My lovely friends, Sarah and Lee are having a baby very soon and yesterday was their baby shower. I wanted to make two things, a cake that reminds them of their Australian roots, and a nappy cake full of essential goodies for a newborn baby.
This is the story of the Koala Macaron Cake....and perhaps a mention of the nappy cake too!
I was looking for a different vanilla cake to use for this cake. I wanted one with some good structure and considered making a madeira cake - one of my all time favourites and a good one for layering. But instead, I decided to try one I had been hearing about recently, from a fellow food blogger, Jo from Every Nook & Cranny. Jo's Vanilla Yoghurt Cake turned out to be one of the most delicious vanilla cakes I have eaten. I made double the mixture to get four layers, but only used three, which left a whole layer for my husband and I to gorge on! We ate it plain, no deorations....and it was sooooo yummy!
The macarons are one of my favourites to make. I haven't made any macs for ages, but it's like learning to ride, once you have the technique you always remember it. I was really happy with how they turned out. I won't repeat the process for making them here, but if you'd like to give them a go, you can find the recipe here.
I filled half of them with a chocolate ganache and caramel combination and the rest I left plain to go around the cake. I needed 15 for the bottom of the cake - I had originally miscalculated 12, so I had to prise open 3 extra filled macarons to complete the circle!
I love this condensed milk caramel so, so much. And I have been known to eat it straight out of the tin with a spoon. On more than one occasion. :)
Anyway I made the macarons on Thursday night - they can be made in advanced, in fact they are better if made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
On Friday night I made the vanilla and yoghurt cake. As I said, I doubled the recipe to get the height I wanted, but I will give you the original recipe here. I believe Jo has adapted her original recipe now, which I didn't realise so here is the original and here is the updated version.
Vanilla Yoghurt Cake
Adapted From Every Nook & Cranny
Ingredients:
Cake
150g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
125g plain flour
250g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
250g greek yoghurt
Buttercream
250g butter, softened
500g icing sugar, sifted
2-3 Tablespoons milk to loosen the mixture
1 tsp vanilla essence
Ganache
100g dark chocolate
80ml double cream
Condensed milk caramel for filling.
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C and then line the bases of 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - this will take about 10 minutes so that it is very pale. This adds essential air into the mixture. Sift the flours, baking powder and bi-carb of soda together into another bowl
3. Add the eggs, one at a time into the mixture, beating well after each one. Adding a spoonful of the flour mixture helps prevent curdling.
4. Once all the eggs are incorporated, add the rest of the flour and mix gently until it is all just combined.
5. Pour in the yoghurt and vanilla and mix slowly until it forms a batter consistency.
6. Gently measure equal amounts into the two tins, flatten it out very carefully and then cook for 30-35 mins. Check they are cooked by lightly touching the top- it should spring back. You can also insert a probe - if it comes out clean your cake is cooked.
7. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tins. Tip out onto a baking rack to cool completely.
8. While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream by combining the softened butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and milk as required to make it a soft buttercream.
9. Once the cakes are cooked, layer buttercream between the layers - I also added a drizzle of condensed milk caramel to each layer too. Next time I would add more - a full layer of the caramel.
11. To complete the cake I made another amount of the buttercream and iced the outside. Keep a small amount of buttercream left over to use as 'glue' to stick the macarons on with.
12. Make the ganache by finely chopping the chocolate and placing it into a heat proof bowl. Warm the cream up in a small saucepan over a medium heat until it is bubbling but not boiling. Pour it over the chocolate, mix gently and leave it to melt for a few minutes.
13. Mix to combine the chocolate and cream. If there are any lumps left, put a small amount of water in the saucepan, heat it on the hob/stove and place the heat proof bowl over the top and stir until the remaining lumps of chocolate have melted. If the ganache is looking quite thick and not drizzly enough, you can add a small amount of cream to it at this stage to thin it down a bit more.
14. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a small nozzle or just snip the end off the piping bag (small hole) and drizzle the ganache around the edge first to create the drip effect. Then fill the top.
15. Add the macarons to the top and set into the ganache. Then using the left over buttercream, place a small amount on the back of the plain koala macarons and stick them around the bottom.
16. Put the cake in the fridge to set everything well.
17. Serve and enjoy!
Notes: I am not actually a huge fan of buttercream (it's too sweet for me) so if I was making this for a more casual occasion, I would just fill it with jam and whipped cream.
And to finish off, here is the completely different cake I made this weekend! This nappy cake is full of nappies (obviously) plus all sorts of other goodies and essentials for the arrival of a newborn baby.
With the very happy 'Mums-to-Be'! Not long now, girls!
