Best Durian Cake - Don't take my word for it

It's so funny. This is the second time I made this cake and I have no idea what it tasted like. My Mother takes Chinese opera lessons and they like to have these little pot luck sessions after class. One day my Mother asked me to make durian cake for her classmates. That was the very 1st time I made this cake. Since the cake was for someone else, naturally I didn't get to taste it. But my mother came back with rave reviews, saying all the "aunties" at her class loved the cake.

Last week my mother came to me again and commissioned me to make a durian cake for her teacher's birthday. Apparently they loved my cake so much that they wanted me to make the cake again. Whao~ That was so flattering.. The cake must REALLY tasted good! So setting aside my giant inflated head, I went shopping at Phoon Huat and got to work.

This is not my recipe. The sponge cake recipe is from Ann Reardon from How To Cook That and the stabilized whipped cream recipe is from Gretchen's Bakery. Since they turned out so good, I thought I blog it down for my future reference. Maybe SOMEDAY I'll get to taste it myself.

NOTE!

1. I followed it quite closely, but I needed a 11" X 11" square cake instead of a 20cm round cake, so I poured everything into 1 big pan instead of splitting into 2 small pans.
2. The original recipe flips the cake upside down to cool off. I blindly followed instructions without using my brain and the cake was nearly destroyed! Don't forget that mine was in a bigger pan so naturally the weight would pull the cake down from the pan! Stupid! Luckily I flipped it back quickly, so it was only a large crack rather than a total destruction. Phew~ Covered up with whipped cream and pretended nothing happened.

Sponge Cake

2 cups plain all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar (I reduced it)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tsp gelatine (powdered)

1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 egg yolks
1 cup cold water

7 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 160C or 130C if using a fan forced oven. 
2. Place your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and gelatin into a bowl and whisk it to incorporate air and get rid of any lumps. 
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture then pour in the oil, egg yolks and water in that order. Set that bowl to one side. 
4. Put your egg whites and cream of tartar into another bowl and whisk on high speed until you get soft peaks. 
5. Mix together the flour mixture for 30 seconds only or until just combined, don’t ovemix this. 
6. Using a spatula fold in your egg whites in three batches. 
7. Line but do not grease one 11 inches square cake tin and spread the mixture evenly in it.
8. Bake in a slow oven, 130C for 90 minutes. When it is done leave in the tin to cool.

Stabilized Whipped Cream (Yield: 3¾ Cups)

1 tsp Plain Powdered Gelatin
1 1/2 tbsp Cold Water
1 1/2 tbsp Boiling Water
2 cups Heavy Cream
¼ cup Fine Sugar (adjust according to your taste)

1. Bloom the gelatin in the cold water. Let stand about 5 minutes.
2. Add the boiled water to the gelatin mixture and stir to dissolve.
3. Using a cold bowl, whip and heavy cream whip the cream and gradually add the sugar.
4. Whip to soft - medium peaks and then add the melted stabilizer all at once.
5. Continue to whip for a few seconds longer until desired consistency.
6. Use immediately on your cakes and desserts

Durian Mousse

3 packets of durian
1/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
1/2 cup whipped cream

1. Remove the flesh from durian. 
2. Add heavy cream into durian and blend it up using the pulse function. (Taste better with some texture) 
3. Fold whipped cream into the durian paste and use immediately as cake filling.

Assembly

1. When sponge cake is completely cooled, slice into two from the middle and spread durian mousse in the middle. 
2. Do a crumb coating by spreading a thin layer of cream all over the cake and chill the cake in the fridge for 1 hour. 
3. After an hour frost the cake with the rest of the whipped cream and decorate accordingly.

 If you are lucky, slice and enjoy. If you are like me, just imagine how delicious it's gonna be!

*Apparently Mum brought home a big slice of leftover cake! Unfortunately my Dad found it first and devoured the whole thing. -_-

Devil's Food Birthday Cake

My baby boy loves trains, so for his 2nd birthday, I decided to make him an extra special birthday cake! A 3D train cake!

I used a devil's food cake for the cake base instead of the usual sponge cake as I love a good, rich chocolate cake. I experimented with a few different recipe and this (original recipe from Ina Garten) is definitely THE jackpot! It's so rich, chocolaty, moist and yet not too sweet. PUUURFECT! For the frosting, I love the Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream I used the other time, so I'll just stick to it.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, (I used 1 cup of milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream: (about 840g) (from my original post)
195g egg whites
220g caster sugar
385g unsalted butter, softened but still cold
100g cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)

Let's Bake!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. I used 1 9-inch x 9-inch square cake pan. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. 
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. 
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. 
4. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. 
6. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Since I'm using one big pan, slice the cake into 2 and frost accordingly.

Preparing the Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream:

1. Place 195 egg whites and 220g granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl. Sit the heatproof bowl on a saucepan filled with water. The base of the bowl should not be in contact with the water. This is known as a double boiler. Bring the water in the saucepan to a slight simmer. Use a balloon whisk and stir the egg whites and sugar constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch (test by inserting your finger).
2. Remove the heatproof bowl and beat the warm egg white mixture on medium high speed to obtain stiff peaks using an electric beater. (It takes a longer time when sugar is added.) At stiff peaks, the beaten egg whites will not budge when bowl is overturned. When the beaters are lifted from the beaten egg whites, the surface of the egg whites should form stiff upright peaks (not drooping peaks). The beaten egg whites should be cool to the touch (room temperature), not warm like when it was removed from the saucepan.
3. Beat in 385g butter into the beaten egg whites in 3 batches, ensuring each batch is incorporated before adding the next. The egg whites will deflate furiously when butter is added. Continue beating until the mixture is creamy and fluffy (Initially when the butter is added, the mixture may become watery. As more butter is added, the buttercream thickens up).\
4. Lastly, sift in 100g cocoa powder and continue beating to obtain a smooth chocolate buttercream.

If you are making the cake a day ahead, just cool the cake completely, wrap it up carefully in cling film and keep in the fridge. After cake has been frosted, and there are leftovers, don't worry, just keep in a airtight container and keep in freezer. It can keep for up to a week! The cake is best eaten at room temperature, so just leave it on the table for a few hours and it's ready to be served with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.

If you love chocolate cake, you will love this recipe. Try it. You won't regret it!