“And Above All…Think Chocolate!”
Betty Crocker
My daughter’s 12th Birthday Cake..’YIN YANG CHOCOLATE CAKE’
” The time has come”, the walrus said, “to talk of other things”. These words from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ have been playing in my mind all morning! Hmmmmmm…
Time to post my daughter’s 12th birthday cake. Chocolate cake it had to be because of its universal appeal; in addition, the daughter wanted a ‘yin-yang’ on top. DH suggested marzipan. That too was readily agreed upon. Having got direction of some sort from all quarters (the son’s direction was just ‘cake mama’), I painted a picture in my mind. The tough part was to transfer it from a virtual state to ‘reality’. WAS FUN (can say so now…Phew!!) & CHALLENGING!
‘YIN-YANG’ – The black & white symbol in the centre
‘The concept of Yin Yang is one of the fundamental concepts of Chinese philosophy. It is a concept of relativity between two elements of a whole. Nothing in this concept is absolute. Not only is something Yin in comparison to something else which is Yang, but everything Yin contains a little bit of Yang and vice versa.
Yīn (陰 or 阴) is the dark element: it is passive, dark, feminine, negative, downward-seeking, consuming and corresponds to the night.
Yáng (陽 or 阳 ) is the bright element: it is active, light, masculine, positive, upward-seeking, producing and corresponds to the daytime.
Yáng (陽 or 阳 ) is the bright element: it is active, light, masculine, positive, upward-seeking, producing and corresponds to the daytime.
Any circumstance may be deemed Yin or Yang depending on the perspective from which we observe it. Being able to view both the Yin and Yang sides of things surrounding us helps us lead a life of harmony.’
Time to cut the cake…
It was a HUGE hit with the kids & adults alike; looked great & tasted splendid. DH announced it the best cake ever! Almost got polished off!
The marzipan decorations were soft & full of flavour…quite unlike store-bought marzipan which tends to harden up. Surprisingly they were still malleable & didn’t lose either texture or taste. Great idea for doing things in bits & bobs!! For those who missed my earlier post on marzipan from scratch, the pictures are on the right.
The basic cake was a ‘Chocolate Sponge Cake’…
Ingredients:
Eggs – 8
Powdered Sugar – 200gms
Flour – 150 gms
Cocoa – 6 tbsps
Cornflour – 4 tbsp
Baking powder – 2 tsps
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence – 2 tsps
Red food colour – 4-5 drops (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line & grease 2 spring form 10″ tins. ( I made 2 cakes in 2 batches/ 4 eggs each time since I have just 1 tin)
- Sift the flour + cocoa + cornflour + baking powder + salt 3 times.
- Beat eggs & powdered sugar for approx 10 minutes till mousse like & thick.
- Add vanilla essence & food colour & beat.
- Fold in the flour mix, 1 tbsp at a time, gently so that the beaten air doesn’t escape.
- Turn gently into tins & bake 25-30 minutes till done. Turn out onto racks & cool.
- Cut each cake horizontally to get 4 layers ( 2 from each cake)
- This was enough for about 25 servings. (You can half the weights; remember to use smaller size tins too.)
Frosting, filling, decoration etc:
Filling:
Cream – 400ml (35% whipping cream)
Castor Sugar – 5-6 tbsps (to taste)
Vanilla extract – 1tsp
- Whip the cream + sugar + extract till the cream is thick & holds shape.
- Sandwich the layers of the sponge with the cream (1/3rd each time).
- Can be done a day in advance. Keep it covered in the fridge.
Ganache:
Dark chocolate – 400gms
Cream – 300ml
- Break the chocolate into pieces & put it in a pan with the cream
- Melt it over low heat, stirring constantly.
- Take off heat. Stir vigorously with spoon. This gives it a gloss.
- Cool. (The ganache will thicken as it cools).
- Frost the sides of the cake with the ganache. Sprinkle chocolate shavings etc onto the sides & press gently. ( I used a mix of grated Toblerone & chocolate sprinkles)
- Now cover the top of the cake with the remaining ganache. ( I reserved some for the ‘yin‘ & a little to glue the marzipan to the sides of the cake)
- Mark an area for the ‘yin yang’ with a round bowl. Place chocolate flakes around the edges, followed by the marzipan flowers, leaves, bugs etc.
- Mix a little black food colour into the reserved ganache for the ‘yin‘.
- Melt some white chocolate with a tsp of cream to make a white ganache for the ‘yang‘.
- Fill in the shapes; remember to mark the dots on either side.
- Chill till ready to eat!! Keep out at least an hour before serving.
- This is a luscious, light & chocolicious cake!
Colour & shape the marzipan according to your theme. We did a racing car track for my son a few years ago. The cars were in brilliant colours, & we made sure there was a car a child!
Deeeba…lovely lovely simply lovely post…the theme is too good, you hv co-ordinated the marzipan n yin-yan too well! All the best to you and your lovely cakeolicious blog for 2008!!
you are so talented! did you learn cake decorating??..and ur daughter sure does look happy…do wish her a belated happy birthday 🙂
Happy birthday to your daughter and what a beautiful cake!! You are so very talented indeed.
Wishing you & your family a Happy New year 2008!
Sorry I haven’t called by sooner.
Rosie x
You are so good at baking. I love to bake too but stopped almost from 2 years. Have to bake one this month for my hubby’s birthday, any suggestions?
ok hats off to you. i am truly speechless and aspire to be half as good in a 100 years!
One of the best ever creations i have seen in a very long time!!I am so sure that your daughter is not not thrilled to see a beautiful cake but also proud of her incredible mom!!birthday wishes to your lovely daughter
its always a pleasure looking at the ur creations. Ur daughter did get an extraordinary cake for her birthday. Belated happy birthday.
beautiful cake and my birthday wishes to your daughter
Too good!! no wonder it was polished off!!!
that’s amazing! I’ve always loved Ying-Yang and the curvy looking sign:) nice job!
Thats such a gorgeous cake Deeba. Love everything about it. I will have to make those marzipan flowers sometime. They look so good. Well done…
A very happy birthday to your daughter.
I guess I have to stop by here for my next B’Day. Your daughter should have been proud and happy. Have a great year ahead.
Simply amazing! I want a piece just by looking at the pics. Another conquered challenge 😀
Happy 12th b-day DH!!!
Lovely cake and best wishes to ur daughter
Deeba, lovely looking cake. Wish your daughter a belated happy birthday wishes.
Oh, happy birthday, sweet girl! Deeba, you really should consider opening a bakery–your decorations are superb.
This looks wonderful! It’s like a work of art…. oh, and I love chocolate!
I hope your daughter had a happy birthday!
Thanks for the recipe reminder, Deeba.
I shall not risk repeating myself by commenting again.:)
As I said, I have about six months to polish my cake decorating skills (non-existent at present)to turn out something for my daughter’s b’day!!
This is a neat looking cake! I’m sure the kids went crazy for it 🙂
Hi Purnima,Thanks for the lovely words…you are too generous! The daughter was given your wishes & is over the moon.
Thanks Rajitha. No, haven’t done any formal baking course; just figuring things out in the mind with the limited stuff avbl here.Tks for the wishes.
Hey Rosie,Hi! Thought of you while writing the peace msg for NY.My fault too that I nvr got across. Have a great 2008 & TC.
Lata, thanks a lot. Did you get my mail with suggestions?
Hiya Nags…you embarass me. Am still waiting to know if you need the almond extract.
Thanks Padmaja, Sagari & Vimmi, have passed on your wishes. She was ecstatic & over the moon that day…her friends LOVED the cake!
Manasi, thanks for stopping by & yr generous words!
Isn’t the curvy sign soothing…so much meaning to it too Mansi. Thanks!
Shilpa, you must try the marzipan thingies. They bring the cake alive! Thanks for stopping by :0)
Have a great year Suganya…hope I can keep coming up with ideas.
Hey Ben…change in avatar! A piece always reserved for you!!
Thank you Easy Craft & Sri…
Thanks Susan…Have passed on your sweet message. I would LOVE to open a bakery in a quaint little town…One day maybe!!
Petula…nice of you to stop by.Thanks for yr comments.
Aparna…am waiting. Do rememeber to mail me when its made. Will check in 6 months though!
Hey Meeso/Doris…thanks. Loved yr wierd meme…still thinking frogs & elephants & squishy bugs in grass!! HA HA!!
Hi Purnima,Thanks for the lovely words…you are too generous! The daughter was given your wishes & is over the moon.
Thanks Rajitha. No, haven’t done any formal baking course; just figuring things out in the mind with the limited stuff avbl here.Tks for the wishes.
Hey Rosie,Hi! Thought of you while writing the peace msg for NY.My fault too that I nvr got across. Have a great 2008 & TC.
Lata, thanks a lot. Did you get my mail with suggestions?
Hiya Nags…you embarass me. Am still waiting to know if you need the almond extract.
Thanks Padmaja, Sagari & Vimmi, have passed on your wishes. She was ecstatic & over the moon that day…her friends LOVED the cake!
Manasi, thanks for stopping by & yr generous words!
Isn’t the curvy sign soothing…so much meaning to it too Mansi. Thanks!
Shilpa, you must try the marzipan thingies. They bring the cake alive! Thanks for stopping by :0)
Have a great year Suganya…hope I can keep coming up with ideas.
Hey Ben…change in avatar! A piece always reserved for you!!
Thank you Easy Craft & Sri…
Thanks Susan…Have passed on your sweet message. I would LOVE to open a bakery in a quaint little town…One day maybe!!
Petula…nice of you to stop by.Thanks for yr comments.
Aparna…am waiting. Do rememeber to mail me when its made. Will check in 6 months though!
Hey Meeso/Doris…thanks. Loved yr wierd meme…still thinking frogs & elephants & squishy bugs in grass!! HA HA!!
Hi,
This cake looks delicious.. I am sure your daughter would have freaked out on the same. I am going to try it in a few weeks time and will surely let you know how it was.
Also i had seen photographs of strawberry cake on the blog i think under Flickr section.. can you share the recipe since its all strawberry season i want to try the way you have done it:)
Thanks
Anu, Pune
Hi
Just found your blog by accident and am impressed by your art.You have a good blog content and your works are good.
Greeting to you from Botswana. Do drop by my blog whenever you can.
Wow! Well done. It turned out great.