My beautiful girl, Antonella is turning seven.
For her Birthday the magic has to flow… the preparations have to start a month ahead.
Which flavour should I choose? Dark Chocolate or white chocolate? A coconut cake could have been spetacular too.
After settling for white chocolate with dark chocolate ganache filling I am ready to start trying the right recipe.
Here it is a good tip.
Make sure your recipe works and you are ready to go just before your big day.
Things should be smooth just like making fairy bread.
All cakes should be moist, should be tender, should be memorable.
As I look through all different recipes I always think if there is enough elements which will give me always a delicate cake.
After contemplating several recipes here is the one I chose for such a special occasion.
White Chocolate Cake for any occasion…. filled with Dark Chocolate ganache:
If you are making the Puppy Cake you will need 2 cake tins, size: 23 x 13 x 6cm and make 2 x the recipe below.
For the Cake Batter you will need:
100g of white chocolate ( over 25% cocoa butter)
100ml of thicken cream
175 g of unsalted butter
180g of caster sugar
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250 self raising flour100ml of buttermilk or soured cream
For the Dark Chocolate Ganache:
100g of best dark chocolate ( 70 % cocoa)
100ml of thicken cream
For decorating the cake you will need white icing for the whole body of the puppy. A very small quantity of black icing for the eyes and nose. Red icing for the mouth.
You will need a pasta machine too to finalise all decorations.
Preheat the oven to 180C ( 350 F). Grease the bottom and sides of the cake tin and base -line with non- stick baking paper.
To make the cake batter, melt the chocolate together with the thicken cream using the bain-marie process.
Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and the sugar for about 6 minutes or until light and pale. Add now the egg yolks, one at time, the melted chocolate , the vanilla. Add now half of the flour, stir it through and start adding the buttermilk. Add the remaining flour.
Using a clean electric whisk ( totally dried if you washed it ), whisk the whites in a dry bowl until egg whites are formed but not overly stiff.
Beat one third of the egg whites to loosen up the mixture, then, carefully fold in the rest.
Spoon the batter into prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn the cake onto a wire rack, peel the baking paper.
Prepare the ganache by heating up the cream into a saucepan. Once the cream is boiling, add the chocolate broken into pieces and mix it throughly. The ganache will be ready as soon the chocolate is fully mixed.
To decorate the cake:
Roll the ice following the instructions of the manufacturer.
OPen it up with a rolling pin and put it through a pasta machine, going from number 0 to number 6 or 7( without skiping any numbers ). Using the tagliatelle cutter ( most pasta machine comes with one), start making the hair of the puppy.
Make the eyes, the nose, the mouth and take your time to make this the most beautiful cake.
Enjoy it…. Enjoy every moment….
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