Some years ago I baked this cake for a colleague’s daughter, so it’s about time for a recipe, right? Chocolate sponges with a lemon buttermilk mousse, strawberries, marzipan and a Frozen theme.
BIRTHDAY CAKE: FROZEN
14-16 PERS.
CHOCOLATE SPONGE:
4 M/L EGG
200 G SUGAR
1 TSK VANILLA SUGAR
150 ML WHOLE MILK
60 G MELTED BUTTER
200 G FLOUR
50 G COCOA POWDER
2 TSP. BAKING POWDER
½ TSP. SALT
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius.
Line the bottom of a 20 cm spring mould with baking paper, butter the sides and line them with baking paper.
Whisk the eggs light and airy for 4 min.
Mix sugar and vanilla sugar together and add it to the eggs.
Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
Alternate between adding melted butter, milk and flour into the egg mixture.
Mix until the ingredients just come together.
Pour the batter into the prepared mould and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 40-50 min. or until a toothpick comes clean out, when stuck into the middle of the cake.
Let the cake cool completely, while still in the mould, then remove it and and carve two layers of approx. 1 cm thick.
TIP: Should the cake become domed, you can place a clean tea towel on and push down lightly as soon as it comes out of the oven. If it’s not down, put some extra weight on the dish and let the cake cool off under pressure. I placed the tea towel first, then a plate, cutting board and some pots on top.
LEMON BUTTERMILK MOUSSE:
2½ SHEETS OF GELATINE
JUICE OF ½ LEMON
40 G ICING SUGAR
SEEDS OF ½ VANILLA POD
125 G HEAVY CREAM
150 G BUTTERMILK
Soak the gelatine in cold water 5-10 min.
Heat the lemon juice up to the boiling point.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and melt it in the lemon juice.
Cut the vanilla bar lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with the back of a knife.
Whisk the icing sugar, vanilla sugar and cream to soft peaks.
Add the buttermilk to the whipped cream and gently fold it in.
Add the lemon gelatine in a thin stream while stirring gently with a spatula.
Pour the mousse into a piping bag and place it in the refrigerator for an hour or two until it has set a bit.
STRAWBERRY COMPOTE:
100 G STRAWBERRIES
50 G SUGAR
JUICE OF 1/4 LEMON
Heat all the ingredients together in a sauce pan to make a compote, if it is too wet, discard half of the liquid.
BUTTER CREAM:
200 G SOFTENED BUTTER
25 G COCOA POWDER
½ TSP. SALT
175 G ICING SUGAR
Whisk the butter soft and creamy, add the icing sugar, cocoa and salt and whisk the butter cream light and airy.
ASSEMBLY:
Cut a piece of baking paper into four triangles and place them overlapping on the dish you want to serve the cake on.
Place one of the sponges on it and place a cake ring with cake plastic around the sides and tighten it so that it fits snugly.
Pipe a ring of butter cream round the edge of the sponge. Use a knife to spread it slightly up the sides, approx. 2-3 cm, so the ring of butter cream will not be too thick. The ring will create a dam around the mousse and provide a sharp edge when the cake is frosted.
Pour the buttermilk mousse over the sponge, spread the compote over it and place another sponge on top, press it down lightly.
Finally, pipe a small amount of butter cream around the edge, where the sponge meets the cake plastic, and smooth it out to give you a sharp edge.
Cover the cake and place it in the fridge overnight to set. Place the butter cream in the fridge as well.
NEXT DAY: Let the butter cream come to room temperature again.
If you don’t have time to wait, you can cut the cream out of the bag, place it in a microwave safe bowl and give it 10 seconds at a time at the lowest power until it is soft again, I gave it a total of approx. 20-30 sec. Then put the buttercream in piping bag again. (With a 1.5 cm hole at the tip.)
Remove the cake ring and cake plastic from the cake.
Pipe rings of butter cream around the cake from below and up, the remaining butter cream is spread out on the top of the cake.
Smooth out the sides with a cake scraper, until neat and sharp. The leftover butter cream can be used to cover eventual holes.
Smooth out the butter cream on top and try to get as even and smooth a surface as possible on the whole cake.
When you are satisfied, you are ready to cover and decorate the cake.
MARZIPAN COVER:
300 G MARZIPAN, 60% ALMONDS
150 G ICING SUGAR
30 G GLUCOSE SYRUP
LIGHT BLUE AND GREEN FOOD COLOUR GEL
Knead the marzipan, icing sugar and glucose syrup into a soft, non-sticky and malleable dough.
Colour it with a little blue and green food colour for a teal tint.
Roll out the marzipan on a table sprinkled with icing sugar to a thickness of approx. 3 mm.
Carefully cover the cake with the marzipan and smooth the surface so that the cover lies neatly on the cake. If necessary, use a fondant smoother.
DECORATION:
150 G WHITE FONDANT
EDIBLE SILVER DUST
1/4-1/2 PORTION ROYAL ICING
Roll the white fondant out to a thickness of approx. 3 mm.
Cut out a lot of snowflakes in different sizes and place them on a plate with baking paper.
Let them dry for at least a week so they are hard and do not soften on the cake.
Glue the snowflakes firmly on the sides of the cake with royal icing.
Sprinkle a little silver dust over the top of the cake with the tip of a clean food brush.
Optionally, you can finish the decoration by writing name and age on top of the cake.
Place the cake back into the fridge until serving.
Remove it from the fridge 30-60 min before serving so that the cake is not too cold.
