Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Baby shower cake, a Chocolate Mocha cake with Mocha buttercream


With only few weeks for my India trip, blogging and cooking has taken a back seat these days. Lots of things to organise, lots of shopping and moreoever lots of dusting and cleaning to be  done at home too. Usually before going on a vacation  first thing I do is cleaning up  nooks and crannies of home just because I like to come back to a clean house ! Only when I started cleaning I realised that it s a never ending process ! And on top of all this,  summer is not making things easier either. Lil A likes to play out longer and bringing him back home from playgrounds is not that easy :) So after a long day I just curl up in the couch watching Tele with no energy to type a blog post. 

Coming to todays topic, I did this baby shower cake few weeks before. I did try to make a small video for this but unfortunately director didnt do a good job and neither did I ! Many  of my friends and readers have requested me to make tutorials about fondant cakes but as a self tought person  I am still in learning process and each cake is an experiment to me and the uncertainity in the outcome when I start the work is the only problem which stops me from making a tutorial, but inspite of all that I did try to make a video but it wasnt succesfull. So I promise you all that one day when I am confident enough about my work  I will post a video for you all :) 




Flaten out a  ball of fondant.

With the modelling tool shown press the edges for the pattern.


With a flesh coloured fondant roll out an oval face.
Place the face on the pillow and press gently in the place of  eyes.

Make a dummy  and place near the mouth.

This was a chocolate Mocha cake with mocha buttercream. I made two 9 inch cakes  and sadwiched it with Mocha buttercream and covered it with fondant. Placed the  pillow and baby's head on the cake. Roughly  made a small body  and covered it with a fondant blanket. Cut out some polka dots with piping(icing ) tips back side and sticked them with water. Made a small feeding bottle and placed near the sleeping baby. Tada a baby shower cake is ready for u :)

INGREDIENTS ( yields two small  8 inch cakes  for serving 8- 10 )

Plain flour - 1 1/4 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup
Coffee powder/ granules - 1 tbs
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Oil - 3/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Boiling water - 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp


Method
  • Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda and keep it aside.
  • In a bowl beat eggs and sugar for few minutes .
  • Add oil, vanilla extract and mix.
  • Mix coffee powder in 1/4 cup of boiling water and keep it aside.
  • Add 1/3 rd   of the dry ingredients and fold in.
  • Add the milk and fold in.
  • Add the next 1/3 rd of dry ingredients and fold in.
  • Add boiling coffee and fold in.
  • Finally add the rest of the  flour and fold in.
  • Pour the batter into two 8 inch  greased cake tins and bake it  in a preheated oven at 180 degree celcius for 20- 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

For Mocha buttercream icing 
Unsalted butter - 200 gm (apporximately 1 cup )
Icing sugar - 400 gm ( nearly 3 cups )
Meringue powder - 2 tsp
Double cream - 100 ml
Salt - pinch
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Dark chocolate - 80 gm (melted )
Coffee powder -  1 tsp
Warm water - 2- 3 tbs

Method
  • In a mixing bowl add 1 cup of sugar, salt, meringue powder and mix.
  • Add cream to it and beat it in a electric beater at medium speed with paddle attachment for 5 minutes.
  • Add remaining sugar and beat for 3 minutes.
  • Add softened butter little by little and beat for 5-7 minutes at medium high speed.
  • Dissolve coffee powder in warm water and  keep it aside. Melt chocolate in a heatproof  bowl placed above a simmering pot of water. Let the coffee and chocolate cool.
  • Add vanilla extract, coffee and chocolate to the buttercream and beat at a very low speed for few seconds until mixed.



20 comments:

Chitz said...

Looks awesome dear.. Just perfect & wonderful.. Talented gal.. I just love to sit & gaze at ur baked goodies... Keep up :)

Merry Tummy said...

awwww...this is the cake not to b cut, just keep looking at it. Me and charu were talking today that u must sell cakes- u r amazing.
Very well and professional looking cake :) :)

Vrinda said...

Very cute cake :)And very nicely done :)

meena said...

beautifully done.nice clicks.

Unknown said...

cake looks fabulous dear :) lovely clicks :)

Unknown said...

cake looks so preety....Lovely color...perfectly made dear...have a safe trip...

great-secret-of-life said...

very cute cake.. nice decoration

Unknown said...

Wow Vinee cake looks absolutely beautiful, I am sure the mum to be was too happy with this one. I love the idea of mocha cake and blue fondant so pretty :) love it and your clicks are too good... when ru coming to India???

Divya Shivaraman said...

super cute and perfect for the occassion

Unknown said...

Truly perfect cake for lovely occasion. Cake looks awesome.

Rafeeda AR said...

that one looks absolutely amazing vinee... wow... and the flavors of the cake... yum... bookmarked! i mean the cake, not the fondant, that will take maybe years for me... hehe...

Reshmi said...

nicely done... nice colours
Noel Collections

Unknown said...

that's so nicely done. loved it.

Unknown said...

awesome dear..luks sooo cute...

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Priya Suresh said...

Am sure the future mom would have been definitely pleased by this cake sis..Looks like you have loads of fun with the fondant.

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

very cute cake dear. luved the white polkas. simply perfect ! feel free to drop by my space too when u get the time.

Vimitha Durai said...

Looks so beautiful dear

Unknown said...

Wow what a wonderful cake. Done really well Vinee :-)

Manju @ Manjus Eating Delights said...

Beautiful Cake as always Vinee...When I made my crib cake for a baby shower a year back I had almost planned to do it like this but I couldn't model the baby figure properly, so went for a Crib design :-P I bet the mom-to-be n her family was super happy with the cake.

Shibi Thomas said...

Oh Vinee..you are an awesome fondant cake designer. I won't dare to cut that cake...just simply gazing at the cake satisfies my tummy. I have to make atleast one fondant cake one of these days...you, Shema and Manju are impelling me to do so. Superb work Vinee!!!!