The Perfect Birthday Chocolate Cake

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I promised I would share the recipe for the Despicable Me Birthday Cake I made for Sugababe 1.

This is also my go-to recipe for all my 3D birthday cakes. There are 3 very good reasons for this:

Firstly, chocolate cake is a real crowd pleaser.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the rate of consumption for chocolate cakes is about 3 times faster than for any other type of cake.  Or that people seem to have a separate stomach for chocolate that makes them go back for seconds.  My 3D birthday cakes tend to be pretty big, and if I want to avoid having leftover birthday cake for days after the event, chocolate cake it will have to be. 

Secondly, this recipe makes a large enough cake for me to construct a proper-sized 3D cake diorama. And allows me to fit all those cartoon characters that my Sugababes are so fond of requesting for their birthdays.  Also, this is the largest-sized cake that can still fit on the largest foil-wrapped cake board (and cake box) that is sold here. 

Thirdly, this is a buttermilk recipe.  You may already know how much I adore the tangy flavour of buttermilk cakes.  The other thing to love about buttermilk recipes like this one is how easy and failproof it is. No creaming of butter till 'pale and fluffy' or beating of egg whites to 'stiff but not dry'.  Not that I am doubting your ability to do those well.  But if you are like me, cakes have a cruel way of failing on me on the eve of big events.  I kid you not - I once had to throw out 24 cupcakes I was doing for a birthday.  I almost cried, not just because they were so flat, oily and ugly.  But from the sheer shame of it all.  I mean, cupcakes???  Not only were these very BASIC cupcakes, I had also baked from this recipe umpteen times without incident.  No matter how much I think I have improved in my baking skills, tragic events like these keep me humble.

So. If you have to bake a big birthday cake (which is really the size of TWO birthday cakes - think how painful it would be to have to redo that).  And do not want to discover that it is possible to suddenly lose your butter-creaming prowess because of Murphy's law.  Or if you have more important  things to stress over (like what expressions to give Gru's naughty little minions). This chocolate cake recipe will serve you well.
 
There are so many ways to fill, frost and serve up a good chocolate cake. 

For the Despicable Me cake, the basic recipe was transformed into a Coco-Nana Chocolate Cake.  Imagine dark, rich and moist chocolate cake layers with a hint of espresso.  Separated by generous chunks of sweet pisang mas ('golden bananas'), embedded in rich whipped chocolate. And frosted all over with a layer of fragrant coconut buttercream.  That combination of dark chocolate, sweet bananas and salted coconut .... I can't tell you how delicious it was.  I hope you try it and find out!

This was definitely one birthday cake I wish I had more left over.

Despicable Me Birthday Cake: How to Make A Minion

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After making so many minions for my daughter's Despicable Me birthday cake, I feel somewhat qualified (as Chief Minion) to give this tutorial. Before you embark on this venture, you should note that an alternative, but no less appropriate, title for this tutorial would be "How to Make Yourself A Minion".

So if you are still not deterred by that warning, here goes:

Materials:

1 box Wilton's Pure White Rolled Fondant

3 - 4 strands rice vermicelli

Wilton Paste Colours in Black, Royal Blue & Golden Yellow

Toothpicks

Prep:

Before you start, dye your fondant separately into black, blue and yellow. (More for yellow, less for blue and even less for black). Reserve some white fondant. Depending on how many minions you wish to make, you may not need to use up the whole box of fondant. (I used less than one box for 15 minions). 

Also dye some strands of rice vermicelli black, for the hair.

Sculpting:

Roll out a yellow piece like this!

Give him eyes ...

Roll out a flat rectangular blue piece and wrap it on him like a little diaper

Roll out 2 blue pieces like these (rectangles with bottom 2 corners trimmed)

and attach it to his sides

You may have to do a fair bit of smoothening to make it blend seamlessly. I like to use a toothpick (moistened slightly if necessary) like a mini rolling pin to blend the edges.

Cut (not roll) 2 long strips for the overall straps

Add buttons to the front, and using a toothpick, render the stitching along the edges of overall and in the front (for pockets)

Roll out two long yellow pieces for the arms (note that they have long arms almost reaching to their feet) and wrap the ends in black for the hands.

Give him black goggles and black shoes.  He should start to look cute at this point ... so exciting!

Stick short pieces of vermicelli for his hair, give him eyes (I like to use a 10ml syringe (without the needle of course) to punch out equal size eyeballs) and draw his mouth with a toothpick.

Feel free to give your minions all sorts of different expressions:

Despicable Me Birthday Cake

Twice a year, I become completely masochistic about baking. Specifically, about baking my daughters' birthday cake.

In May, I made a 3-D Ponya on the Cliff by the Sea cake for Sugababe 2's birthday. I thought then that it was the most difficult, laborious baking project I'd ever done (the little goldfish were terribly hard to sculpt). It was rewarding, but boy! Was I ever so glad that I was not doing 3D cakes for a living.


Then August rolled round and I had to start thinking about Sugababe 1's birthday cake. Feeling a little phobic about having to make yet another 3D cake, I asked her hopefully if it was okay if we just had a small birthday celebration with family, and a simple strawberry shortcake birthday cake.

Who was I kidding.

Of course she said NO. She wanted to invite all our friends AND have a big 3D cake to boot.

First, she asked for a Strawberry Shortcake cake in the shape of ... get this - a STRAWBERRY. Not a flat strawberry but a standing up 3D strawberry. I told her that structurally, that wasn't going to work.

And then she asked for a Cars (Pixar) cake. That was not too hard actually. I thought I would just do a racing track in the shape of the number "5", put some cars on it and make little racing flags to decorate it.

However, I somehow couldn't muster up enough enthusiasm to do a Cars cake. After all, the movie was four years ago - it just seemed like a Cars cake would be terribly passe.

And this is where my tendency for masochism becomes evident. I started thinking out loud about other cartoons for a themed cake. And before I had the good sense to stop myself, I said the words 'Despicable Me'. Which is like only the coolest animated 3D film in recent memory. With only the cutest most adorable yellow twinkie-shaped critters you ever saw. Is it any wonder then that Sugababe 1 was instantly in love with the idea?

The full extent my folly only dawned on me when I realised that, it being such a new movie, there would be no Despicable Me cake toppers and toys available. Which means that I would have to sculpt everything myself. *Face palm*

Whaddya know. Love makes you do strange things.

Three days of backbreaking labour later, here are the results.


And the reward for me? How she smiled when she saw the cake, and then squeezed me so tight and said, "I love you Mommy, you're a genius!"

And just like that, my heart melts. And I gladly sign up for many more years of completely masochistic birthday cake baking.

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Coming Up Next: How to Make A Minion and the recipe for Coco-Nana Chocolate Cake.

Chocolate Banana Stud Cake

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We recently implemented a reward chart system for our girls.  Basically, every time they successfully produce the desired behaviour (finish their food on time, go to sleep without fuss, etc), they will earn a fancy ink stamp on their charts. If they accumulate enough stamps, they get the reward they asked for.

Guess what reward Sugababe 1 asked for? Yup. A cake. And not just any cake, but Rose Levy Beranbaum's Chocolate Banana Stud Cake. No, I don't mean that she actually said that. She's only 4, goodness.  That would be too creepy.  What I mean is that she found the object of her desire while leafing through my copy of Rose's Heavenly Cakes and decided that that would be her reward.

I thought it was rather surprising that she wanted a 'reward cake'.  As opposed to toys, books or dolls. But a cake. Oh well.  Perhaps it's a little bit telling of what her mum spends too much time doing. Of course, Sugababe 2 asked for snakes. But that has nothing to do with me.

So, after 20 days of good behaviour, it was time for me to make good on the reward. (I should add that Sugababe 2 was very excited about this, she reminded me no less than 4 times that I had to fulfil my promise).  

If there was ever a cookbook author who was a textbook high "C" on the DISC profile (think Monica on Friends), Beranbaum might just be the one. Extremely meticulous, each of her recipes is detailed down to the last letter, so that you will know exactly what to do.  It is no secret that Beranbaum's recipes are rigorously tested, and that she approaches each one with the precision of a food scientist. That, coupled with the way she writes with such authority and exactitude makes me (admittedly a real meddler with recipes) guilty about varying it in the slightest degree. I mean, she doesn't just tell you to put in "one large banana".  She lets you know that she means 112 grams of banana. So I dutifully ate up the extra 22 grams of banana.

But hey, I am not complaining.  Her meticulous style means that your cakes will turn out as promised.

Just as mine did this time.

Chocolatey, extremely tender-crumbed and deliciously fragrant with banana.  Not like those heavy banana cakes that tend to be a little cloying, no. This one was full of flavour and yet light in texture and taste.  

Plus the white chocolate studs were just such fun to put on.

Scrumdiddlyumptious Fudgemallow Pie

 

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Blame it on Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, a cookbook by the gorgeous, curvaceous former model Sophie Dahl.  I chanced upon her book while browsing at the library last week. It is a pretty cool cookbook/food memoir,  full of charming little anecdotes and  homely recipes which I thought I might get round to trying someday.  

Problem was, once the book was back on the shelf, (and this is revealing of my hopelessly distracted thought process) all I could think of was the word "Scrumdiddlyumptious".  A word ingeniously coined, of course, by none other than Miss Dahl's famous writer grandfather Roald Dahl.*  

I believe it is difficult, if not impossible, to find another word  in the English language which so singularly and immediately conveys a sense of supreme, lip-smacking yummaliciousness (see, I needed to use 3 words, told ya).   Once planted in my head, it simply refused to leave me alone. On and on, like a chorus of inebriated Oompa Loompas, the refrain  of "Scrumdiddlyumptious scrumdiddlyumptious scrumdiddlyumptious" played on my mind for the rest of the week.  

You can understand of course, that it was only a matter of time before I was seized with the  irresistable urge to make, and consume in large quantities, something truly and marvellously scrumdiddlyums.  

It wasn't hard to decide what would fit the bill.    

It had to be Fudgey. Creamy. Buttery. Sweet.  There would have to be Chocolate. Peanut Butter. And Marshmallows.  And most importantly, it would not be healthy.  The last being not so much a requirement as it is a matter of fact. For scrummy and healthy never the twain shall meet.

And that's how the Fudgemallow Pie was born. 

A fudgey chocolate brownie pie, spread generously with the smoothest, butter-creamed peanut butter, topped with coconut flakes and big fluffy marshmallows.  And then smothered all over with warm chocolate sauce.  The sensation of melty, chocolate-coated marshmallows against the salty-sweetness of creamy peanut and coconut on fudge, is out of this world. 

When you take your first bite, your brain will exclaim in sugar-induced ebullience, "By golly, this IS Scrumdiddlyumptious!!".  And then scarcely after recovering from the shock of its intense, chocolatey, fluffernutterish deliciousness, it might scream "MORE!!!". Or in my case, "This needs ice-cream!" Which of course it does.  Cold creamy, vanilla bean ice-cream melting atop its warm, oozey, chocolatey, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth fudgey goodness. You cut yourself another slice.

And then after 5 minutes, you realise this was indeed rich. Very rich. And that it might be wise to stop. Now. As you perhaps recall gluttonous Augustus Gloop's ignoble end in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But then your tastebuds override your better sense and you launch yourself into another serving. SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS!!!

Limoncello Spritzer Glaciers with Summer Fruit

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There are times when I crave a simple dessert.  A dessert with a 'light touch' that will be the perfect, sweet ending to a rich, heavy meal.  Not a sugar-laden, creamy, chocolatey dessert that will make me sick like "Lardass" Hogan in a pie-eating contest.

That's where these jelly glaciers come in. I call them glaciers, because that's what they look like, with those gorgeous red, black and blue berries in beautiful, suspended animation.  Like little pieces of a wild berry summer frozen in liquid crystal.  Calling to mind the sensuous summer fruits peddled in Christina Rosetti's Goblin Market, of which goblin men call enticingly to lure fair maidens "Come buy, come buy!"

Rosetti's description of forbidden fairie fruits is certainly one to whet the appetite, but the inspiration for this dessert was taken from Jamie Oliver's Prosecco Jellies.

The beauty of these jellies, apart from the fact that they are "sound to tongue and sweet to eye" (not to mention alcoholic), is that they contain fizz. Yes, when done right, they fizz delightfully in your mouth as you are eating them.  However, making sure that there is enough fizz in the jellies takes a fair bit of skill and effort. Out of the 2 batches I made, only 2 jellies turned out fizzy, because I was interrupted halfway and didn't chill them fast enough. (I have to add though, that there was also a cup of 7-Up jelly I made for Sugababe 2 that fizzed ever so beautifully, and which she devoured in 3 seconds flat, but you don't need the recipe for that ...)

So if you need a light, fresh, palate-cleansing dessert; or want another way to showcase berries on your dinner table; or if the following lines from the Goblin Market give you a thirst for the lush sensations of summer-ripened, ambrosial fruit juices; then give this recipe a try.

Goblin Market
by Christina Rosetti
(Read full version here)

Morning and evening

Maids heard the goblins cry:
"Come buy our orchard fruits,

Come buy, come buy:

Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,

Plump unpecked cherries-
Melons and raspberries,

Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,

Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,

Crab-apples, dewberries,

Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries--

All ripe together
In summer weather--
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Come buy, come buy;
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
"
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye,

Come buy, come buy."

Oh Luscious Lemon

How do I love thee, let me count the ways ...

... juiced and cooked, into a jar of homemade Lemon Curd:

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... squeezed and drizzled, in a Strawberry Lemon Trifle:

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... chilled and whipped, into a cup of lovely Lemon Mousse:

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A sweet revenge for every lemon that I have been given lately.

Specifically, in this World Cup Season.

U.S., Portugal, Brazil, Germany.  Refereeing lemons, own-goal lemons, and the lemon that is Cristiano Ronaldo. I don't mind you saying, I'm a sour loser.

Well you know what they say, when life gives you lemons, make a lemon ... treat? No? Doesn't work for you?

Yeah I know. There's nothing more I'd like right now than a vigorously lemoned deep-fried octopus.  This Octopus, in particular.

But for now we'll just have to behave and stick to the Lemon Mousse, okay?


Recipe for Luscious Lemon Mousse Cups
A deliciously smooth and uplifting dessert.  Full of fresh, tangy, lemony zing, this is a joy in hot weather, and refreshingly light after a heavy meal. 

Makes 10 - 12 cups

Crust
1.5 cups shortbread cookie/digestives crumbs
40 grams unsalted butter, melted

Mix cookie crumbs with melted butter and spread evenly on base of cups. Chill in refrigerator until firm.



Mousse
(adapted from Bon Appetit, Apr 2005) 
1 recipe Lemon Curd 
2.5 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder
3 large egg whites
3/8 tsp cream of tartar
85g sugar
3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
Lemon slices (garnish)

Pour 2.5 tablespoons of water into small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place 7/8 cup of lemon curd in large bowl. Stir 3/8 cup curd in another small saucepan over medium-low heat until very warm. 

Microwave gelatin mixture on medium-high setting until dissolved and liquid is clear (do not let boil). Whisk warm gelatin mixture into 3/8 cup of warm curd. Gradually whisk gelatin-curd mixture into curd in large bowl. 

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until frothy, then add cream of tartar. Continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are stiff, thick and glossy, and swish very slightly in the bowl. Fold whites into curd mixture in 3 additions. Whip cream in another medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg white-curd mixture in 3 additions. Pour enough mousse over cooled crust in each cup.  Cover and chill mousse cups for at least 2 hours. Top with reserved curd and chill for at least another 3 hours. Garnish with lemon slices and serve.