A Cake for the Season of Sharing

Even though Christmas is still few weeks away, but I baked and brought this cake to the office for a surprise early Christmas celebration last week before my last day with the company that I've worked for more than a decade.

  

 

I borrowed the idea from this Swimming Pool cake and created this 2-layer cake, with “green grass” on the 1^st layer and “snow flake plus a pond” on the 2^nd layer. Instead of baking the usual sponge cake, I baked 2 cakes – a big blueberry yoghurt cake for the 1^st layer and another small matcha-flavoured sponge cake for the top.

Here is the recipe and steps:

Blueberry-Yoghurt Cake

Recipe taken from my earlier post here. Instead of a ring pan, I used a 20-cm round cake pan and baked for 50 mins at 170 degree C, when a knife inserted in come out clean.

Matcha-Sponge Cake

For the 2nd layer Matcha Sponge Cake, I used the same sponge cake recipe which I had used for in Sep for my Strawberry Yoghurt Jelly Cake. I reduced the flour to 95g and added 5g of matcha powder. I poured half of the batter into a 9-cm round cake pan and the remaining batter in 5 muffin cups. They came out from the oven in perfect spongy texture in 20 mins at 170 degree C.

Leave both cakes to cool completely before assemble.

Chocolate Butter cream

Beat together the following ingredient until smooth:

70g unsalted butter, 1/2 cups icing sugar, 30g melted chocolate and 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder.

Other ingredients needed:

1 packet of pocky stick biscuit

2 boxes of chocolate-coated Biscuit sticks

Shredded white chocolate

Green/blue-colored agar-agar

Christmas ornaments for decoration

To assemble:

1. Trim the top of the bigger cake to get a flat base.
2. Position the smaller cake on top centre of the bigger cake (I used 3 tooth-picks inserted to the middle of the cakes to hold them together). Using a small fruit knife, carefully scrap out a small and round shallow well at the top of the 2^nd layer (I used the cap of a bottle as a guide).
3. Using your fingers, lightly rub the green cake crumble that was scrapped down from the matcha-cake for later use as the green grass.
4. Spread a thin layer of chocolate butter-cream all over the surface and side of the 2-layered cake, except the round shallow well on the top which is reserved for the pond.
5. Break the poky sticks into small pieces (about 3-4 parts), pin them around the top layer cake to form a fence of equal height. Next, do the same for the bottom layer cake, using the chocolate-coated sticks.
6. Using the bottle cap as a guide, cut out the agar-agar into a round shape of the the same size as the well for the pond. Carefully place the agar-agar onto the well, cover it with the cap to prevent the shredded chocolate from spilling over to the pond.
7. Carefully sprinkle the green cake crumble onto the top surface of the bottom layer to form the green grass. Next, carefully sprinkle shredded white chocolate on the surface of the top layer cake.
8. Surround the circumference of the bottom layer with a ribbon to hold the chocolate sticks and also to add a festive touch to the cake. Decorate it with Christmas ornaments.
9. Keep chilled in the fridge. Remove the cap cover to unveil the pond when ready to serve.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14 - Creative Christmas, hosted by Hankerie.