I made my first sale this week! This cake, one of my first original recipes, was sold to my friend Jaymin’s dad for his mother’s birthday. I was so excited when he asked me if I would sell it to him. It marks my first official sale, and my first step into possibly making a side career with this hobby?? I definitely wouldn’t mind.
CHOCOLATE KIWI CAKE WITH BROWNED BUTTER FROSTING
Chocolate Layers
Ingredients
1 cup pastry flour
6 tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sunflower or canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cups buttermilk
Directions
1. Preheat the over to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour two 6 inch cake pans, and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Incorporate the buttermilk and flour mix in alteration, and whisk until batter is smooth.
5. Pour the mix into two prepared pans, and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans, and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Vanilla Layer
Ingredients
1 cup pastry flour
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup water
3 tbsp. sunflower or canola oil
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. poppy seeds
Directions
1. Preheat the over to 350°F
2. Butter and flour one 6 inch cake pan, and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, water, oil, and vanilla. Whisk in flour mix until batter is smooth. Add the poppy seeds.
5. Pour the mix into the prepared pan, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan, and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Browned butter frosting
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3 tbsp heavy cream
Directions
1. Place butter in a small saucepan on medium heat and stir until it melts completely.
2. Continue cooking, stirring frequently until the milk solids turn brown
and the butter smells nutty, about 5-10 minuter longer. Take care not to
burn (it will continue to brown even after you remove it from the heat,
so take it off early).
3. Scrape the melted butter and browned
bits into a small bowl and chill until almost solidified but still soft
enough to be beaten with an electric mixer (about 20-30 minutes in the
freezer, an hour or so in the fridge).
4. Put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the powdered sugar and salt and beat until completely smooth and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the cream until frosting is fluffy.
Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients
4 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
35 g semi sweet or dark chocolate, chopped
Directions
Put cream, honey, butter and cocoa powder in a sauce pan. Heat until very hot but not boiling. Remove pan from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth.
2. Let glaze cool. If you find that the glaze is too thick to pour when cool, reheat it very carefully – just make sure it’s not warm when you pour it over the cake.
Decorations
5 Kiwis, ripe
White candy pearls
Flowers of your choosing
Assembling the cake
1. Start with a chocolate layer, and spread a bit of icing on top. Add some sliced kiwi (about 1 kiwi) on top of the icing, and spread more icing to just fill in the cracks.
2. Add vanilla-poppy seed layer, and do the same, with icing, and another layer of kiwi.
3. Finally place chocolate layer on top, and cover the whole cake with a thin layer of icing. Place in the fridge and let cool for 10 minutes.
4. Spread on the rest of the icing, and put back in the fridge.
5. Pour glaze around the edge of the cake and make sure it runs down the sides.
6. Cut the kiwis in any shape desired to decorate the cake, and place little white pearls on the rim of the cake on top of the chocolate glaze.
7. Decorate with flowers!
***
“The dream that meets the eye
Is not a dream.
For the dream is the wild,
free born adventure,
that keeps the mind shifting…
We see through shaded lens,
but just how shaded are those lens?
Forget what you see.
All must be images of memories,
so surreal,
so…real.
But you cannot tell,
Because your grasp on reality is slowly loosening…
As your memories fade to make new ones.
Just how much do we forget in a lifetime?
All those dreams
All those faces,
They once held,
so much meaning.
I don’t want to keep going.
I don’t want to grow old.
Please take me,
to Neverland.”
Dream Owl Cakes 