Cake.

Today a wonderful friend of ours turns 30. Last night we had a surprise party for him to celebrate. It went off wonderfully and he claims he was actually surprised. For the party I had the privileged of providing the cake. I was so excited to have the opportunity to make an extravagant cake and I was determined to go all out. The only thing is, it was my first ever cake not from a box.

I love to bake. I am continuously expanding what I can do and what I enjoy doing in the kitchen. A cake however has always been a lofty goal. For me it was hard to turn down a $1 box cake and for a family of two it was next to impossible to eat before going bad or getting sick and tired of it. So when the opportunity came I jumped on the idea of making a cake from scratch.

I went with a three tiered white cake with chocolate raspberry ganache filling and butter cream icing. In the end it was a success and looked/tasted wonderful, however getting to the end was a bit of a nightmare. I had a lot of fun making the cake, and was able to do the entire thing in just under 4 hours. During the course of making the cake I learnt a lot of things to do different next time and I cannot wait for a reason to do so. Anyone need a cake?

I started with this recipe for the cakes.
I had hoped it would make three layers as I was using an 8 inch pan instead of a 9 inch as the recipe called for, but it made two very thin layers. I left one white and the other was a dark blue. I did not want to use another 6 eggs for the next two layers so instead I used this recipe for the middle layer. Both recipes were enjoyed by different people, so I think it just comes down to personal taste. I am however going to keep searching for a perfect recipe. The second recipe turned out thick, so I figured three layers was enough when I originally wanted 4. The first two cooled while the second cooked and then to cool the first I put it in the fridge. First off however I used a trick I read online about placing a towel over the warm cake and pressing down in an attempt to level it about. It worked slightly.

While I waited for them to cool I started on the butter cream and chocolate ganache. I doubled the ganache recipe thinking I needed lots in order to fill the cake. I however did not need 'lots' and therefore I have well over half left over (what should I make?). It turned out wonderful and I am so happy with the flavour and end result. As you can see however, the specks are seeds, I am a rebel and therefore used the jam I had on hand with seeds. When I was finished I put it in the fridge until I was ready to use it. Next time I think I am going to add a handful or two of actual raspberries as well and maybe even put some in between the layers.

Chocolate raspberry ganauche.  

The butter cream recipe came from here. It was wonderful. I doubled it because I needed extra for 'patching' the chocolate in. If it was not for that error, I certainly could have done with just one batch. For this I started light and when I was finished with each colour I just added in a little bit more food colouring to get the same colour gradient that the cake had.

I leveled the cake layers (to the best of my ability, I got better as I went) and then I piped a barrier of butter cream for the chocolate on the bottom layer. I then filled it with the ganache. This layer worked wonderful, when the next layer went on the chocolate was able to stay contained. The next layer I put the butter cream further out and therefore when I added the top layer it started to ooze out the side. This quickly became a mess and therefore the pictures stop. Next time I will do two layers of icing around the outside and keep the chocolate more towards the middle. When they were all stacked I then put a layer of butter cream on around the entire cake, this acted as the crumb coat. It also acted as a barrier to keep the chocolate in. I then placed the cake in the freezer for a few minutes to set, and patched up a few of the areas where the chocolate was coming through after it was starting to freeze.

The icing was actually the easiest part of the process. It only took three bags full and one tip. It was nice and easy and just took turning the cake to continue icing it. I put our padded mat from in front of the sink under my knees and went to town. I could not be happier with the end result. I love the way it turned out. Only things I would do different is I wish I had enough light icing and put a band around the bottom and that I had something to actual put the cake on instead of the just the bottom of the carrier.

All lit up. 30 candles is a lot. 

The top blue looked wonderful, if only it was not covered in icing in this picture.