I was lucky enough to win a competition a few months back by Arika @mypaperkitchn over on Instagram. Arika is a very talented artist who brings to life baked creations in her drawings.
I was excited to be able to do this collaboration with her. I decided to create this Blue Sky Cake for her to draw and her finished drawing is amazing. Be sure to check out her account.
The Blue Sky Cake is made with a super moist chocolate cake with delicious Nutella in between the layers. It is covered and decorated in a smooth Swiss meringue buttercream and some sprinkles of course.
Happy Baking xo
Blue Sky Cake
Ingredients
· 1½ cups plain flour
· 1 cup caster sugar
· ¼ cup cocoa powder
· ¾ teaspoon baking powder
· 1½ teaspoons baking soda
· ½ teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2 eggs
· ¼ cup sour cream
· ½ cup buttermilk
· ¾ cup strong coffee
· ¼ cup vegetable oil
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
· 2 egg whites
· 150 grams caster sugar
· 200 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)
· ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
· Food colouring (navy – americolor )
Filling/Decorations
· Nutella
· Sprinkles (dollarsweets)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Spray four round 4-inch tins with oil and dust some flour around the tins.
3. Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl and using an electric mixer, whisk until all ingredients are well combined.
4. Add all wet ingredients, making sure the coffee has cooled down. Mix until combined and turn beater onto medium and continue mixing for a few minutes.
5. Spoon the mixture into the tins evenly. Make sure to only fill them up a third full and smooth the tops with the back of a spoon or off-set spatula.
6. Bake in oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pans for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Place egg whites and caster sugar into a large bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water on low. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved completely. To check if the sugar has dissolved, rub a bit of the mixture between your fingers.
Remove from heat and using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture has completely cooled.
Remove the whisk attachment and replace with the paddle attachment. Slowly add portions of the room temperature butter and beat well before adding next portions.
Once all the butter has been added, beat on high for several minutes and then reduce to low speed and continue to beat for another few minutes to remove air bubbles.
Add a few drops of your desired food colouring gel and mix until all combined.
Frosting is ready for use.
Assembling the cake
* Please note – only two cakes were used to make this cake.
Cut off the tops of the two cakes if needed to make them even and then cut each cake in half. This gives you four layers.
Place one cake layer onto the cake board, securing it with a bit of buttercream at the bottom.
Spread a small amount of buttercream in the centre and then spread some Nutella evenly over the top and stack the next cake and do the same to the remaining cake layers.
Lightly crumb coat the whole cake and place into the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
Colour the buttercream in navy and white. Create the final coat on the cake using the navy buttercream. With an offset spatula, randomly place some white buttercream around the cake and lightly smooth it with a cake scraper to create clouds. Place cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Remove cake from the fridge and pipe swirls on top of the cake. Use different piping tips to pipe some decorations around the side of the cake and add sprinkles.
Tips
· Batter makes 4 x 4-inch round cakes.
· Or you can bake 3 x 6-inch cakes.
· You can also line the bottoms of the tins with some baking paper.
· Remember to rotate the tins halfway through for a more even bake.
· Allow cakes to cool completely before icing and decorating.
Did you bake this recipe?
Remember to tag @youcanbakeittoo on Instagram & hashtag #youcanbakeittoo
so I can see your wonderful bakes.
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