Delicious baked goodies for Christmas

CHRISTMAS TREE CAKE

Serving: 8-10 people

Ingredients

For the cake —

8 tbsp butter

1¼ cup sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

3 eggs

½ cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1½ cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

For the French Buttercream —

75g eggs

90g granulated sugar

40ml water

125g butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

Candy pink gel food colour

Method

For the cake —

Preheat the oven to 180° C. Grease three 6-inch cake pans with butter and line bottoms with baking paper. Bake one at a time if there are limited cake pans. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Mix the milk, oil and vanilla in a jug. Turning the egg mix to low, add the liquids in a slow steady stream. Scrape sides of the bowls and mix well. Weigh out the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Lowering the speed of the cake batter, add the flour in 2 additions, mixing between each. Do not overmix. Divide and pour each layer into the tins and bake separately for 20-22 minutes. Cakes are done when skewers inserted come out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the French Buttercream —

Measure sugar and water in a saucepan and place on high heat. Using a candy thermometer, go up to 105° C to create a sugar syrup. Brush the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush from time to time to avoid burnt bits of sugar. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs on a stand mixer/hand held mixer until light and frothy. Once the sugar and water mixture reaches the ideal temperature, remove and shock the pan over a bowl of iced water. Lowering the speed of the mixer whisking the eggs, add the sugar syrup from one side in a thin, steady stream. Once added, turn the speed on high and whisk for 10 minutes. While that's going, measure out the butter and keep it a little over room temperature. Add the butter in doses to the egg and sugar mixture. Once added, whisk again for 5-10 minutes until it comes together and add the vanilla.

To assemble —

On a cake board, add a dollop of cream and place the first cake layer; this ensures that your cake doesn't move from the board as you build it up. Add a scoop of frosting and spread around evenly before adding the next layer and repeat to get three layers of cake. Frost all sides of the cake — best to have the cake sitting on top of a turntable rotating cake stand. Remember to do a crumb coat first and chill your cake in the fridge for 30 minutes before applying another layer of buttercream to get a smooth white finishing. Using a smoother, smooth all sides of the cake. Leave in the fridge to chill.

To decorate —

Use ice cream cones sliced down to be the base of your trees. Colour your buttercream a deep bright green and put in piping bags. Using a small star nozzle, pipe out trees and dust with icing sugar. Let this chill in the fridge before attempting to place on top of the cake. Assemble a red macaroon and place the decorations carefully on top of the cake and keep a fork handy!

SOUR CREAM CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Ingredients

For the cupcakes —

150g sour cream

2 eggs

1½ tsp vanilla extract

200g flour

40g cocoa

200g sugar

¾ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

200g unsalted butter

For the American Buttercream —

4 cups icing sugar

227g unsalted butter

1 tbsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp milk

Method

For the cupcakes —

Preheat the oven to 180° C and line 18 cupcake pans with inserts. In a small bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract. Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until the butter is incorporated into the dry ingredients. Slowly add the egg mixture and beat until the batter is thoroughly mixed. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake tins and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place the cake tins on a wire rack and let the cakes cool in the tins for about 10 minutes, before turning them onto the wire rack to cool completely.

For the American Buttercream —

Combine the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer). Mix on low speed until mostly incorporated. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to medium-high and mix until smooth. Adjust the consistency with milk as desired. Use immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

To decorate —

Prepare fondant in different colours — red, white, black, green, sky blue and orange. Roll each out and cut into shapes and prepare according to the designs.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

Food: Saria Saguaro