cakes will be dry.
10. Give a few light taps and bake for about 30 - 40 mins. Do not over bake or the colour cakes will be dry.
11. Remove cake from loaf tin to cool completely.
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| Soft and fluffy cake! I was very satisfied =) |
12. Trim cake and decorate as you like.
I used vanilla buttercream to coat the cake.
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| decorated with caramel pop corns, jelly beans and sprinkles |
I am not a fan of buttercream, but this buttercream turns out so smooth and delicious! Better yet, I use milk instead of cream. Chilling the extra buttercream to make cake pops with the colourful cake crumbs. Yummy!
Basic Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
200g soft salted butter (not too soft, but still allows spatula to cut through)
200g soft salted butter (not too soft, but still allows spatula to cut through)
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
1. At medium speed, cream butter for about one minute.
2. Add 1 1/2 cup of icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
3. Mix well, add milk and mix well.
4. If the consistency is too soft, add more icing sugar by a tbsp. If it is too hard, add 1 tsp milk. Adjust until you get the required consistency.
VERDICT
I was a bit skeptical that the cake would be fine, especially I was not sure if Cake 1 would float and if it would turn out too dry. But I was very satisfied as the whole thing turned out to be very soft and moist! Due to the tidbits used for decoration, it was quite sweet but hey, it was meant for a young boy! The buttercream enhanced the flavour and mummy ate quite a fair share ^o^
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| extra batter was made into 2 cupcakes, and piped in some vanilla buttercream and chilled before serving. |
I was a bit skeptical that the cake would be fine, especially I was not sure if Cake 1 would float and if it would turn out too dry. But I was very satisfied as the whole thing turned out to be very soft and moist! Due to the tidbits used for decoration, it was quite sweet but hey, it was meant for a young boy! The buttercream enhanced the flavour and mummy ate quite a fair share ^o^
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