My first wedding cake

No recipe today sorry. Just wanna show you my first ever wedding cake. It was such a mission from start to finish, but finally it's ready and I hope bride will love it. 
What's inside? I decided to make it simple - classic chocolate cake with swiss meringue buttercream all covered with fondant. I made about 60 sugar gum roses! It was my first experience with sugar gum as well.
And... I have a new order for a wedding cake in August.

Chocolate Feijoa and Banana Bundt Cake

We have a crazy amount of feijoas this year. I'm making different jams, salads and of course cakes. I adapted this recipe for feijoas. The result is a velvety not too sweet cake with a delicate feijoa tang.

Ingredients 

1 ¾  cup flour 

1 cup sugar

¾ cup cocoa powder 

1½ tsp baking powder

1½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt 

1 cup buttermilk

1½ cup peeled and mashed feijoas

1 mashed ripe banana

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1egg

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

For glaze:

100 g melted chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).  Coat bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, feijoas, banana and brown sugar.  Add egg, then stir in oil and vanilla extract.

Gently add flour mixture to liquid, mixing until just combined.  Some lumps are good, but make sure to fully incorporate.  Pour into bundt pan and bake about 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on wire racks for 20 minutes and then remove from pan.  Let cool fully on wire racks.   

For the chocolate glaze:  Melt the chocolate in microwave or over a double boiler then pour it on cake.

Chocolate mousse cake

The fudgy consistency of this cake and the silken texture of the tofu mousse are delicious combination.

Ingredients:

250 g good quality chocolate,
200 g butter,
1 tbsp coffee powder, dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water
6 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cup gluten-free flour mix (or normal flour)


Preheat oven to 180C. Spray 2 23 cm spring-form cake tins with baking spray and line with baker paper.

Melt chocolate and butter over a gentle heat until melted but not too hot. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Slow add egg whites in 4 lots. This process takes about 10 minutes but it is worth it. Add vanilla, coffee and flour on a very low speed then gradually beat in the chocolate mixture.

Carefully pour into the prepared tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cover tins with a damp tea towel to trap the steam and keep the crust soft. Cool in the tins.

For the mousse:

300 g chocolate,
640 g silken tofu (must be silken)
1/2 cup simple sugar syrup (or 50 ml maple syrup, or 50ml liquid honey, or 50 ml agave nectar )
1 leaf gelatin (optional)

Simple sugar syrup is made up of 2 parts of sugar and 1 part of water. Bring the water to boil, dissolve the sugar into the boiling water, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat once sugar is dissolved completely. Allow to cool before use.

To make the mousse, melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in microwave. Place silken tofu and sugar syrup in the blender or food processor. Blend until smooth add the melted chocolate and blend again. I also added 1 leaf gelatin dissolved in 2 tbsp of water.

To assemble, slice the top of the cakes to form even surface. Line the original spring-form with cling film, allowing a good overhang. Place one cake into the bottom, covet with a thick layer of mousse, add the second cake and finish with remaining mousse . Fold the cling film over or cover with a dinner plate and refrigerate for 4 hour or overnight.

To serve, remove from the tin, transfer to serving platter and smooth the sides of the cake with a palette knife. Decorate with fresh seasonal fruit or berries, ganache or topping of your choice.

Beetroot, chocolate and orange loaf

Beetroot is actually very sweet and keeps this rich chocolate loaf wonderfully moist. Make it for your friends, then ask them to guess the mystery ingredient. This loaf has a surprisingly smooth velvety texture and rich chocolate taste. Really good with yoghurt.

Ingredients (Makes 8 slices)
1 large cooked beetroot, about 180 gr,
225 gr flour,
100 gr cocoa,
1 Tbsp baking powder,
225 gr sugar
3 eggs,
juice and grated zest of a half large orange (reserve zest from the other half for decoration)
2 tsp vanilla essence,
200 ml sunflower oil,
100 gr dark chocolate (not too bitter), chopped into pieces
2 tbsp orange liqueur (optional)
Chocolate for frosting  (optional)
Crème fraiche or yoghurt, to serve

1. Heat the oven to 190C, Line a 900gr loaf tin with baking paper.

2. Tip the beetroot into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Add a pinch of salt, sugar, eggs, orange juice, zest, vanilla and liqueur. Mix well.

3. Mix together flour, cocoa and baking powder, then add it to the liquid mixture, stir well.

4. Add the oil in a steady stream, while whizzing, as if you were making a mayonnaise.

5. When all the oil has been added, stir in the chocolate, then tip the mix into prepared loaf tin. Bake for about 1 hour until an inserted skewer comes out practically clean. Leave the loaf to cool on a rack.

6. Cover the loaf with a melted chocolate and decorate with orange zest if desired. Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche or thick yoghurt.



Enjoy!

Poached Cherry Zuccotto

Zuccotto is a traditional Italian desert with origins in Florence. Some say the cupola shape was inspired by the Duomo in Florence, Italy; others speculate that zuccotto is a play on zucca, which is the Italian word for pumpkin. Zuccotto is a wonderful dessert for a festive occasion. Make it up to three days in advance – it improves with time. It's not too sweet inside and I like it, but if you like it sweet feel free to add  more sugar. Also, I recommend to add a little bit of pink food colouring into the central part of the filling.

Ingredients:

4 medium eggs
150g caster sugar
pinch of salt
100g flour
30g cocoa
½ teaspoon baking powder
25g butter, melted
500g cherries, stones removed
1/3 cup sugar
juice of 1 orange
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur or brandy
200g ricotta
4 tablespoons icing sugar
¼ cup finely chopped candied orange peel
300ml double cream
food colouring (optional)


Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Butter a 30cm x 20cm Swiss roll tin and a 20 cm round tin, then line the base with baking paper.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and salt until thick and pale. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together over the mixture and gently fold in then fold in the butter. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 15 minutes. Turn out and cool on a rack.

Put the cherries in a saucepan with the sugar and orange juice. Cover and simmer over a very low heat for 10 minutes until tender. Strain the cherries and set aside, reserving the juice. When the juice is cool, add 2 tablespoons of the Grand Marnier and set aside.

Line a 6-7 cup pudding basin or bowl with plenty of plastic wrap. Cut the sponge into long triangular pieces and use to line the inside of the basin. Moisten the sponge, including the piece for the top, with the reserved cherry juice.

Place the ricotta and 3 tablespoons of the icing sugar and the remaining tablespoon of Grand Marnier in a bowl and beat until smooth. Fold in the orange peel and half the poached cherries. Whisk the cream to just beyond soft peaks (it should be firm but not overwhipped). Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the ricotta mixture and fold in gently. Spread this mixture over the sponge.

Place the remaining cherries, food colouring and icing sugar in a food processor and blend to a purée. Place the cherry purée in a bowl and fold in the remaining whipped cream. Fill the centre of the sponge with this mixture. Place the remaining piece of sponge on the top then cover with plastic wrap and chill for up to 3 days.

Turn out on to a plate to serve.

Serves 8-10

Banana and chocolate cakes with creamy banana frosting

Banana and chocolate cakes:
2 very ripe bananas,
2 eggs,
180 gr flour,
70 gr fine coconut,
50 ml vegetable oil (I used grape seed oil)
4 tbsp sour cream or buttermilk,
100 gr brown sugar,
pinch of salt,
1 tsp baking powder,
2 tbsp banana liqueur (orange liqueur or use a few drops of banana essence),
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder.

Preheat oven to 200C

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and coconut.

Mash bananas with a potato masher, add sour cream and liqueur, stir well and set aside.

Beat eggs with sugar until fluffy, add oil and beat again. Add egg mixture to bananas, stir until combined, then add flour and stir.

Put 1/3 of the dough in a different bowl, add cocoa powder, stir.

Spoon the mixture into medium greased muffin pans leaving space for chocolate mixture. Spoon the chocolate mixture in the centre of each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Creamy banana frosting

80 gr cream cheese at room temperature,

150 ml cream,

3 tbsp brown sugar,

3 tbsp instant banana pudding,

2 tbsp banana liqueur,

few drops of yellow food colouring (optional).

Beat cream cheese with sugar until fluffy, add cream and pudding, beat until soft peaks, then add liqueur and food coloring.

Use frosting to decorate completely cooled cakes.

Chocolate cakes with feijoa mousse

Last month of autumn and the end of feijoa season here in New Zealand now. I use to hate this fruit a couple years ago, but now I love them. It's such a wonderful fruit with interesting intense flavor. I think that feijoas is the most "kiwi fruit" then the kiwi fruit is. Every second Kiwi family has the own feijoa tree in the garden and I hope they like feijoas as I do :)

Chocolate Genoise (recipe from here)
6 whole eggs
180 grams sugar
80 grams cornstarch
80 grams flour
20 grams cocoa powder
20 grams butter, melted and cooled

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Place this bowl over a double boiler and continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs feel hot to the touch. Transfer the bowl to the electric mixer and whip in high speed until the eggs triple in volume and they form a thick ribbon.

Sift the cornstarch, flour and cocoa powder together into a bowl. Add the sifted mixture to the whipped eggs in three batches folding each time slowly to avoid deflating the batter too much. Finally add the melted butter and fold so that the butter doesn't all fall to the bottom of the bowl.

Divide this batter into two half sheet pans that have been sprayed and lined with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly and bake in a 190C oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cake cool. The cake can be wrapped in plastic and frozen.

Feijoa mousse:
8 small feijoas (4 large)
3 tbsp sugar
100 ml of water,

100 g Cream Cheese at room temperature
100 ml cream
4-5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp gelatin
1 egg white



I put feijoas in hot sugar syrup for about 10 minutes because they became very dark in the air. You can also add a few drops of green coloring in the syrup. So scoop out feijoa pulp and put it in hot sugar syrup. Wait for 10 minutes, then remove them from syrup and blend in a food processor until smooth.
Soak gelatin in a 2 spoons of water.
Beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of sugar until forming peaks.
Separately, whip the cream with a spoonful of sugar to the soft peaks.
Separately, whip feijoa with Cream cheese and remaining sugar until smooth.

Melt the gelatin in the micro for 10 sec. and pour it into a bowl with feijoa mix. Stir, add the whipped egg whites, stir, then quickly add the whipped cream and stir until combined.

To Assemble
80 ml cream
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp sugar
mint leaves,
1-2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Line ring molds with acetate paper and place them on a sheetpan. Measure the circumference of the ring mold and cut a strip of cake accordingly. Place the strip of chocolate genoise around the ring mold and a disk on the bottom.  Pipe the feijoa mousse inside the ring mold almost to the top. Top with another disk of genoise.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Whip cream with cocoa and sugar until forming peaks. Decorate top of cake with cream, mint leaves and pistachios.

Enjoy!

Butternut squash cakes with chocolate mousse

For the cakes:
1/2 cup Butternut squash puree (dry roasted in oven and pureed in blender) (u can use pumpkin puree),
1 cup brown sugar,
6 eggs,
2 tbsp melted butter,
1/2 cup cake flour,
1/2 cup starch,
1 tsp baking powder,
1/2 vanilla pod,
pinch of salt.

For the chocolate mousse:
400 ml double cream,
2 egg whites,
4 tbsp cocoa powder (dutch processed),
2 tbsp Irish cream liquor,
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of cream of tartar,
1 tbsp gelatin powder.

Cakes:
Preheat oven to 180C. Lay a baking sheet with parchment.

Beat egg yolks with sugar until white. Separately, whip whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks. Add butternut squash puree to the egg yolks and stir, when add a melted butter and seeds from vanilla pod, stir until smooth.

Mix starch, flour and baking powder and add to the yolks and stir well. Then add beaten egg white and stir carefully.

Spread the mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool the cake for 10 minutes, then cool completely on the rack.

Using mold rings cut 8 round bases, then cut each base in half with a very sharp bread knife. You should get 8 bases and 8 tops (or 10 depending on the diameter of your rings). Put mold rings on the parchment, then place one cake base in each ring.

Mousse:
Soak gelatin in 1 tablespoon of water.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar and 2 tbsp of sugar until soft peaks, set aside. Melt the gelatin 10 seconds in the microwave and stir well until completely dissolved. Add to the beaten egg whites and stir thoroughly.

Whip cream with remaining sugar to hard peaks, add to the mixture and stir carefully but quickly.

Fill the prepared forms with mousse, leaving a bit of room for cake tops. Cover with the remaining cake tops and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Decorate your cakes with grated butternut squash and mint or with melted chocolate.

Enjoy!

Chocolate cakes with mango mousse and raspberries

 
Cake bases:
100 gr dark chocolate
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 eggs
50 gr. brown sugar
1 tablespoon starch
1 tablespoon self rising flour
pinch of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt.


Preheat oven to 180C. Lay a baking sheet with parchment. Melt the chocolate.

Beat egg yolk with sugar until white. Separately, whip whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt to soft peaks. Mix starch, flour and cocoa and add to the yolks and stir well, then add the melted chocolate. Then add beaten egg white and stir carefully.

Spread the mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool the cake for 10 minutes, then cool completely on the rack.

Using mold rings cut 6 round bases. Put mold rings on the parchment, then place one cake base in each ring.


Mango mousse:
1 cup mango puree (from fresh or canned mangoes),
3 tbsp sugar (or more depending of mango sweetness),
1 tsp gelatin,
250 ml heavy cream,
pinch of cream of tartar,
1 tsp lime juice,
1 egg white.

about 150 gr fresh raspberries.

Soak gelatin in 2 tbsp of water and set aside.
Whip egg white with cream of tartar and 1 tbsp of sugar to soft peaks.
In a other bowl whip cream with remaining sugar until soft peaks.
Heat gelatin in microwave for 20 seconds and stir well until completely dissolved, then add gelatin to the mango puree. Add whipped egg white and lime juice, stir gentle, then add whipped cream and stir again.

To assemble:
Put raspberries on each chocolate cake then top them with mousse. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Decorate your cakes with raspberries and fresh mint.



Enjoy!