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Monday, January 30, 2012

Kumquat Blueberry Orange Cake and an Elephant for Lyanne - Kumquat #1


Lyanne turned 3 last Dec 31st. Phew! She's 3. Time flies. She's not as chatty as Lydia, special in her own way. Handy in the kitchen, loves podding beans, peeling chestnuts and make cookies! And once she comes in to help, she stays until the end. Sweet girl. She just started Kindergarden, in a 4 year old class, but she's just 3 years and 5 days old. I worried..but I think she's doing fine. She loves school.

She loves elephants. So, I made her an elephant cake. I was hoping it'll be something like Elly of Pocoyo. It wasn't very much like Elly, but haha, a cousin of mine said it's Elly the moment she saw it. So, I think.... I think... I think I am successful .. I think.



I didn't want to use any artificial colouring this time, and so to tint the buttercream pink, I used blueberry extract with lemon juice. The colour was well ok. :)
And since it's kumquat season, I want to take full advantage of it and make something with kumquat. My girls love orange cakes and so... this cake's combination came about. Was this cake good? Hmm.... Let's just say, very very very well recieved.


Kumquat, Orange and Blueberry Cake
Recipe source: Wendyywy

Orange sponge

Yolk batter
7 egg yolks
35gm sugar
70gm vegetable oil
70gm orange juice
1 Tbsp orange zest
140gm cake flour
½ tsp baking powder

Meringue
7 egg whites
70gm sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven at 160(fan)/180C. Prepare an 10 inch pan. Line the base only.
2. Prepare yolk batter. Combine all the wet ingredients + sugar + lemon zest. Sift cake flour + baking powder together and combine with everything until a smooth batter forms.
3. Prepare meringue. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks and beat in sugar gradually until stiff peaks form (hooked peak).
4. Prepare final batter. Fold ¼ of meringue into yolk batter until well combined. Repeat with another ¼. Pour the yolk batter into remaining meringue and fold until well combined (Fold not stir and it should look very foamy). Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and let the cake totally cool before removing cake from pan. (If it’s a springform pan, you can skip lining the base and then invert the pan to cool for better volume)
6. Slice cake into 3 slices and fill with kumquat cream cheese filling (recipe below). Cover and chill for 2 hours minimum.
7. Cut cake to preferred shape (in my case, elephant). Dollop some cream onto cake board (where you want to lay the cake pieces) and arrange the cake pieces onto it.
8. Chill the cake for another 30 minutes before frosting the whole cake (just to make sure the filling is properly set after being cut and revealed) with blueberry buttercream (recipe below)

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Kumquat Cream Cheese Filling

10 kumquats
½ cup water or more
25gm sugar or more (depending on the kumquat’ s taste)
125gm cream cheese, room temperature
60gm butter, slightly softened

Do this step in advance. Half kumquats and remove seeds. Slice them thinly and place in a saucepan together with sugar and water (amount should cover the sliced kumquats nicely, if not, add more). Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer until kumquats are soft. Blitz the kumquats together with the syrup until a coarse puree forms. Let it cool down. It should be at the consistency of ketchup. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge, it will further thicken.

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in cold kumquat puree. Taste it. If not sweet enough, add some caster sugar and beat a while. Use this to fill cake.

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Blueberry Buttercream


100gm blueberries
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1.5 Portion of buttercream

Prepare the blueberry compote. Cook blueberries with water and sugar until they bleed. Lightly mash it with a fork. Let it cool down to warm and press the blueberries through a sieve to remove the skin. Mix the sieved compote with lemon juice, it will turn reddish. Discard the skins in the sieve.

Prepare blueberry buttercream. Prepare buttercream and at the end of the beating put in blueberry compote by the tablespoon, beating well after each addition before adding in the next spoon. Chill the cream for half an hour before use (it’s easier to frost with firm buttercream) Use this to frost cake.













I had leftover blueberry buttercream, so I made another cake (in simple form) after the Elephant.
We all loved it.


I forgot to insert this picture earlier on.. this is how I assembled the elephant


40 comments:

  1. Indeed this cake is very pretty! I will be excited if I am Lyanne! She is a lucky girl. I'm very impressive too with how you assemble this cake. Brilliant!

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  2. WOW!!! so so so lovely your elephant cake!!!

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  3. How sweet! I love that elephant. I would jump too if I had one!

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  4. i like the colour and love to try that.

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  5. So cute and so yummy sounding! ^^ I think I'll make this for the next "little" birthday to come up!

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  6. I know this Kumquat Orange Cake would be real yummy. Lyanne must be thrilled to have this "Elephant Cake" made by you. And I am looking forward to all your Kumquat recipes. I have fallen in love with Kumquat. They are real tasty.

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  7. So creative and so pretty. It's a great idea the way you assembled it, so that no cake goes to waste! I love the natural colour!
    Happy belated birthday to your dear Lyanne!

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  8. Hi.
    Nice cakes and i like your photoshoot warm ambience.

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  9. Very neat cake, I like the flavor combinations, lucky gal to have such a talented mummy:)

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  10. That Elephant cake is pretty awesome! There's nothing you can't do :)

    Keep up all the good work! ^.^

    Did I tell you I love your blog very very much? :)

    Cheers!

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  11. Hi Wendy, cute elephant cake. Have a nice day.

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  12. I love Pocoyo!! Well, my son does too. And the cake looks awesome! And your girl looked super pleased with it so big thumbs for mummy's effort!

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  13. thanks for sharing all the recipes :-) will try the kumquat cake :-) soon i hope :-)

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  14. Happy belated Birthday to Lyanne. She is very lucky to have a great mom like you.
    Happy CNY :)

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  15. Happy belated birthday to your little one!Isn't that wonderful to have at least one of your girls to also love cooking like you? And I'm surprise that she actually has the patience to get involve till to the end, good girl!

    This elephant cake is very special, both the colour that you chose to use & also the flavour of the cake!

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  16. Very cute cake and Happy Belated Birthday Lyanne. Lyanne looks like mummy ey..

    Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and family. :)

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  17. I'm tempted to try this but no fridge space. Prob made do with mandarin oranges/oranges since all kumquats in our tummies now.

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  18. aww..so cute!! thought i'm not sure will i be making this kamquat cheese filling or not but i'm just so excited seeing this kamquat recipe of yours. More kamquat ideas to come for this week, right? looking forward to that!

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  19. Ooo...happy birthday to Lyanne! Lovely lovely cake! So creative and so delicious looking too! Love the elephant! Good use of the new year oranges btw, lol! Will try it soon...sooo many if them mandarin oranges in my fridge!!

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  20. What a lovely cake....

    Happy Belated Birthday to Lyanne

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  21. Hi wendy, those kumquats are really expensive ya.. i saw once in Village grocer and if i am not mistaken its RM 70++ per KG..

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  22. Zoe,
    thanks. been thinking about the assembly for quite a while


    Pei San,
    thanks!


    Marina,
    Haha, I think you can make one for yourself :p



    Loveforfood,
    I hope u like this


    aikovenus,
    then you better stock up on kumquat. it's not sellling much longer


    Mel,
    I'm glad I passed the virus to you. LOL


    Passionate Abt Baking,
    Yeah, assembled cakes usually waste a lot of cake. Glad this one didn't


    citarasaku,
    thanks! Orange shots are always very warm.


    Jeannie,
    Oh yes, blueberry is nice with citrus.
    Haha, she has to like whatever I make for her.

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  23. Wabbitfoot,
    There is nothing that you can't do too!
    Practise and planning helps a lot


    Amelia,
    You have one good day too!



    Sharon,
    I think most kids love Pocoyo. I'm one of those kids, hahaha!



    Bakinghandz,
    Kumquats are going off the shelves oredi, quick quick!


    Anncoo,
    thanks

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  24. Jessie,
    Store bought cakes are getting boring, it's only when it's homemade that we get to try new stuff :)
    She loves doing stuff, yesterday she took my bag of beans and helped me pod them all by herself.


    Belly Good Cooking,
    Yeah, Lyanne's more like me.



    Blessed Homemaker,
    I'm not sure whether the boiled mandarin will be fine to use as filling :(


    lena,
    Ya, more to come..2 more.



    Bee,
    Mandarin oranges? U want to use in the cake?



    Pete,
    thanks!


    iceamericanos,
    Hahahaha.. these are really cheap. RM4.99 per punnet of 400gm. China punya la, but sweet. Those that you saw could be imported from elsewhere.

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  25. you are a doting mom. Happy Belated Birthday to your little one.

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  26. Very nice!! Love the design n how u made use of fruits in season.. So healthy too seeing u use puréed blueberry for the color

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  27. Wendy, you baked a lovely elephant cake (a real looking elephant cake) and you've got a pair of beautiful daughters. Love the sisterly photo!

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  28. Very good idea. I thought Kum Quat is for eating only.

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  29. I would love to try that kumquat filling. I think they'll be nice on plain cracker biscuits!

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  30. Wendy! Oh my gosh! Your cake looks so professional and lovely! Even better than the ones bought! Love this! mmmm! it looks so delicious and soft too! What a treat! :)

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  31. what a cute idea! You don't even need a mold.

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  32. Hi again Wendy :)
    Is there any other fruit that can sub the kumquats? can't get it anywhere here ..
    Thanks ;)

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  33. Clare,
    It's not season now. Try Nov onwards.
    You can use navel orange, use it whole to boil.

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  34. Thanks for your reply Wendy!
    So I can use 1 navel orange to sub the 10 kumquarts?
    and i can just follow the rest of the ingredients and instructions?
    Thanks again ;)

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  35. Clare,
    it depends on how big your navel orange is. Some are quite big and some quite small. Let's say, one fist sized navel, to replace 10-12 kumquats.

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  36. Hi Wendy, love your elephant cake! What a brilliant idea you've got there and you've inspired me to try and make it for my daughter's 3rd birthday in Nov, since she has requested for an elephant cake!

    Just wanted to know if the buttercream batch you made was sufficient for frosting the whole cake including decorations, it did you make more? Can I use a whipped heavy cream frosting instead? Cos we find buttercream too heavy / rich for our taste (personal preference). And can I use lemon juice and zest in place of orange to make a lemon cake to pair with the blueberry flavor or do you think it works better with orange?

    Thanks in advance! - Sarah in NZ

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  37. Sarah,
    1. There was excess buttercream, but it always depends on how one does it.
    2. Swiss meringue buttercream isn't the same as butter+icing sugar type of buttercream. Whipped heavy cream might split, when mixed with the fruit puree that has lemon juice in it.
    3. You can try to change the orange cake into a lemon cake if you like.

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  38. Hi Wendy, thanks for your reply! So l did a test run of the orange cake, and the flavor and texture turned out great! Except that the top cracked while in the oven, then it sunk completely in the middle after I removed it from oven to cool, and the cake is overall very short. I did not open the oven door at all while it was baking. Any idea what could have gone wrong?

    Also, can I bake the cake batter in 2 separate portions/tins, as I'm really not confident about slicing my cake in layers? If so, at what temp and for how long should I bake them?

    And how do you keep the top so nice and even? I don't like slicing the tops off and I don't have any baking strips, unfortunately.

    As for the Swiss Meringue buttercream, are you saying it tastes more like dairy whipped cream, just richer?

    Thanks in advance for any help!

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  39. Sarah Brooks,
    Hi, I'm sorry to hear of the sunken cake. It is probably underbaked.
    Underwhisked egg whites could also lead to a short cake.
    If you want to bake in two shorter pans, I will recommend 180C (no fan) but only 30-35 minutes each. Watch out during baking(30 to 35 minutes window), if you see that it seems to be shrinking slightly, it is definitely done.
    If you are using a spring form pan, do not line it but overturn it and keep it that way until it is fully cooled.

    Correct technique and proper thorough baking helps to make the cake tall and flat.
    If the cake cracks, I suggest you bake at a lower rack

    Yeah, swiss meringue buttercream do not taste as rich as regular butter +sugar type of buttercream if done right.

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