By some weird glitch, the blog has now been up and running for a year! On the 27th of August 2020, I posted my first recipe. Since then, I've posted 50 recipes (missing out on two for short breaks). I've loved exploring new recipes, taste testing, and feeding friends and family in the process. Thank you for following the blog!
In true motherly fashion, I decided to make the blog a birthday cake to celebrate the 1 year mark. Back when my siblings and I were younger, my mother would make cakes in the shape of the age we were turning, so I've taken inspiration from that, and put together a number 1 cake, which is actually far simpler than it may look. It's a funfetti cake with a swiss meringue buttercream on top, and tonnes and tonnes of sprinkles. Something to keep in mind if you're based in the EU or UK, is that sprinkles here don't come as bright as they do in the US due to laws around food manufacturing, so don't tear your hair out trying to find the brightest sprinkles - it's a bit of a pipe dream here!
The below recipe will make 2 26x38cm large rectangular cakes. Any trimmings from carving out the number one were then crumbled, mixed with leftover icing, and coated in chocolate to make cake pops.
Ingredients
Funfetti Cake
660gr plain flour
466gr white sugar
4 1/2tspn baking powder
1 1/2tspn fine salt
3/4tspn baking soda
340gr unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2cups plain yoghurt
1/3cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
6 large egg whites
1 1/2tsp vanilla paste (or 1tbsp vanilla essence)
100gr rainbow sprinkles (rods), and extra for decorating
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
6 large egg whites
400gr white sugar
350gr unsalted butter (room temp)
1tsp vanilla paste (or 1tbsp vanilla essence)
1/8tspn salt
Method
1. Making the cake. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Take your time doing this. Start adding the flour and yoghurt in parts, alternating between the flour and yoghurt and whisking after each addition.
2. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oil, and mix until well incorporated. Start adding the full eggs one by one, mixing after each addition. Repeat with the egg whites. Add the vanilla paste and mix until well incorporated.
3. Add the rainbow sprinkles and fold in. Do not overmix, as otherwise the colours will start to run.
4. Prepare your rectangular dishes, greasing them and lining them with baking paper to easily remove the cakes from the moulds. Distribute the cake batter equally in the moulds and bake for around 40-50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the cake pans.
5. Making the buttercream. I recommend making this a day in advance. In a heatsafe bowl, mix the sugar and eggs together. Do not whisk. Place the bowl onto a double boiler over medium-high heat and mix the sugar and eggs constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy. This tempers the eggs, but also serves as a base for our meringue.
6. Once the sugar granules have dissolved, take the bowl off the heat. Do not wait for it to cool. Grab your whisk (I advise using an electric one as this can take a while) and whisk until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy.
7. Cut up the butter into small cubes, and ensure it has softened at room temperature. Start adding to the mixture slowly, so as not to deflate all the air you've incorporated into the meringue, whisking thoroughly after each addition of butter. Do not add all the butter at once.
8. Once you've added all the butter, add the vanilla and salt and whisk again. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a few hours to allow the buttercream to set.
9. Assembling the cake. Level the cakes by cutting off the domes. Set the scraps aside. Create a number 1 template such as below. Doesn't need to be perfect, but double check that the full template fits the cake before making any cuts. Once you're happy with your template, set this on top of your levelled cakes and start making cuts. Try to do it in one go, without much sawing so as not to disturb the crumb.
10. Once you've cut the cakes up according to your template, set them onto the tray you'll be using to serve the cake. Place spoonfuls of icing between the layers to create a stacked cake. Due to the cuts made to create the shape, a crumb coat is necessary to get a nice final iced cake. This simply means you're going to coat the cake very lightly using the icing before setting it in the fridge for a few hours.
11. Once the crumb coat has set, take the cake out of the fridge and focus on putting the second and final layer of icing on top. This is thicker and where you may want to perfect it slightly. Always add more icing than you need - removing icing is actually easier than adding it on when it comes to icing a cake.
12. Decorate the cake as you'd like - I personally went with a scalloped border using a closed star tip, and then filled in the middle with sprinkles and a few larger gold sprinkles.
13. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Recreating this recipe? Tag me on instagram @juliawgr!
NOTES:
Template measurements:
Rectangle 1: 9 inches x 3.5 inches (creates the main shape for the number 1)
Rectangle 2: 7.5 inches x 2.5 inches (creates the base)
Trapezoid: 0.5 inches (top) x 2.5 inches (right side) x 2.5 inches (bottom) - connecting line between top left corner to bottom left corner, automatically calculated
Don't waste your leftover cake scraps and icing. Make cake pops! Crumble the remaining cake scraps finely, and mix in a few tablespoons of icing at a time, until holding a small amount in your hand and pressing allows the mixture to hold its shape. Allow to set in the fridge then coat with your preferred chocolate.
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