Thursday, May 31, 2012

MIL's Brithday Cake & Marble Crumb Cake

Mid year school holidays! A nice little break for the kids from books and school. ;) As for me, as much as I love my time with my kids, I always find that my so call "free" time seems to disappear real fast with the kids at home. ;P And that is also one of the reasons why I am not posting as much. :P And before I disappear again for my short vacation, I would like to post up a couple of cake recipes which was done a little while back.

First is my MIL's birthday cake. I have chosen to bake the same Eggless Tiramisu Cake which I posted last month. Main reason for this repetition was because my MIL seems to love this cake a lot the last time I baked it. She even requested to leave an extra slice for her to enjoy the following day (this happens rarely). With that I knew she would love this tiramisu cake for her birthday.
I decided to steal the same decoration method as last year's birthday cake, which is to have a sponge cake wrap around it. Perhaps not as tedious but still quite a bit of work if I do say so myself, lol! I shall only post up the recipe for the dual flavor swiss roll cake here. Please refer to my previous post for the tiramisu cake recipe.
This Swiss roll recipe uses the Egg separation method "分蛋式海绵蛋" which yields one of the softest cake, even after refrigeration. For step by step pictorial help, please refer to my previous post here.

Ingredients for Dual Flavor Swiss Roll Cake: (makes a 13"x10")
Set A:
30g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large egg yolks
20g caster sugar
Set B:
4 egg whites
65g caster sugar
40g superfine cake flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:
  • Melt the butter and let cool until needed.
  • Line a baking tray with parchment paper and greased it again. Preheat oven to 170C.
  • Again under double boiler, beat the egg yolks and sugar (from Set A) till triple in volume and thickens.
  • At the meantime, beat the egg white from Set B with gradual addition of the sugar and beat till mixture is stiff peaks.
  • In 3 separate portions, add the egg whites into the yolk mixture, folding gently till all is added in.
  • Sift in the cake flour in 3 separate portions as well, using the electric mixer at its lowest speed. Do this till there is no visible lumps of flour and making sure not over beating and deflating the mixture.
  • Take about 2 tbsp worth of the batter and mix into the melted, cooled butter mixture. Make sure it is well mixed and then add it back to the cake batter and gently stir to blend.
  • Take about 190g of the batter and mix in the 1 tbsp of cocoa powder until uniform in color.
  • Fill the 2 batters into 2 separate piping bags with a 1cm opening nozzle.
  • Pipe along the shorter side of the tray, alternating the plain and chocolate batter until all has been piped out.
  • Bake in the oven for 13 minutes or till tester comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before use.
  • Cut the cake into half length wise and should be long enough to wrap a 7" or 8" round cake. Alternatively, you can leave it as it is to make it into a Swiss roll cake. :))
Remember to save some mascarpone cream to cream around the cake so that the swiss roll can adhere properly. An adjustable cake ring would be very handy here.

A look at interior...from the last slice which I salvage after the celebration. :) Actually, I like this cake a lot too, it has this well balance taste of mascarpone cream, soft sponge cake and chocolate. I will definitely bake this again for more family gatherings later this year. ;)

I would like to submit this to Bake-Along No. 25 1st Anniversary: A Layered Cake.
It's my first time joining in and I'm so happy that I'm finally taking part in this bake along! (^o^)

The other recipe I wanted to post up is Marble Crumb Cake which I saw over at Daily Delicious almost a month back. I knew the moment I saw it, I have to bake it!
Its so hard to capture a nice picture with this dark and brown cake! Doesn't look as good as it taste, trust me on that. :P
Perhaps this shot will better show how yummy this cake is. Fine crumbs, chocolaty and cookie like crumb toppings. :) I doubled the recipe and posted here for my reference

Ingredients for Marble Crumb Cake (Makes a 7"X7")
Crumb topping
170g all purpose flour
16g cocoa powder
100g light brown sugar
100g salted butter

Mix all the ingredients together until it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside for use later.

Cake:
230g salted butter
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
230g all purpose flour
2.5tsp baking powder
130g dark chocolate, chopped
120ml dairy heavy cream (divided in 30g / 30g)

Method:
  • Heat 30ml of the heavy cream till almost bubbly. Add in the chopped chocolate and let seat for 5 mins. Stir well and let cool. Preheat oven to 180C.
  • Beat the butter and sugar till it's light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and continue to mix. Then beat in each egg, one at a time till everything is incorporated.
  • Sift in half of the flour, baking powder and mix well. Then add in 30ml of the heavy cream and mix. Then add in the remaining flour and mix well.
  • Take about 1/4 of the batter and mix the melted chocolate in.
  • Pour both batter in the prepared baking tin, alternating and then stir it with a tooth pick to create the marble effect.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes till the tester comes out clean. If the crumbs are browning too fast in the oven, cover it with an aluminum foil. Remember to let cool before slicing, else the crumbs will fall apart easily.
I had reduce the sugar by 30g, plus I used 70% cocoa chocolate verses using milk chocolate, so this is really not that sweet. ;)

Hopefully these 2 cakes have inspired you to bake something nice for your love ones this holiday. :)



34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your recipes and enjoyed reading. Tried numbers of bread and my family love very much.thanks for the sharing...summer

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Summer! It's readers like you that keeps me going on with this blog. ^_^ happy baking!

kitchen flavours said...

Hi, The birthday is gorgeous! You did a beautiful job with the decoration, and the cake looks so delicious! Marble Crumb Cake looks very good too! I love simple cakes like this! Lovely with a cup of hot black coffee! Thank you for baking along with us, and especially wonderful that on Bake-Along's 1s anniversary, we get to know a few new wonderful bakers! Hope that you will be able to join us again! Wish you Happy Holidays and enjoy your vacation!

Joyce @ Chunky Cooky said...

Wow very beautifully done cake ! Your MIL must be beaming with joy ! And all the layers are so evenly sliced too !

Anggie's Journal said...

Love ur cake ... so beautiful, thanks for sharing the recipe .. will give a try one day :)

Yannie said...

Super nice. Love all the two cakes here. They look so beautiful.

Mich - Piece of Cake said...

The sides of the cake is so beautiful.. really takes a lot of effort. I really want to try it someday.

Mich - Piece of Cake said...

Love the sides, so beautiful!

Unknown said...

Lovely layered cake.

Jessie-CookingMoments said...

What a brilliant idea to make a tiramisu cake, the most special version that I've seen so far! Can you please advise as to which part of the swiss roll that needs to be creamed together? Is it when the 2 ends of swiss roll comes together or is it between the base of the swiss roll & the springform tin? Thanks!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Jessie! I suggest saving some cream to spread around the sides of the cake so that when you want to wrap the Swiss roll cake around it, it'll adhere better. Then use an adjustable cake ring to hold the whole cake together and chill. Hope I've said it clear enough for u. ^_^

lena said...

hi bee2, i know that you're one person that always knows how to steal a person's heart. Your mil must be really happy, you know though sometimes they never tell you but their actions already proved that. So have you been officially declared as 'the baker' in the family? haha! thanks for joining our 1st anniversary bake together. Enjoy the holidays!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Kitchen Flavors! I am actually very happy that I finally join in the bake along this time. You ladies had been having so much fun, how can I don't be part of it too! Lol! Thanks again for dropping by and nice to know u! ;))

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Joyce! Actually my MIL is quite a reserved person or perhaps she needs to set certain standards towards her DIL, so she wasn't exactly beaming with joy, lol! Anyway I'm just glad I didn't mess it up! Lol!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Welcome Anggie! Thanks for dropping by, hope to see u here again. ;))

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Yan! And welcome to my blog! :))

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Angeline!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Mich! I'll be looking forward to seeing your post! Happy baking!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hahaha, lena, Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, I'm dean to be the baker for both sides of the family since this hobby of mine started. It's been ages since the family bought any celebration cake! Unfortunately when people have something good happening to them, they don't truly appreciate it and seem to take it for granted. Anyway it's good that I'm still loving my baking do its all good for now I guess. :)

AN said...

wow, both the cakes are so pretty.

Emily said...

aWeSoMe!!

Jaques said...

Very pretty cake. I hope to make this next week. Thanks for sharing the recipe n the inspiration. ;)

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

BB, Wow, your tiramisu cake look absolutely beautiful, look at the layers, i am salivate now, no wonder your MIL love this cake! ya, about the castella cake wood box, thought Poon Huat SG also selling this..If you still can't get this, I will try to get it from Shanghai, let me know..

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Two wonderful cakes! I especially love the striped surround...very cool!

Jeannie said...

I like the look of both the cakes, the last one looks more tempting to me as it is easier to make lol! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Zoe said...

So nice to have you baking along with us. Both of your cakes look really impressive! Your cakes are always first class and delicious :D

Jaques said...

Hi , I followed UR recipe and made exactly the same cake as you ;) I m going to post up on fb but dun know how to give the credit to u , so I shall write it is inspired by Honey Bee Sweets .;) t is now in the fridge n we r GG to eat it later . I m drooling already ..;) thanks for sharing your recipe

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Jaque, I'm glad you tried out this recipe! I'm actually quite eager to see how is your cake, lol! Can I be ur friend in FB, hahaha! Actually to credit me(ahem...), you can just post my link on your FB, how about that? Thanks Jaque!

Jaques said...

Hi , I ll be honored to! How to I look for u in FB? I will go find out how to put the link to u on my fb. ;) ;);)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hahaha, don't have to feel obligated Jaques. :)) I'm already more then happy to have such a nice reader like you! To link just copy and paste the following link on your FB post:
http://honeybeesweets88.blogspot.sg/2012/05/mils-birthday-cake-marble-crumb-cake.html?m=1

Jaques Yew said...

Hi Bee Bee,

Thanks for teaching me the link ;D
U can consider settling up a HSB fb, just like Wendy..;). Haha

Cheers,
Jaques

Anonymous said...

Hello! Your cake looks lovely! I looove tiramisu cake, and the print stripes just made the cake look that much lovelier! May i ask you where you buy the chocolate shavings? Or do you make them yourself?:D
Thanks for sharing!
-SimplyBakes

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks simply bakes. :) I made the chocolate shavings myself. :) just leave your chocolate bar out at room temperature before shaving it, it'll be bigger in pieces. ;)

s2001 said...

look so yummy. I know this is an old post but I have stumbled upon it today. Its an absolute pleasure to read your blog.