After doing the large attempt at a drippy cake earlier in the week, I thought doing a batch of small ones would give me good practice with the decorating technique... In retrospect this was a good, and a bad idea. I did indeed get loads of practice doing the decorating, but it took AGES, and was really fiddly. I do now feel more confident doing the decorating methods, however I won't be doing small ones again.So, what did I learn? Well, chilling cakes is vital, and double-layering the icing is also good (a thin first layer to "seal" the cake, then a thicker one after it's chilled). You also need a good tool to get a sharp edge, I used a freezer ice-scraper, though I should probably get something a bit more official. I did caramel icing again, but this time used bought caramel sauce/dulce de leche. I should probably make this (it's simmered condensed milk, sometimes made by boiling the tin, though I think with ring-pull tins they will probably explode!)
I made the ganache a bit thinner this time, and also a bit warmer when I put it on, so it ran a little easier. It could still have been more fluid, as it sets very quickly on a chilled cake. Finally, I did a decoration...fundamentally made of what I had in the house (strawberries and spare cream).
Mini-Drippy Cakes - Recipe
- Pre-heat oven to 150'C
Sponge Ingredients
- 170g self-raising flour
- 170g butter
- 170g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½tsp vanilla essence
1) Place all the ingredients in a stand mixer and mix until smooth2) Place 45-50g of the mixture into each hole of a 12-hole mini-sandwich tin
3) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes
4) Remove to a wire rack to cool
5) Once cooled, place the cakes back in the tin and using the top of the tin as a guide, use a sharp knife to level the tops6) Find an object about half the height of the cakes, and use this as a template to cut all the cakes in half horizontally.
7) Chill in the fridge
Caramel Buttercream Ingredients
- 220g softened butter
- 70g egg whites (approx 2 large egg whites)
- 120g caster sugar
- 3-4tsp dulce de leche
1) Place the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and beat until very soft (you'll need to scrape the sides down a couple of times)2) Place the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl
3) Place over a bain-marie, and whisk until firm peaks are formed (7-8 minutes)
4) Leave to cool
5) Beat the cooled meringue into the softened butter
6) Add the dulce de leche, and beat until combined
Decorating
You'll want some small (3 inch diameter) cake boards. I bought a job lot from eBay. non-slip decorating turntable is also very useful.1) Stick the lower half of the cake onto the cake board with a small amount of icing
2) Put a dollop on top, then press the top down until it's level.
3) Using a small palette knife, add some buttercream round the sides
4) Using a scraper, evenly cover the sides, removing any excess.
5) Repeat for the top of the cake. Do all 12 cakes
6) Chill in the fridge until the icing is firm.7) Repeat the icing for all the cakes, but leave more icing on the sides. It should settle easier this time, as you're applying to a smooth surface.
8) Place back in the fridge to chill
Ganache Ingredients
- 90g dark (50%) chocolate
- 120g double cream
1) Finely chop the chocolate, and place in a heatproof bowl with the cream2) Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir thoroughly
3) Microwave for 10 seconds at a time, then stir thoroughly until you have a smooth, fluid ganache.
4) Take a chilled cake, and carefully add ganache so that it drips down the side (I found using the edge of a teaspoon to encourage it worked well). Move round the cake forming drips at regular intervals
5) Using a small palette knife, cover and smooth the top.
6) Repeat for all cakes...I re-heated the ganache every now and then with 5 seconds in the microwave, to keep it runny.
Decoration
- 6 large strawberries
- 100ml double cream
2) Shop the strawberries into wedges
3) place a couple of wedges on each cake, then pipe a cream rosette. Balance a third wedge against the cream to add height.