139
FLURRY OF HEARTS
EQUIPMENT
30cm round cake stand
smoothing tools
4 disposable piping bags
7cm heart−shaped cutter
medium piping bag
small petal piping tube
metal spatula
artist’s fine paintbrush
RASPBERRY HAZELNUT CAKES
660g butter, softened
5¼ cups (1.15kg) caster sugar
15 eggs
3 cups (450g) plain flour
1½ cups (225g) self−raising flour
3 cups ground hazelnuts
2 cups sour cream
780g fresh or frozen raspberries
WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
760g white eating chocolate, chopped
1 cup (250ml) pouring cream
ROYAL ICING
1 egg white
1½ cups (240g) pure icing sugar,
sifted
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
FROSTING
3 egg whites
4¾ cups (760g) pure icing sugar
¾ teaspoon vegetable oil
DECORATIONS
2.3kg ready−made white icing
cornflour, to dust
pink, peach and golden yellow food
colouring, for tinting
2½ sheets edible gold leaf
1 To make raspberry hazelnut cakes,
preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan.
Grease and line bases and sides of
three deep 20cm round cake pans
with baking paper, extending paper
5cm above sides.
2 Beat butter and sugar in large bowl
with an electric mixer until light and
fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir
in sifted flours, ground hazelnuts, sour
cream and berries. Divide mixture
among pans; level surfaces. Bake for
1 hour 45 minutes or until a skewer
inserted in each centre comes out
clean. Stand cakes in the pans for
10 minutes before turning, top−side
down, onto wire racks to cool.
3 Make white chocolate ganache
4 Trim cakes to make them flat; split
cakes in half. Secure one cake layer to
board with a little ganache. Top with
the remaining cake layers using about
⅓ cup of ganache between each layer.
Spread remaining ganache over top
and side of cake.
5 Reserve 60g of ready−made icing;
enclose in plastic wrap. Knead the
remaining icing on a surface dusted
with a little cornflour. Brush cake with
a little water or jam. Roll icing on a
surface dusted with a little cornflour
until large enough to cover cake. Lift
icing onto cake; smooth with hands,
then smoothing tools. Trim icing neatly
around base of cake; wrap icing offcuts
in plastic wrap. Place reserved icing in
a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of water;
microwave for 10 seconds or until icing
starts to soften. Stir until icing is of a
piping consistency. Half−fill a piping
bag with icing; pipe around base of
cake. Use fingertip to blend icing into
any gaps. Stand for 2 hours to dry.
6 Knead icing scraps together.
Tint pink; roll icing until about 5mm
thick. Using heart cutter, cut 7 hearts
from icing.
7 Make royal icing. Divide royal
icing into three small bowls. Tint each
bowl with a blend of all three food
colourings so that each portion is
slightly darker than the last. Half−fill
each remaining disposable piping bag
with a different shade of icing. Snip
tip off one bag. Fit the medium pipingbag with the tube. Place filled piping
bag with the snipped tip (icing bag)
into the piping bag fitted with the
tube; pipe icing onto two hearts.
8 Remove icing bag from piping
bag, snip the tip off another icing
bag and place into the piping bag.
Squeeze out the previous coloured
icing onto a piece of baking paper
until the new colour comes through
clean; pipe icing onto two hearts.
Repeat with remaining darkest icing
colour; pipe onto one heart. Stand
overnight on a baking–paper−lined
tray until dry. Carefully brush the two
remaining hearts with gold leaf.
9 Make frosting. Using spatula,
spread top and side of cake with
frosting. Stand overnight to dry.
10 Using picture as a guide, secure
hearts to cake with a little royal icing;
using paintbrush, gently brush small
pieces of gold leaf over top of hearts.WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
Place chocolate in a heatproof
bowl. Bring cream to the boil in a
small saucepan; remove from heat.
Add cream to chocolate; stir until
smooth. Cool to room temperature,
before beating or whipping to the
desired consistency.ROYAL ICING
Beat egg white in a small bowl with
an electric mixer until egg is just
broken up; don’t whip into peaks.
Add icing sugar, 1 tablespoon at
a time, beating until of a piping
consistency. Stir in juice.FROSTING
Beat egg whites in a small bowl with
electric mixer until soft peaks form;
gradually add sifted icing sugar; beat
until combined. Add oil; beat until
smooth. Tint frosting with
colouring so it is the same
colour as the pale hearts.Cake Of The Month