Tuesday 27 January 2015

THE White Choc Duplo Cake and A Happy New Year :)

Hello my dear readers, viewers, and friends, hope you all are fine and doing well at your Ends.
As it is my first post in this New Year, so here’s wishing you all a peaceful
*Happy New Year*
ahead. May it be a blessed one in every way for all of us. Amen
As I opened my site today I thought Oh God its ages since I uploaded here :( The reason, I had been really busy with a lot, some personal events, and some health seminars and different other issues…
will come up with them and let you all know soon

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 So here I am with another really yummz cake which I made for my Hubby’s Birthday. I wanted to make something different as the normal ones.
I had planned to make a white Choc Cake and then I came up with the idea of the White Duplo Cake.
 
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There started the first problem, we don’t get White Duplo here the whole year, I literally searched for them a whole day, from one super market to the other and finally found them at one store. I had to calculate how many I need for a huge cake. The sales girl was so friendly that she opened a packet and took a packed cake from the shelf and started placing them on the edges to count. How sweet na
 

 
Well so in the end I needed 5 packs of them with 12 each!
I took extra as I wanted to crush some for the icing  : )
 

 
The making is not difficult; it’s the preps that need a good amount of time, and then the setting of the Duplo one by one, first cutting them equally.
I did not pay so much attention at the perfection, as I love the uneven way, after all it is handmade and not bakery made J
 
 
So this is how I prepared this delish cake:
You Need:
1 cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
125 gram white baking chocolate, (melt and let cool down)
4 eggs
1teaspoon Vanilla essence
350 gram all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
125 ml buttermilk
¼ cup water

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Frosting:
500 gr cream cheese (Philadelphia)
220 gr soft butter
125 gram white baking chocolate (melt and let cool down)
250 gr of Raspberry jam (jelly) 
1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
5 level cups of confectioners' sugar (extra fine sugar/Icing sugar
 
 
-take a big bowl and beat the butter till it is creamy white
-add the sugar and beat again till all mixes up
-pour in the melted chocolate and beat all again
-now add the egg one after the other and keep beating
-add the vanilla essence and mix all
-in a separate bowl, combine the flour and the baking soda and sieve it thrice, this is good to give you a very fluffy spongy cake.
You may think just 1 teaspoon of soda, yes you've read it right :) Soda expands and is the best for deacidification,and so the best to use in all bakes and cakes!
- now add the butter milk and the water slowly into the batter and keep beating till all creamy and smooth
-pour this batter into a 28 cm round cake pan and bake in the pre heated oven on 180°C for around 25-30 minutes.
Check with a tooth pick if the cake is done, I use a shashlik stick as it is long and you can prevent your hand against the extreme hot oven : )
Now let the cake cool down completely as we have to cut it in three layers, so it should be really cold and firm.
I let it stay for nearly half the day, covered in the cake box
 
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In the mean while prepared the frosting and the cutting of the Duplos
The duplo bars should not stand too high above the cake so I measured it with the cake and then cut all accordingly.
I crushed 5-6 bars to mix it in the icing for the layers, this gives a nice duplo Choc flavor and increases the taste.
 
 For the Frosting:
-take a large bowl, mix in the cream cheese and butter and beat till fluffy-add the icing sugar gradually and beat till you have a smooth creamy texture
-mix in the confectioners ‘sugar, this is not the normal castor sugar, it is mixed with some corn starch so the cream stays settled for long.
-now take out some cream in an extra bowl and add in the crushed duplo and mix all well
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-cut the cake very carefully into three layers, first spread the jam all over a bit thick layer as it absorbs, then spread the duplo mixed cream on each layer and place them back evenly
-Spread the rest cream evenly on the top and the sides of the cake, the sides will hold the duplo sticks.
-now start placing the duplo round around,  take care that all are equal high, a bit of difference doesn’t  really matter!
 
I tied the duplo bars with a ribbon, so it kept a tight hold of it, I decorated with simple edible sugar flowers on the top, makes it look elegant.
Allow the cake to set well and chill at least over night.
 
It is a divine cake with a really nice rich touch of white Chocolate, you cannot eat a whole big piece of it, so save it for the next day and then enjoy with your coffe or tea : )
 
Do give it a try, it’s not a daily eat cake, but well surely some ones birthday is knocking on your door in the next weeks or months :)
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