Portal - The Cake is a Lie
By Miss1337
1 Picture
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 100g / ½ Cup High Quality (70-85%) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 180g / 1⅓ Cup Plain White Flour
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 120g / ⅔ Cup Butter
- 330g / 1½ Cups Caster Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- 2 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)
- 125ml / ½ Cup Fresh Coffee
- 125ml / ½ Cup Milk
- For the Filling:
- 100g / ½ Cup Cream Cheese
- 50g / ½ Cup Butter
- 100g / 1 Cup Icing Sugar (You may want to add more or less depending on how sweet you like it)
- ½ Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- For the Ganache:
- 200g / 1 Cup High Quality (70-85%) Dark Chocolate
- 125ml / ½ Cup Double Cream
- 100g / ½ Cup Butter
- For the Garnish:
- 50g / ½ Cup of High Quality (70-85%) Chocolate Grated
- 8 Maraschino Cherries
- 1 Birthday Candle
Details
Servings 10
Level of difficulty Average
Cost Average budget
Preparation
Step 1
Baking the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 175C (350F) and adjust the racks to create a baking space in the middle.
Butter and line the base of your cake pans with baking paper.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
Step 2
In a separate large bowl (or a food mixer) beat together the sugar and butter until it is smooth, creamy and pale. Add the eggs one and a time until everything is mixed together evenly. Add a few drops of vanilla extract.
Mix the coffee and milk together (make sure it is cool). Add half of the dry ingredients along with the milky coffee to the butter mixture, mix then add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir gently.
Separate the mixture in half between your two preprepared cake pans. Bake them in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Until when a skewer inserted into the middle it comes out almost clean. (If it is entirely clean it will have baked for too long and may end up slightly dry!)
Step 3
Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the pans. They should be cooled completely before you attempt to frost them.
Step 4
Making the Filling:
Mix together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
Add a few drops of vanilla to taste and gradually add the icing sugar whlie mixing. Add more or less sugar depending on how sweet you like your frosting.
Separate enough of the mixture to pipe the 8 white “drop flowers” on top of the cake.
Step 5
Making the Ganache:
Chop the chocolate into very small pieces into a medium bowl.
Slowly heat the cream and butter in a separate bowl set over a pan with water in it, making sure the bowl isn’t touching the water. Be careful not to boil the mixture.
Once thoroughly heated, remove from the heat and pour the cream and butter over the chocolate and stir gently until it is smooth.
Step 6
Leave the Ganache to cool gradually at room temperature, this may take up to an hour. Do not let it cool completely as it will become impossible to spread.
Step 7
Preparing the Cake:
Once your cake layers have cooled you may want to carefully even them out with a knife if there are any lumps and bumps.
Turn one of them upside down so that the flat side is facing upward. This will be the top layer of the cake.
On top of the bottom layer spread some of vanilla frosting liberally, being careful not to go to over the edges (Don’t forget to leave some for the top garnish!).
Step 8
Place the second cake layer, the one you turned upside down, on top of the iced one and cover the top and sides of your cake with the chocolate ganache.
Apply the 50g of grated chocolate evenly to the top and sides of the cake.
Fill your icing bag or funnel with the vanilla frosting you set aside earlier and use a medium sized nozzle. Imagining the top of your cake as a clock, squeeze out small amounts of icing at the 12 and 6 positions, then the 3 and 9 and once more between each of the 4 points so that you end up with 8 “drop flower” decorations.
Step 9
Place a maraschino cherry on top of each white frosting detail.
Place the birthday candle in the middle of the cake and light.
What you will need: Two 8 inch cake pans, baking/greaseproof paper and an icing bag/pipe
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