***Other kinds of sprinkles tend to bleed and don’t have quite enough colour or size to give the really traditional look of a funfetti cake – they are, unfortunately less common in Sydney only coming in small containers in groceries unless you go to cake decorating stores.
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease and line a deep 23cm (9″) Cake pan.
Whisk egg whites on low-medium speed and stay on that speed to create fine textured meringue with delicate air bubbles.
Whisk until about tripled in volume, it should be foamy and a spoonful of the meringue should sit on itself. The meringue should be still moist and moves when the bowl is tilted. If too stiff, it won’t fold into the mix well.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, baking powder, salt, funfetti and sifted flour.
Beat the butter and dry mix just until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
Add the milk in gradually whilst mixing just till combined.
Add the mini marshmallows & give it a good stir, scraping down sides and base to ensure even mix.
Whisk in 1/3 of the meringue into the mix to lighten the mix.
Fold in remaining meringue gently until well combined.
Pour into cake pan and place marshmallows with 1/2 cm gap between them. They don’t need to be colour coordinated as they all go tinted brown after, it’s just fun for me 😛
Bake for more than 1 hour and 30-40 min or so. Do not open the oven until the cake has risen well in the centre or it may sink. When it initially rises in centre. At this point you can check the cake with knife in centre coming out clean, or put foil over cake if it is browning too much.
Don’t worry about overbaking the cake as it retains a ridiculous amount of moisture.
Cool the cake before running knife around the sides. Invert out and remove baking paper. Flip back upright.
226g (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces
1/4~1/2 Cup (60- 120 ml) Ice Water
Some Egg Whites
METHOD:
In a food processor, place the flour, salt, sugar & butter and pulse until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Pour ice water teaspoon at a time and pulse a few seconds. Check if the crumbs form a dough when pressed between your fingers. You don’t want too much water or too much processing.
Once it reaches this stage turn the dough out onto a cling wrap lined surface. Gather the dough with cling wrap and press gently back and forth just until it is combined. Too much kneading will yield a tough tart so be gentle.
Wrap and flatten the dough into a round disc.
Freeze the dough for 30 minutes until firm, giving it time to relax the gluten so it won’t stretch when rolling out. The dough also keeps for about a month in the freezer.
On a floured surface, roll the dough from center outwards, turning the dough 1/4 way around every few turns to prevent sticking.
The tart should be roughly 5cm (2″) larger than the pan you are used turned upside down and place over dough. It should be 1cm thick, too thin you won’t get much of a pastry and it will likely break on coming out.
Line the base of the tart pan with baking paper, this will make the shell a lot easier to remove if your pan base is not removable.
Gently roll from one end to the other the dough over rolling pin loosely, dusting off any excess flour.
Gently unroll the dough into the pan, firmly use a piece of excess dough rounded to smooth into the corners or indents of the tart pan. Don’t pull the dough or the shell tends to shrink when baking.
Chill the tart in freezer for 30 minutes or overnight. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
Use a sharp knife to cut off any excess dough over the edge of the pan, or if it’s one of the thin fluted pans just roll the rolling pin over the top of the pan.
Line the tart with foil and you can use the usual methods of raw rice, beans or pie weights to keep it from puffing up when baking. I much prefer the loose base of a pan, and some ramekins on top. I don’t waste anything this way.
Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is almost dry, remove the foil and weight, bake further until golden.
Brush all surface of the tart with beaten egg whites to create a film so the sauce won’t make the tart shell soggy.
Set aside to cool before filling with burnt caramel sauce.
70g (5 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
Method:
Spray or grease with oil the container used to weigh the glucose. This will make it easier for the glucose to slide out of the container without sticking when using.
Place the sugar into a medium heavy-bottomed pot.
Over medium heat cook stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sugar all melts.
Cook without stirring until the sugar becomes black, about 10 minutes.
There’s a chance the sugar may foam up a fair bit before turning black, just reduce the heat to low and stir it until it goes down whilst wearing an oven mitt to protect yourself from the splatter.
The caramel at this point will smoke and have large bubbles, you’ll need the exhaust fan.
Have the cream in a microwave-safe bowl, covered loosely with cling wrap, microwave until boiling point.
Once the sugar has turned black remove from the heat source and stir in the glucose, followed by the hot cream bit at a time.
The mix will splatter and foam violently so be very careful.
Finally, whisk in the butter, cool to room temperature before pouring into the baked tart shell or cool to room temperature before storing in airtight container. Refrigerated, can last for at least a month. If separation occurs, stir to combine again.
**Note: The glucose here is used to speed up caramelisation as it is added a later time. Some other recipes include it in the beginning of the process to prevent crystallisation of the caramel.
LIME CURD FILLING Ingredients:
220g (1 Cup) + 2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
177ml (3/4 Cup) Fresh Lime Juice 150ml
8 Large Egg Yolks
1 Large Egg
170g (1 + 1/2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
METHOD:
Zest all the limes & mix it with some thickened cream and set it aside for the topping.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, lime juice, yolks and whole egg till smooth.
Over medium heat, whilst stirring constantly, cook the curd until it comes to a boil about 9 minutes. It should be the consistency of sour cream, or thicker yogurt.
Cool the curd to room temperature before whisking in the softened butter.
Strain the mixture for lumps.
Preheat the oven to 140C (285F), over a spoon gently pour the curd over the tart, smooth and level the surface.
Bake until the filling sets, with the merest movement in the middle when you shake the tart.
Cool completely, then refrigerate until needed.
CREAM & MERINGUE TOPPING Ingredients:
110g Egg Whites, Room Temp
178g (3/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
180ml (3/4 Cup) Thickened Cream, Chilled
Lime Zests
METHOD:
Whip the cream and zest till stiff peaks, keep covered and chilled till meringue is done.
Bring a pot of water to a simmer.
Combine egg whites & sugar in mixing bowl, place it over the simmering water whisking constantly.
Once the sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, remove and whisk till stiff peaks form.
Stir 1/3 of cream into meringue till well combined.
Fold remainder gently keeping it as airy as possible.
Spread generously over the cooled tart forming a ring or a large mound to your liking.
Swirl with a large spoon on steep angles to make irregular swivel grooves.
Garnish with some chocolate piping at the centre if preferred. You can add some vegetable oil to melted chocolate if it is still too thick to pipe with. I like to use the cheat of just buying some thin blocks of chocolate. Simply take of as much as is needed and the back side for a smooth surface to pipe on.
You can find lots of festive candies and chocolates to garnish with too!
The meringue needs to set for at least 4 hours till it firms up to hold garnishes in place. So allow to set before garnishing the last bits. Keep chilled until serving.
Should you wish to have the pie served out of the pan, gently run a palette knife to loosen the sides and lift it up. It should come up very easily when cold, with the help of the baking paper under. Do this before you place the meringue cream.
In a small bowl whisk together the yeast, 1/2 tablespoon sugar & warm, body temperature water.
Set it aside for 5 minutes to activate the yeast, it should become foamy on the surface.
In the mixer bowl, add flour, nutmeg, salt and caster sugar. Whisk together till well combined. Make a small well in the middle.
In another bowl, warm the milk & butter just until melted and lukewarm. If it is too hot it will kill the yeast. Now whisk in the vanilla & well beaten eggs until all combined.
Pour wet mix into the well and using the dough hook attachment to knead until dough becomes smooth and no longer clings to side of the bowl. It will still be tacky, but comes off the hook relatively easy.
Pat down the dough to smooth into a ball and cover the bowl in cling wrap or a damp tea towel. Leave this in a warm place or on top of a recently used oven, or in an unused oven with a tray of boiling water for some humidity and heat.
Once doubled in volume, coat hands in some vegetable oil and press down on the dough to release the gas.
Pinch and roll golf ball sized smooth balls. Place on a tray that is lined then greased at least 4 cm apart from each other as they do expand a fair bit when proving.
Cover with greased cling wrap or a damp tea towel and let prove as previous methods till doubled in size again.
Fill a small pot with about minimum 5cm deep (2 Inches) worth vegetable oil. You’ll need enough for half the malasada to be floating and not touching the base.
On medium-low heat, gradually bring the heat up to 160C (325F) and maintain it at that heat as much as you can. A kitchen thermometer would be good for this. But you can also check if it’s ready by placing some dough into the oil and it should start fizzing around the dough almost instantly.
Whilst the oil heats, use kitchen scissors to separate the malasadas along with the baking paper still attached. The paper makes it easier to handle the dough without distorting the shape or height, and it also makes it easier to drop it into the oil.
Use the sides of your palm to cup the malasada edges to give them more height and neaten the round shape. Gently turn it upside down near the oil and it should slide off the paper easily.
Cook each side until golden brown, about 3 minutes give or take each side. I usually alternate 1 then 2 malasada frying as I find constant frying of two at a time can drop my oil temperature – so highly suggested if you are gaging just by eye.
Drain the excess oil on layers of paper towels.
When still warm, toss the malasada in caster sugar in a bowl until completely coated.
They can be enjoyed as is if preferred, but do not stack or store until cooled as the sugar on the outside will melt.
MATCHA & NUTELLA CREAM Ingredients:
Nutella To Taste
2 Teaspoons Matcha Powder
2-3 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
250ml 1 Cup Thickened Cream, Chilled
METHOD:
For the matcha whipped cream simply combine cold thickened cream, matcha powder and the caster sugar in mixing bowl.
Whisk until stiff mounds form.
To assemble either stick a sharp long knife into the middle of each malasada and move around to hollow it a bit, and pipe the cream in swirled with some Nutella or paste of choice.
The other method is to use a sharp knife to slice the malasada lengthwise in half, spread with the choice of spread (I recommend berry jam, Nutella or black sesame paste) then a dollop of the cream on top before placing the other half of malasada back on top.
You could also play around with using sherbet sugar coating, or other types of flavour-infused sugar to coat the outside for simple variations.
Any that’s filled with cream should be stored airtight and chilled when not serving.
Here are a few things worth noting about this recipe:
It is important to note that the salted caramel can be fairly chewy & firm if cooked for too long. If it’s too firm it will be hard to cut as a slice when the cake is complete, so make sure when you add the cream, it is room temperature and do not cook anymore unless some parts do not melt from whisking. In that case use very gentle heat just enough to melt the caramel smoothly. Additionally once it cools down, if it seems too firm you could warm a bit of cream and stir it into the caramel, nuking it in the microwave very gently on small intervals and whisking well in between just until smooth. The additional cream should help the caramel become more watered down and keep it from setting too solid – much like the logics behind ganache.
For the oreo cookie sheets, make sure the cookie is fine as if there are big chunks when you try to cut it into triangles it will break on the chunks. Alternatively you could skimp out and just cut ready made cookies into triangles 🙂
CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING Ingredients:
85g (6 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
200g (1 + 1/8 Cups) Semi Sweet Chocolate
3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
340g (3/4 lb) Pure Icing Sugar, Sifted
63ml (1/4 Cup) Milk
METHOD:
In a microwave safe bowl, nuke the butter and chocolate on 30 second intervals, stirring in between.
Once smoothly combined, add vanilla and gradually the sifted icing sugar mixing on low in a mixer until combined. Increase the speed to high & beat until desired fluffiness.
Add milk as necessary to smooth out the texture. Some more liquid makes it more silky, but will also let down the mixture so be mindful of that.
SALTED CARAMEL Ingredients:
150g (2/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
50ml (4 Tablespoons) Water
60g (1/4 Cup) Thickened Cream
35g (2 + 1/2 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
1/2 + 1/8 Tsp Salt or to tasteMETHOD:
Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan without stirring.
Once the sugar dissolves and mixture turns a caramel color, remove the pan from heat and add the cream. * Be careful as the mixture will bubble and spit a little.
Allow to cool completely.
If the consistency is too firm to spread over the cake warming it and mixing with additional warmed cream until smooth will help. When I made mine I cooked for two more minutes after adding the cream and it made mine more like a very soft, moldable candy when warmed. It offers a nice chewy texture but is a bit hard to cut unless at room temperature with a very sharp knife. So its up to personal preference as a friend really loved the chewy texture, but it was hard too eat out of the fridge, not much of an issue when left out covered.
It was also much easier to assemble with a firm caramel, but that’s just me being a bit lazy.
OREO COOKIE SHEET Ingredients:
25 White/black Oreo Cookies, Finely Crushed
70g (5 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, melted
METHOD:
Add 25 regular sized oreo (flavour of choice) and melted butter into the processor. If you don’t have a processor you can try doing this by crushing in a ziplock bag, just make sure it is very fine and uniform in texture.
Process until completely smooth and uniformly damp. The crumbs should be very fine.
In a lined square tin measuring 20cm (8″) empty the cookie crumbs and compact it. Keep it as level as possible and very firmly pressed together.
Use a sharp knife, mark 16 triangles lightly. Do this by dividing the square into two rectangles, then make a cross to have four squares. Each square can then be diagonally cut twice to give 4 mini triangles.
Freeze well until solid, lift the cookie sheet out by the baking paper and using a serrated knife to gently and slowly saw the triangles free.
Keep well frozen until garnishing.
CHOCOLATE CAKE Ingredients
135g (1/3 + 1/4 Cups) Plain Flour
155ml (5 fl Oz) Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs, Room Temp
60g (1/2 Cup) Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
100g (1/2 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
110g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
125ml (1/2 Cup) Boiling Water
70g (5 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
3/4 Teaspoons Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a 24 x 35cm (9 x 14″) baking tray.
Grease and flour 2 x 9 inch cake pans.
Add cocoa powder to hot water, whisk well and set aside.
Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy in a mixer.
Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated between each.
Add vanilla and cocoa mix to cake batter till combined.
On low, gradually alternate between flour and buttermilk 3 turns, starting and ending with flour.
Do not overmix, fold in the last pockets of flour by hand. Spread batter over baking pan till even.
Tap tray on counter to remove air bubbles.
Bake for 35 minutes till moist crumbs cling onto skewer when inserted.
Allow to cool.
Use a 10cm (3″) cookie cutter ring to cut out 6 cakes, stack them on a plate with baking paper between each layer for easier handling, preventing sticking.
ASSEMBLING:
Start by taking each cake and levelling it with a serrated knife very gently. Use a back and forth sawing action whilst slowly turning the cake.
Place first layer of cake on serving plate. A flat surface is much easier to work with if you want to use a cake scraper.
Warm the caramel a little, and bring the fudge frosting to room temperature (or nuke very quickly in microwave, giving it a good stir.)
Divide the caramel by half, and spread over the first, then second layer of sponge once the first one is done. Leave a mm room space around edge just so the weight of the sponge on top won’t push the caramel too far out.
Place the final layer of sponge on top, check from top and sides to ensure it is straight and level, then gently press down to stick the layers together.
For the crumb coat, use an offset palette knife to place a thin layer of frosting to cover the cake all over, smoothing it so that it is neat and almost smooth.
Chill the cake till the frosting is dry to the touch, then mound a large amount of frosting on top of the cake, spread towards the sides, build up the sides with more frosting.
Don’t worry about too much frosting as you will be smoothing down the top and sides, and scraping off a large amount of excess on the edge of the frosting bowl. Try to get the sides very straight and almost completely smooth, then bring the edges in from the top as level as possible to keep it a straight finish. Repeat gently around the top.
You can dip the knife in hot water, wipe it dry and then use that to partially melt and smooth out imperfections.
Pipe three rosettes or as many as you like, then place a triangle cookie sheet all on a 45 degrees angle sloping same way around the cake.
You can use a hot fork to make indentations like in the video I did a ring around the lower 1/3 of the cake.
You can decorate the cake with some chocolate pieces, more piping and crumbled up left over oreo cookie sheet.
Keep chilled and airtight for longer storage.
But best served and cut at room temperature. You can always pre-cut the pieces then keep chilled and bring out only what is to be served.
BLUEBERRY & HERB MAGIC CUSTARD CAKE – Recipe (GF Option)
125g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter melted, cooled
500ml (2 cups) milk lukewarm
4 eggs separated
1 + 1/4 Cups (150g) pure icing sugar
1 Tablespoon Water
1 Cup (115g Flour)
1 +1/2 Tablespoon matcha
1 + 1/2 Teaspoons Dried Tarragon
Zest of 1 Small Lime
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
250g (1 Cup) Blueberries
Grease and line a 20cm (8 inch) square baking pan/dish with baking paper.
Sift flour and matcha powder together in a medium bowl.
Melt the butter and set aside to slightly cool. Warm the milk to lukewarm and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with an electric mixer on lw speed. Set aside. *The key to having an easier time with meringue folding in batters is using lower speed to beat it up to stiff peak so that you build fine air bubbles in the meringue. Larger bubbles happen from abrupt build up of bubbles from high speed and tend to burst easily in folding and baking causing issues like deflated batter which yield dense cakes, or cracks as bubbles burst during baking.
In a separate large mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until slightly pale. Mix in the melted butter and the tablespoon of water for about 2 minutes or until evenly incorporated.
Add in the flour mix until evenly combined. Whisk in the milk until well combined.
Stir in 1/3 the meringue until well combined. Add the remaining meringue and fold gently with whisk till evenly combined, being careful not to deflate batter. *Whisk is easiest to disperse meringue without overmixing and deflating.
Spread the blueberries evenly over the base of pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 160C (325F) for 50-60 minutes or until the top is nicely golden and set. You’ll want to bake it more than the standard cheesecake if using my sized mould as it gives a taller cake so it can take a lot longer than specified time. It should hardly wobble and allow a good few hours to chill and set, preferably overnight. If you are uncertain if it’s baked through after it cools in the fridge for a few hours you can slide a knife in to see if it is covered in custard. If baked through there should be a thin coating, not a very thick and wet coating of custard.
Slice & dust with icing sugar before serving 🙂
Can be stored in the fridge overnight for a few days. Bring to room temperature before serving, depending on your liking.
GLUTEN-FREE: If you need the recipe to be gluten free simply swap the flour out for rice flour.
Add milk, eggs, applesauce, larger portion of flour, brown sugar and salt into the bowl.
Knead with dough hook until incorporated, then begin to add flour in small portions whilst kneading until the dough just almost completely comes away from the base of the bowl. It should come away from the sides.
It should be smooth and elastic and you can take a small piece and stretch it gently till see through without tearing it. Slightly tacky to the touch but relatively easwy.
Grease the large bowl with some vegetable oil and place dough inside. Cover with towel or cling wrap and allow dough to rise in a warm place till doubled in size.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until about 1cm in thickness, as a rectangle. Using a sharp knife, slice lengthwise into 8 strips.
Smooth out the dough strip so that it is smooth not rigid, then holding by the middle, twist the dough, tucking the end under.
Gently pat down on the donut and the end to seal it so that it won’t unravel whilst proving or during baking.
Cover with greased cling wrap to prevent sticking, and allow to prove till doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 180C (375F) 30 minutes prior to finishing the proving so it’s ready to go.
Egg wash the donuts and bake for 13-15 minutes or so until lightly golden, skewer inserted comes out clean.
Brush with melted butter whilst still hot and roll it in the sugar toppings generously all over.
MATCHA / CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING Ingredients:
1/2 Teaspoon Matcha Powder or Ground Cinnamon
100g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
METHOD:
Simply stir together the preferred powder or spice with sugar until well combined.
APPLE MINI DONUTS GLAZE 3 WAYS with COFFEE CUSTARD Ingredients:
APPLE PUREE DOUGH BASE:
15ml (1 Tablespoon) Warm Water
4g (1/2 Package) Active Dry Yeast
20ml (1 + 1/3 Tablespoons) Warm Milk
1 Large Egg
90g (1/3 Cup) Applesauce
1/2 Tablespoon Butter, Melted
115g (4/5 Cup) plus Extra Plain Flour
50g (1/4 Cup) Firmly Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Large Egg, Beaten for Egg Wash
METHOD:
Sprinkle yeast into warm water & milk in a large bowl.
Allow 5 minutes to foam up and activate yeast.
Add eggs, applesauce, larger portion of flour, brown sugar and salt into the bowl.
Knead with dough hook until incorporated, then begin to add flour in small portions whilst kneading until the dough just almost completely comes away from the base of the bowl. It should come away from the sides.
It should be smooth and elastic and you can take a small piece and stretch it gently till see through without tearing it. Slightly tacky to the touch but relatively easy to clean off hands.
Grease the large bowl with some vegetable oil and place dough inside. Cover with towel or cling wrap and allow dough to rise in a warm place till doubled in size.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until about 5mm in thickness. Use a 3cm cookie cutter to cut out a circle, and small lid or piping tip about 1/2 cm in diameter to cut out the inner circle to get a donut ring.
Gently transfer the donuts onto a lined baking tray with 2cm gap between.
Cover with greased cling wrap to prevent sticking, and allow to prove till a little over doubled in size. If you make larger donuts make sure to transfer the donuts to the tray before cutting out inner circle or the weight of a larger donut will distort the shape.
Preheat oven to 180C (375F) 30 minutes prior to finishing the proving so it’s ready to go.
Egg wash the donuts and bake for 10-14 minutes or so until lightly golden, skewer inserted comes out clean. Mini donut holes take 10-14 minutes as well.
Cool completely on wire rack before glazing. Prepare a tray to go under rack to catch any drips or sprinkles when finishing the donuts.
MATCHA GLAZE
80g Pure Icing Sugar (1/2 Cup), Sifted
1 Teaspoon Matcha Green Tea Powder
Boiling Water, as Needed
METHOD:
Whisk the sifted sugar, matcha together with tablespoons of boiling water gradually whilst whisking constantly till desired consistency.
Should be thick enough to glaze donuts and stay on without dripping, but just thin enough that it would smooth out slowly.
Should you need to thicken it again add more sifted icing sugar. To thin use more water or milk in very small increments.
Cover with cling wrap pressed onto surface tightly until use.
Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder, whisk in the instant coffee.
Add boiling water gradually whilst whisking a small amount at a time just until desired consistency is achieved and glaze is smooth.
Cover with cling wrap pressed onto surface tightly until use.
BROWN BUTTER GLAZE
80g Pure Icing Sugar (1/2 Cup), Sifted
20g (1 Tablespoon) Unsalted Butter
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Milk as needed
Sprinkles of choice for all glazes
Brown butter by melting it on a pan over medium heat just until it becomes golden nut brown with a nutty aroma. There should be little specks that become dark brown. Be careful not to take it too far or you’ll have burnt butter.
Remove from heat and immediately pour over sifted icing sugar whilst whisking constantly.
Add the vanilla and then milk very gradually as you whisk to combine.
Stop once desired thickness has been achieved, cover with cling wrap pressed directly on glaze tightly to prevent skin from forming before using.
ASSEMBLAGE:
Use the glaze as soon as possible. Prepare the sprinkles you like in different small bowls so they are dip-friendly.
Unwrap the glaze one at a time only when working with it. So do one flavour at a time then move onto the new one, covering the unused one.
Dip the donuts 1/3 or 1/2 way up depending on how much you like, allow excess to drip off by tapping wrist gently a few times, then quickly flip it back up and dip it or sprinkle with sprinkles you like before returning to rack to allow to dry before packing or enjoying.
Store in airtight container for a few days then in fridge for longer storage.
Preheat oven to 160C (325F). Grease two 8″ round tall cake pans and line the base with baking paper. (Or four shorter ones)
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add the vegetable oil, lychee (if using canned, strain the fruit & process till smooth) puree, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined.
Add the eggs and gently whisk together until combined, do not over work the gluten.
Divide the batter evenly as possible (a scale can be used) between cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch.
Run a knife around edge of the cake and invert after 5 minutes of cooling. Remove baking paper and place a sheet of baking paper on top. Flip back upright onto a plate to cool completely on a rack.
Briefly freeze the cakes until firmer so it’s easier to slice into layers.
Use serrated knife to mark around the sides half way up, then start sawing back and forth in one place, whilst using other hand to place firmly on cake and turning it bit by bit until the layers are separated.
Set aside.
MANGO JAM Ingredients:
250g (1 + 2/3 Cups) Dried Mango
250g (1 Cup) Water
1 Tablespoon Pectin
350g (2 Cups) Caster Sugar
METHOD:
Soak dried mango slices in boiling water for minimum 1 hour until plump, or preferably overnight.
Add the sugar , pectin or pectine/jam setting sugar to 250ml of the water, the rehydrated mango in a pot and bring to boil.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Process until smooth with stick blender.
Spoon a bit onto a chilled plate to see if it sets a blob or is runny. If runny return to stove to cook a bit more, stirring frequently.
If the texture is too thick, thin with few drops of water as needed.
Chill until cold and well set before using.
WHIPPED CREAM Ingredients:
500ml (2 Cups) Thickened/Heavy Cream
3-4 Tablespoons Passionfruit Pulp
Fresh Mint & Fruits (Garnish & Filling)
Lychee Canned Juice (For Syrup)
METHOD:
In a clean bowl, whip cream until it forms soft peaks.
Add in the pulps to taste and beat until stiff peaks form.
Keep chilled until need if not using right away.
To assemble: Spread dollop of cream on serving plate or board and place first layer of sponge on it.
Lightly brush with left over canned lychee juice, pipe a thick border of cream around inner edge to seal in jam, then fill the cavity with generous amount of mango jam.
Repeat the process until the last top layer.
Soak with syrup once more, then pipe from centre out in a swirling motion a generous amount of cream. Add enough to sides as well just to seal in most of the crumbs.
Chill in freezer for 15 minutes or so.
Now that the cream has set, apply more to sides and top if necessary to even out.
Smooth out layers to cover the sponge layer, when you are ready to neaten the cream, clean the palette knife off between each stroke. Gently scrape to smooth out sides to get them straight and clean bit at a time.
For the top, gently scrape from edges in towards the centre.
Chill for another 10 minutes or so just to set the cream and also help the jelly set from the cold cake.
Once the jelly is done, partially set it and garnish with lychee fruit and sprigs of mint.
PASSIONFRUIT GELEE Ingredients:
2 Teaspoons Powdered Gelatin
2 Tablespoons Lukewarm Water
215g 8 Large Passionfruit, Pulp & Juice
125ml 1/2 Cup Tangy Orange Juice
METHOD:
Prepare this jelly when cake is ready to assemble or finished.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl then sprinkle the gelatine over the water to rehydrate for 5 minutes.
Nuke in microwave carefully to just warm and dissolve the gelatine without boiling the mixture (boiling kills the gelatine).
I prefer to put in the freezer for couple of minutes, stirring between just until it becomes a slightly syrup texture so it’s not too thin to sit on the cream and the pulp will stay in place where I spoon them onto. Spoon the mixture into the cream cavity on top layer of cake ensuring it spreading evenly in between the rosette piping.
Allow to set refrigerated for at least 3 hours or overnight. This infuses the cakes flavours better.
*Use a brand of orange juice that is tangy so that you get a really nice acidic kick to balance out the other sweet, fruity flavours.
125ml (1/2 Cup) Sunflower, canola, or grapeseed oil (1 Jar)
80g (3/8 Cup) Dried Apricot
Boiling Water
*** 1 Yogurt Jar measurement traditionally is 120ml
METHOD:
Cover the dried apricots with boiling water until submerged 1 inch below surface. Allow to rehydrate overnight until all plump, then chop into quarters.
Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
Grease base and sides of 8″ pan with non-stick vegetable spray and line base with baking paper. Lightly grease the baking paper as well.
In a bowl combine yogurt substitute (or yogurt if not dairy free), sugar and eggs, whisking until well combined.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and zest.
Add the oil and stir together until the mixture comes back together uniformly.
Pour into pan and spread evenly. Add the chopped, rehydrated dried apricots.
Bake for 30-40 until cake is light and springy to the touch, a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cake for 10 minutes before inverting out onto serving board or plate. To prevent sticking especially if I’m moving the cake onto something else to serve, I prefer to place baking paper on top before placing plate on it to flip.
LEMON GLAZE Ingredients:
60ml (1/4 Cup) Fresh Lemon Juice
135g (3/4 Cup) Pure Icing Sugar (1 + 1/2 Jars)
METHOD:
Combine lemon juice with the sifted icing sugar gradually until smooth. Brush all over cake whilst the cake is still warm until you use up all the glaze. Allow the cake to cool off completely before dusting with icing sugar (if preferred).
Using dough hook or beater attachment, or with your hands knead until it comes together.
Begin to add handfuls of flour, mixing to incorporate until the dough comes away from sides.
Add some more flour in small portion and knead just until all dough comes away from the bowl and becomes smooth in texture. Should be still slightly moist to the touch but won’t stick to your fingers.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough evenly to the thickness of 2-3 cm (1 inches) thick. The thicker the more time to cook but also taller your scone will be.
Using a 6cm diameter round cutter, lightly coated with flour, cut out as many scones as you can and arrange neatly on a large baking paper lined pan. They should be just touching each other side by side.
Gently press and push to bring the dough back into a smooth piece of dough of similar thickness. Cut and repeat until there’s only a thin scrap left that won’t make more scones. This should yield roughly 12 or so scones.
Lightly beat an egg and add a tablespoon or so of milk and egg wash the scones.
Bake them for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
I like to make them at the beginning of a week, freeze them and then just microwave as needed to warm and soften.
It’s super delicious halved and toasted up in the oven with garlic and herb butter that I made in my previous video recipe, again something easy to make for the rest of the week to use at leisure.
**NOTE: Process of baking scones close to each other is called batch baking. You can also separate them and bake it that way. It is believed the batch proving process retains more moisture but takes longer to bake (from my distant pastry school memory I think, at least).
Sugary Lab 