February 20, 2024

Island Cake

Island Cake

Wow! It has been far too long since I have posted. I’ve had a start/stop issue with this blog where I have drafted many recipes with the bare bones but not enough detail to publish. With so many recipes sitting and waiting to be fleshed out and shared with the world, I am hoping that I am over procrastinating and there will be more frequent updates. Here’s hoping and fingers crossed. Anyway, let’s get into this island cake post.

I made an island cake. Yes a cake to look like an island. Only took two days, well kind of, two days including the night before the party until midnight – oh dear! The outcome was worth it. This all started with a question to my soon to be five year old…’what kind of cake do you want for your birthday party’ the response? ‘An island cake mum.’ This resulted in many videos being watched on youTube and lots of googling before settling on this video for inspiration and guidance.

Tips and Tricks

There are quite a few processes to complete to make this island cake and a few different places to get tripped up so here are few things that are good to know to help you successfully make this epic cake…

Keep in mind when covering the cake with ganache that it seals the cake from getting soggy with jelly so be generous and ensure good coverage. I also found it was not a perfect seal between cake and the cake tin I used. This meant that when I poured the unset jelly onto the cake some of it leaked. To stop this I used leftover ganache like silicon to seal all the way around the tin between the tin and the cake board. Once the jelly was set it was easy to tidy up with a knife.

Make sure the gelatine does not get too hot when heating it to dissolve crystals. It is not the end of the world but it might take a frustratingly long time for it to cool to the same temperature as the sugar water.

When layering the jelly, make thin layers to start with and allow to set in the fridge. when the surface of the jelly is half way up the cake it is thick enough to hold the rest of the jelly.

For sea creatures I used sea creatures found in a bag of ‘Beach Days’ lollies made by The Natural Confectionery Company to help fill my jelly sea with animals. For sea anemones I used fizzy sherbet filled apple licorice made by RJs confectionery cut into small stumps and strips.

A big learning I took after making this cake was to cover the jelly when placing the biscuit crumbs for the beach. As can be seen in the photo of my island cake, specks of biscuit crumbs got everywhere and it was super disappointing as it was near on impossible to fix. Thus learn from my mistake please.

Island Cake

Serves 15

Ingredients:
 
For Chocolate Cake:
5 egg whites
5 egg yolks
35g sugar
120g sugar
120mL vegetable oil
100mL warm water
150g flour
45g cocoa powder
1.5 tsp baking powder
0,5 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
 
For Chocolate Buttercream:
100g soft butter
100g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp cocoa
almond milk
 
For Chocolate Ganache:
200g dark chocolate (50% cocoa)
100g soft unsalted butter
 
For the Jelly:
20g gelatine (powdered)
120mL cold water
300mL water
75g sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
1 tbsp lemon juice
Blue gel colouring
 
Decorations:
sea themed lollies
licorice strips
White gel colouring
cookie crumbs
green sponge cake
 
Method:
 
For Cake:
Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl combine egg yolks and larger measure of sugar. Whisk until fluffy.
whisk in oil and warm water into egg yolks.
Add all dry ingredients and whisk until well combined.
Combine egg whites and a pinch of salt in a stand mixer.
Whip until foamy then grdually add in smaller measure of sugar; whisk until stiff peaks.
Fold beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture gently.
Fill two greased and lined 8 inch springform pans.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius for 25 minutes.
Cakes are ready when an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Cool and rest before leveling off.
 
For Chocolate Buttercream:
In a stand mixer, beat butter until pale.
Mix in sifted icing sugar.
Add sifted cocoa powder.
If too thick, add almond milk to loosen until desired texture is achieved.
Use buttercream in between layers of cake to build up the cake.
 
For the Chocolate Ganache:
Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
Cool to room temperature then add butter and combine.
 
Carve the cake out to make hills and valleys as you please.
When finished carving, cover it with a layer of chocolate ganache.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Add another layer of ganache.
 
For the Jelly:
Bloom the gelatine in 120mL water. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Bring 300mL water, sugar vanilla and lemon juice to the boil in a saucepan.
Whisk until dissolved, then remove from the heat add blue colouring.
Heat the gelatin for 10 seconds in the microwave and stir. Repeat until all the gelatine crystals are dissolved.
When the sugar water and gelatine mixtures are the same temperature; add the gelatine to the sugar water and stir to combine.
Cool to room temperature.
 
Make the Island:
Use white gel colouring to add colour to the mountains and sea.
Stick sea creature lollies and licorice strips shaped like seaweed to the cake using ganache.
Add a layer of ganache all the way around the cake then press on acetate and secure with a paper clip or tape.
Place adjustable ring over the top.
When jelly is at room temperature, fill the ring with a layer of jelly.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Add more jelly and repeat until the sea is formed.
Once the jelly is set, remove the ring and acetate and tidy up any misplaced jelly bits.
Add cookie crumbs for sand, white gel colouring for waves, green sponge for bushes and green cookie crumbs for foliage – be creative!
 
Enjoy!
Mel Crafting
 
 
 
Filed Under: Recipes, Sweet, Vegan and Vegetarian

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