Chocolate Porter Cake

Ingredients (10 servings):

Chocolate cake:

• 225g softened butter

• 1.5 dl cacao powder

• 4 dl sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar

• 1.5 dl sour cream

• 4.5 dl flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 dl stout or porter (I used Carnegie Porter)

Ganache:

• 100 g dark chocolate

• 1 dl heavy cream

How to:

Turn you oven to 175 C, then grease a bundt pan and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the butter and the cacao powder, then add the sugar until combined. Follow with the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla, sour cream, baking powder and salt. 

When it’s all combined, at flour 1 dl flour and mix well then add 0.5 dl stout and repeat until you used up all the ingredients. 

Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until moist in the middle. (Test with toothpick).Then let it cool completely before inverting it and starting with the ganache.

The ganache:

Put the chocolate chips in a heat “” bowl. Then heat up the heavy cream in a small saucepan and pour it over the chocolate. Let it set for 5 minutes, then gently stir until smooth. Pour the ganache over the cake and let i set for about 10 minutes before cutting the cake. 

Harry Potter Birthday Cake

Ingredients (10 servings):

Chocolate cake:

• 3 eggs

• 3 dl sugar

• 1 dl boiling water

• 2 tsk baking powder

• 2 tsk vanilla sugar

• 0.5 dl cacao powder

• 2.5 dl wheat flour

Filling/Frosting:

• 250g Raspberries (fresh or thoughed)

• 1 tbsp Raspberry jam 

• 50 g butter 

• 50 g cream cheese

• 4 dl powdered sugar

• 0.5 tsp vanilla sugar

• 1 tsp milk

• Pink food coloring

• Green food coloring

How to:

Turn the oven on 180C, and line a 24 cm diameter pan with parchment paper.

Whip together eggs and sugar and add the boiling water while whipping.  In a different bowl, blend the flour, cacao powder, vanilla sugar and baking powder and then add it unto the eggs.

Poor it into the pan and put i in the oven on the lower part for 30-40 minutes (keep watch because this can be different in different ovens). Let the cake cool down completely in the pan.

Cut the cake into two parts and put the thoughed raspberry on the lower part and put the other one on top.

Frosting:

Beat butter until smooth, then add cream cheese and blend until well combined. Add 2 dl of the powdered sugar and the vanilla sugar. Put 2 tbsp of the blend in an another bowl. In the larger mix add the raspberry jam and the rest of the powdered sugar and lastly some pink food coloring until you get the perfect consistency and color. 

In the smaller bowl add a bit of green food coloring and blend until you get the right color. 

Decorate the cake with pink frosting and write Happy Birthday on the cake with the green frosting.

Totoro Cake

Ingredients (14 servings):

Cake:

• 2 dl flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1,5 dl kakao

• 4 tsp vanilla sugar (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

• 1 tsp salt

• 6 eggs

• 4 dl sugar

• 500g quark or cream cheese

• ½ dl raspberry jam

Buttercream:

• 150 g soft butter

• 340 g icing sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 tbsp whipping cream

• 1/2 tsp? black food coloring

How to:

Cake:

Turn your oven at 200 C. Mix together flour, baking powder, cacao, vanilla and salt. Then whisk the eggs and sugar and then add the quark/cream cheese, when it’s all combined add the flour mix a little at a time. Pour the mixture into 2 greased round pans and put them in on the lower part of the oven for about 25 minutes. Take them out and let them cool completely. Then cut them in half, and just stack them up together again. take one of the cakes and cut it out to a moon shape so it will fit around the other round cake. Then carve out 2 ears from the leftover pies and place all the pieces together into a totoro shape. Take off the top layer and add the raspberry jam in the middle and then put them back together.

Buttercream:

Whip the butter until it turns to a lighter color (about 5 minutes). Then add the icing sugar, half at a time. When that is all combined add the vanilla and 1 tbsp of whipping cream at a time until you are happy with the result. Put about ⅓ of the butter cream into a seperate bowl (this is for the crumb coat and the white stomach.) Then add the black food coloring to the other ⅔ part and blend until it turns into the light grey color you wanted.

Lastly it’s time to assemble. Add the crumb coat and put the cake in the fridge for about 1 hour to solidify. Then add another layer of the white cream to the stomach and smooth it out. Put your grey buttercream in a piping bag with a star tip and start making little pointy peaks on the cake where you want Totoros grey parts. Then roll out a little bit of white fondant and a little bit of black fondant att cut out the eyes, nose and whiskers and add them onto the cake.

Leave the cake in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving!

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients (8-10 servings):

• 1kg pumpkin (Hokaido for the right texture and taste)

• 2 eggs

• 1 dl sugar

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 dl flour

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 2 apples

How to:

Turn your oven on 200C, cut the pumpkin into small bits and steam them until soft. Puré them using a mixer, then add the eggs, sugar and cinnamon while mixing. In another bowl whisk together flour and baking powder and gradually add it to the pumpkin puré. Now peel and cut out the core of the apples and slice them into thin slices. Blend the apple slices into the cake mixture and poor it into a greased round cake pan. Put it in the oven and leave for 45-50 minutes until the cake has solidified. Let it cool down and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before removing it from the pan.