This is a cake I’ve been dying to make for ages. It is loosely based on a cake I had at #Fenwicks in Newcastle on one of our “Cake Thursday’s” after work. It is a #tropical cake with added spices (a little like a carrot cake) and it’s delicious! I also realised recently that I have yet to put up a cake recipe even though that tends to be what I bake the most. The reason for this is mainly because I give up cake for lent so don’t tend to bake them unless it is someone’s birthday or a big occasion. Unfortunately, the birthdays that would have been celebrated have had to be put on hold whilst the world is in isolation, the exception however is my own! I generally don’t make my own #birthday cakes as it feels weird to make a cake to celebrate yourself but, due to circumstance, I’ve had to put that aside. I’m not willing to forego cake on my birthday! Although #celebrating alone may make me feel a little like Harry Potter, the plus side is that you get all the cake to yourself!
The recipe for this cake has a lot of ingredients but the cake itself is very easy to make. The passion fruit curd I used can be made in advance. It will keep for around 2 weeks after opening. It is also really nice on toast so any leftover will not hang about for long! I have gone a little wild with the decorating, using quite a few piping tips and techniques but of course if decorating isn’t really your thing then you can omit this or keep it a little simpler. I will say however that really each part of the decoration is very easy, and it makes an impression when you put it all together! I have chosen to use colours that remind me of summer holidays and tropical scenes because of the flavours in the cake, but again, the choice is yours! The final cake is sure to stun. It’s bright and colourful which seems to be just what people need right now.
Equipment:
Mixing bowl
Electric whisk
3x 6 inch cake tins
Piping tips*
Palette knife
Balloon whisk
Baking mat
Recipe
Passion fruit curd:
Makes: 2 jars Time: 20 mins + setting time
Ingredients:
6 passion fruit, blended and sieved (~150 mL juice)
200 g butter
300 g granulated sugar
4 eggs
1. Put the butter, sugar and passion fruit juice into a pan on a medium-low heat until the butter has melted.
2. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add to the pan.
3. Whisk continuously to avoid the eggs curdling. Continue whisking until the curd has thickened (10-15 mins).
4. Add to sterilised jars (sterilise jars with boiling water) and leave to cool.
5. Keep in the fridge once cooled to room temperature.
Spiced Tropical Cake:
Sevres: 12-16
Prep: 10 mins Baking: 30 mins Decorating: 2-3 hours
Ingredients:
300 g self-raising flour
300 g granulated sugar
300 g sunflower oil
4 eggs
150 g tinned pineapple (juiced in blender)- save the rest of the pineapple and juice for later
100 g roughly chopped walnuts
150 g desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking powder*
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground nutmeg
*if you do not have self-raising flour you can add extra baking powder, for this I added 2.5 tsp as there is no equivalent of self-raising flour in Denmark
For the butter icing:
400 g butter (softened to room temperature)
700 g icing sugar
~40 mL Pineapple juice
Food colouring of your choice
Other decorations:
Liquid glucose
Pineapple
Sugar (brown is preferable but either will do)
Method:
1. Turn your oven to 180°C (fan)/ 355 F. Line and grease your cake tins.
2. Add the flour, sugar, walnuts, coconut and spices to a mixing bowl and mix together.
3. Add the oil, eggs and pineapple and whisk together. Add the baking powder and briefly whisk again.
4. Divide between your cake tins and cook for 25-30 mins before removing from the oven (leave oven on if you are doing liquid glucose decorations).
5. Using some of the pineapple juice (~30 mL) add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Prick the cooked cake with a fork and spoon the syrup over each of the cakes. Allow them to cool in the tin.
6. Whilst your cakes are cooling you can make your sugar decorations. Put a little liquid glucose on a baking mat and add a little food colouring of your choice.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 mins before removing and setting aside to cool.
8. Now you can make your butter cream. I made half the recipe at a time and used the first half for the inside and crumb coat and the other half for the final decorations but you can make the whole lot if you have a big enough bowl!
9. Cube your butter and add to your icing sugar. Add the pineapple juice a little at a time whilst mixing with an electric whisk. Continue whisking until your buttercream is smooth and fluffy. Leave in the fridge until needed.
10. To assemble your cake, first cut the cakes so they are level. Put a think layer of butter icing on the top and pipe more icing in a ring around the edge of the cake. Fill the inside of the ring with passion fruit curd and leftover pineapple pieces.
11. Repeat for the other layers.
12. Cover your cake with a thin layer of icing as a crumb coat and leave in the fridge for at least half an hour.
13. To decorate, first cover your cake in a thicker layer of icing.
14. Put a large tablespoonful of icing into 3 bowls and add your food colouring of choice.
15. Add a scoop of all 3 colours to your piping bag (if you want them on separate sides of the bag it is easiest to do this with a palette knife).
16. Using a large, round nozzle, pipe a circle of icing at the bottom of your cake and smudge half of it with your palette knife (see video). Repeat this one more time next to the first circle.
17. Repeat the pattern up the side of the cake, starting each new row just above the second circle from the row below.
18. You can repeat this as you like around the cake (I did this where each quarter cake started).
19. Using different piping nozzles, pipe different patterns and colours of icing on top of the cake.
20. Using a warm spoon (run under a hot tap), press down on some of the piped decorations to make an indent which you can fill with passion fruit curd.
21. Using a blowtorch (or open flame stove if you have one, if you have neither I would try doing this under the grill instead), coat pineapple rings with sugar and caramelise. Leave to cool.
22. Break up your sugar decorations and place amongst the piped icing. Do the same for the caramelised pineapple.
23. Add a final few dots of passion fruit curd and serve.
Pipe a ring of icing around the outside and fill with passion fruit curd and pineapple pieces
Repeat for each layer.
Use food colouring to colour liquid glucose and bake for 20 mins
Leave to cool and break into pieces to decorate with
Use a palette knife to put your coloured icing onto different sides of a piping bag. Pipe circles of icing and smudge with palette knife (see video below)
Continue piping around the side of the cake
Use different piping tips and icing colours to decorate the top of the cake. Add in the broken sugar decorations and caramelised pineapple pieces
コメント