3D Olaf Chiffon Cake

"Do you want to build a Snowman?" <3

Have you watched Frozen 2?

I loved it so much, so here's my first full 3D chiffon cake Olaf!

He made me laugh so much in the show =D. So this is my humble work of love.

The last time I made Olaf was 5 years ago when Frozen just came out. It is a much simpler semi-2D version. I had forgotten how to make it though, for this cake, I actually redid the eyes for this cake 2 times! It is not easy to capture the look of characters really.

Do you like Olaf in summer or in winter?

Hope this adorable Olaf cake made you smile too!

With lots of love,

Susanne

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'Olaf, Piglet and Pooh on Scooter' Macarons on Chocolate Cake

Someone requested for a really chocolatey cake (no light and fluffy chiffon cake please), with a scooter themed macaron cake topper and with some of the birthday girl's favourite characters. This was what I came up with 😊

The chocolate cake is not just any chocolate cake. It's a wickedly dark chocolate cake with character! I made four layers of Rose Levy Beranbaum's German chocolate cake with a mixture of chocolate custard and whipped dark chocolate ganache filling between the cake layers, topped off with dark chocolate drip and a little salted caramel white chocolate whipped ganache on the sides of the cake just to give a little colour contrast and variation in flavour. Mdm Rose's chocolate cake recipe although chocolatey, is oil based and dairy free so I decided to make a richer custardy filling to compliment this dense in texture but light-on-the-palate sponge. Be prepared for a long post because of the many components involved in this bake.

And I haven't started on the macarons 😅. I will briefly mention what I did for the macarons since details can be found in other posts. I used the reduced sugar Swiss method recipe for this batch as I also made a small batch of hemispherical macarons for another request concurrently. I wouldn't use my swiss method recipe with significantly lower sugar for this as I need the stability for the many colours involved. Just to share some photos of the process...

Piping the characters. I piped Olaf’s arms separately and also added some cornflour to the batter to make it less prone to breaking.

Freshly baked shells!

I filled them with matcha white chocolate ganache or dark chocolate ganache, both whipped versions for a lighter texture.

I forgot to mention that the details were added on using black edible marker or royal icing.

Here's a peek at the feet on macaron shells! Olaf's arms are stuck into the filling.

And of course, it is really satisfying to see the fully constructed piece! I glued the pieces together with stiff royal icing.

The German chocolate cake recipe is adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Heavenly Cakes recipe book. I used smaller sized pans (7.5" diameter) but baked four layers of sponge (instead of two 9 x 2" pans in her original recipe) so I scaled the ingredients accordingly. I took the liberty of adding a coffee liqueur and reduced the sugar by about 7%.

German chocolate cake
Ingredients (makes four 7.5 x 1.5" round cakes):
80g alkalized cocoa powder
144g boiling water
130g canola oil
88g egg yolks (about 5)
216g egg whites (about 7)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur
90g cake flour
90g plain flour
330g caster sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 175℃. Line base of baking tins with parchment paper. Mdm Rose suggested using cake strips for the baking tins. I just place a tray of water at the base of oven to create steam and a similar effect of slowing down the temperature rise of the cake tins.

2. In mixing bowl, whisk cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent loss of moisture through evaporation. Leave to cool to room temperature. About 30 minutes.

3. Add yolks and oil into mixing bowl. Use electric mixer to beat on low speed. Gradually increase to medium speed and beat for 1 min or until smooth and shiny like buttercream. Scrape down and beat in vanilla and coffee liqueur for a few seconds.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift the mixture. Add half of flour mixture to chocolate mixture. Beat on low speed until dry ingredients moistened. Scrape down the bowl. Repeat with remaining flour mixture. Increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for 1 minute. Batter will be thick.

5. Add egg whites and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase to medium high speed and beat for another 2 min. Batter will be like thick soup.

6. Transfer batter into prepared baking tins. They will be filled till about 1/4 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cake center springs back when pressed in the middle. Immediately unmould the cakes and cool completely upright on wire rack.

You may trim to tops of the cakes with a long serrated knife if there's a dome after cakes have cooled. Store between parchment paper in airtight condition until ready to assemble. I bake the cakes a day before assembling with filling.

Chocolate custard
Ingredients:
250g fresh milk
2 egg yolks
30g sugar (use more if you prefer sweeter)
20g cornflour
15g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (substitute with vanilla if you don't have)
15g unsalted butter, cool but softened
1/8 tsp salt

Steps:
1. In a heavy mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with 1.5 tbs of milk from the portion above. In another bowl, sift together cocoa, cornflour, sugar and salt. Add the sifted mixture to the egg yolks. Whisk until a smooth paste forms.

2. Place milk, vanilla and coffee liqueur in a saucepan. Heat until it just starts to bubble at the edges.

3. Carefully pour the hot milk in a thin stream into the egg mixture while whisking continuously. This is to temper the egg yolks. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

4. Cook the mixture over medium low heat while whisking continuously. Once the mixture thickens, remove from heat and whisk vigorously until smooth. Return back to heat and continue whisking until custard is thickened to your preferred consistency. I usually cook for about a couple of minutes more. For this cake filling that is going to be mixed with whipped chocolate ganache, I cook until it is able to form soft peaks. For Choux pastry fillings, I cook until it is able to hold firm to stiff peaks.

5. Remove saucepan from heat and add butter. Whisk until butter is incorporated.

Adding butter to custard

6. Reserve about 100-120g custard for coating each layer of sponge. Reserve 180-200g of custard to mix with 200g of whipped ganache. Press a piece of cling wrap on surface of custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in fridge and whisk to loosen before using.

Whipped dark chocolate ganache
Ingredients:
75g bitter dark chocolate couverture* (73.5%)
75g dark chocolate couverture (56%)*
150g heavy cream

*You may choose to use one type of couverture

Steps:
1. Place everything in a heatproof or microwaveable bowl, depending on how you want to melt the chocolate. You may use double-boiling or microwave to melt the chocolate slowly. Stir until all chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth.

2. Chill in fridge for 15-20min or leave out in air-con room until scoopable consistency. Whip with an electric mixer or spatula until lightened in texture. Be careful not to over whip or it will become grainy.

3. Fold in 200g of whipped ganache into 180-200g of chocolate custard. Reserve the rest of the ganache for frosting the sides and top of the cake. Transfer the portion of ganache for frosting the cake into piping bag with a small hole cut.

Dark chocolate drip
Ingredients:
50g dark chocolate couverture (56%)*
30g bitter dark chocolate couverture (73.5%)*
65g heavy cream

* You may choose to use one type of couverture

Steps:
Follow step 1 of whipped chocolate ganache above. Make this only after the layers of cake have been assembled and you are about to apply the drip on the cake. Transfer ganache into piping bag with a small hole cut when you are ready.

Salted caramel white chocolate whipped ganache
Ingredients:
80g salted caramel chips (I used Hershey's)
20g white chocolate chips
35g heavy cream

Steps:
Follow steps 1 and 2 of whipped dark chocolate ganache. Be even more careful not to overheat this as it's white chocolate based.  Chilling in fridge should require a shorter time than the dark chocolate ganache as the chocolate to cream ratio is much higher here. Transfer to piping bag with a small hole cut.

Assembly
1. Place an 8" cakeboard on a turntable and apply a small smear of whipped ganache in the middle. Place a sponge on top.

2. Apply a thin coat of pure chocolate custard with a spatula. This will help to moisten the sponge.

3. Pipe the mixture of chocolate custard and whipped chocolate ganache on top.

4. Place another layer of sponge on. Repeat until all four layers of sponge are assembled. Gently but firmly press the top of the sponge downwards to squeeze out any air spaces between filling and cake layers.

5. Apply some whipped dark chocolate ganache to fill up any gaps at the sides of the cake where the filling layers are. Use a bench scraper to scrape off any excess ganache. You may choose to frost the top of the sponge with a thin layer of whipped dark chocolate ganache if you wish.

6. Pipe some whipped salted caramel white chocolate ganache as you wish. You may pipe the lines in a discontinuous fashion if you wish.

7. Use a bench scraper to scrape off excess salted caramel ganache and to smoothen out the frosting on the sides of the cake. I go for a rustic semi naked look so I don't have to care too much about being neat.

8. Apply the dark chocolate drip along the circumference of the cake. Try to turn the turntable and pipe at the same rate so that the spacing between drips is more or less even. Some drips can go longer than the others. I made sure there is sufficient space for the name near the base of the cake. Quickly cover the top of the cake with more ganache and smoothen it out with a spatula.

A close up view of the cake...

I don't work with fondant so I used vanilla chiffon sponge which I baked concurrently with an earlier request and used alphabet cutters to cut the name out. I used a little salted caramel ganache to glue the name on.

Do store macaron cake toppers and naked or semi naked cakes separately in the fridge as the moisture released from the cake will turn the macarons soggy quickly. Only if the whole cake is frosted with buttercream that doesn't contain too much liquid content should be placed in contact or same confined storage space as macarons.

Just to share what I do in the kitchen when I work on bakes sometimes...I smeared some leftover chocolate custard on chocolate sponge trimmings to have a try...😋😋😋. Wickedly chocolatey! Do wait for a couple of days before eating the assembled cake to let the sponge and filling come together. It becomes more fudge-like and rich with storage! Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before enjoying all that chocolate goodness!

Thank God the cake and macarons were very well received!

With love,
Phay Shing

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Olaf Brown Sugar Cookies

I have a request for some Olaf cookies. Here they are :).

It was quite a challenge to take photos of Olaf as he has quite a huge contrast. I finally figured out that a black background works best to show up the features just when I was about to pack them :p.

As usual, I used my favorite brown sugar cookie recipe and same royal icing recipe.
The cookie dough is rolled to 5-6mm thick, chilled and cut into Olaf shape.

Homemade plastic template at work here! Check out this post for detailed steps on how to create and use one.

Bake for 15-18 minutes at 160-170°C or until browned. I tend to overbake a little as the cookie will soften a bit after icing. Baking time may vary depending on the size of your cookie template/ cutter.

Trace/ draw Olaf onto cookies with edible marker.

Start icing! It's my first time testing out some painting techniques so I made an extra Olaf head. Use the outline-and-flood icing technique to gradually add on parts of Olaf. You may use oven drying at 60°C fan mode to speed up the drying, especially for large sections of the body. Be careful not to dry for too long or the oil from the cookie will leach into the icing, making it look patchy.

Almost done!

I painted on some light brown highlights for Olaf's twigs, some blue and grey shadows around the eyes, and some grey shadows at selected portions of the head, body and buttons to create a more 3D and realistic effect. The light brown highlights was made from royal icing. The shadows were made from some gel food colouring dissolved in *ahem* Chinese rose wine. I didn't have vodka so I used the next closest thing I have at home :p.

Painting on the "eye shadow"

Putting on the "eyeliner"

Finally, add on the carrot nose with medium stiff icing. Just add icing sugar to the flooding icing until the peaks can somewhat hold the shape. Add on shadows for the nose if you wish.

A closer look at Olaf!

The highlights and shadows are meant to be understated so you don't really notice them if you are not looking out for them. But adding details like these makes Olaf more life-like.

I couldn't resist a retro shot!

All packed!

You may be wondering how come someone ordered so few cookies? Keep a lookout for my other Frozen-themed cookies. Elsa!

With love,
Phay Shing

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'Olaf in Summer' Pandan Chiffon Cake

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

This is a fun cake I made for my dear hubby’s birthday. I was actually looking to Phay Shing's yummy blackforest cake. However, being the loving dad he is, he suggested instead that I make an Olaf which is my son’s favorite character in Frozen.

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

Yes I do! These are what you will need: 2 cleaned egg shells, a paper cone, a small glass bowl and a 6-inch tray (for cutting out the feet), and a baby carrot LOL! Good way to get your kids to eat their vegetables :p.

Bake a vanilla chiffon cake in them (for your convenience I have repasted the recipe below):
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
39g vegetable oil
36 ml water
60g cake
1 tsp vanilla extract
Few drops of white food coloring

4 egg whites
45g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Using the following baking times:

Egg shells/paper cone: 15 min at 160°C and 5+ min at 150°C
Glass bowl: 15 min at 160°C and 10 min at 150°C
Baking tray: 15 min at 160°C

Keep the cakes airtight until the base cake is ready!

The base cake is a pandan chiffon cake similar to Peppa pig chiffon cake. I filled the hole with hidden marshmallows under the Olaf because my daughter loves them! For your convenience I have also repasted the recipe below:

Pandan chiffon cake (17cm chiffon tin)
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
39g vegetable oil
24 ml coconut milk
11 ml pandan juice
2 ml vanilla extract
5 ml pandan paste
60g cake flour
A pinch of salt

Meringue:
4 egg whites
45g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method:
1. Prepare fresh pandan juice by blending fresh pandan leaves (10-15 leaves cut into small pieces, omitting the tips) with 50 ml water. Strain with a sieve and press out all the liquid with a spoon.
2. Preheat oven at 160°C.
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, coconut milk and pandan juice.
4. Add in sieved flour and salt and whisk till no trace of flour found.
5. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
6. Fold in the meringue gently into the batter 1/3 at a time.
7. Scoop the batter into the chiffon tin.
8. Gently tap the tin on table 3x to remove air bubbles
9. Bake the cake for 15 min at 160°C then 30 min at 150°C.
10. Invert immediately once out of the oven to cool
11. Unmould after the cake is cool (see Hand Unmoulding video tutorial).

Join up the vanilla cakes from head to bottom in the order of: egg shell + cone (head), egg shell (top body), bowl cake (bottom body), round circles (feet). Glue everything using melted marshmallows. Trim/cut the cakes slightly, especially the head cakes to fit into the chiffon and get the proportions right.

I painted on the facial features using charcoal powder in water. I happened to have spare black cake from another bake which I used for the buttons, but you can also just paint them on as well. And not forgetting the hands which are toothpick dipped in colored meringue!

The kids had lots of fun eating the cake! Happy birthday to my dearest hubby!!

With lots of love,
Susanne

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