Have The Cake and Eat It .... on Singapore's 44th National Day

It was Singapore's birthday on Sunday ... a mature 44 now. We (my family) were invited to a friend's place for a celebratory dinner, altogether with 4 families making a total of 8 adult gourmets plus 10 (food) picky kids!

The host will be (but of course) be providing the food for the feast, one family played sommelier and brought wine, another volunteered to paired the really yummy chicken rice main course with Corona. And when it came to us, our options were (as you can guess) quite limited ... and since it's a birthday ... a cake will be it!

Since my sabbatical from the corporate world in January of 2009, I have decided to do something I really wanted to do all this time ... COOK!. I have very much played the mad scientist in our little kitchen ... a little bit of this, a pinch of that and heaps of something else....voila! The one thing I get really challenged is baking ... unlike cooking, there's no room for error or last minute adjustments when it comes to baking ... everything has to be precise. And thus after many soggy muffins and baked bricks .. err .. I mean bread, I decided that I should stick to pre-dessert items.

There is however one saving grace when it comes to my baking escapade .... a basic pound cake recipe (got this eons ago .. can't remember from where though) that worked 80% of the time ... with the occasion gummy cake due to "heck knows what happened".

As a patriot, I have decided to be heroic on our nation's 44th birthday and declared proudly to our friend that I will bring a home made cake. Mmmm ... what have I got myself into ... remember we have 8 gourmets and (worst still) 10 picky kids.

Thus the journey begins ... more heroic actions followed ... I decide that a basic pound cake will not do ... it has to be something special (if not sensational .... yeah sure) ... it will be a double layer coffee cake with chocolate/coffee icing! And thus back to the kitchen ... da mad scientist!

Took the basic pound cake recipe and did some "modifications" with icing recipes borrowed from a few sources. A little of that, a bit of this and heaps of something else. Scrolling forward, I am happy to report that it was a success! Phew!

And I am happy to share the recipe ... but be warned ... proceed with caution ... hee hee ha ha (mad scientist laughter)


Recipe for the Coffee Pound Cake

Ingredients for 1 layer/cake (you will need 2 cakes for this)

• 230grams cake flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons double action baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 225 grams unsalted butter, cut into about 10 pieces
• 200 grams sugar, super fine or castor
• 4 large eggs, separate into yolks and whites
• 2 tablespoons Kahlua
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

Ingredients for cake icing

• 2 egg yolks
• 3 cups shifted icing sugar
• 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 cup sem-sweet chocolate
• 225 grams butter
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

Preparations

1. Warm the oven to a temperature of 180 degrees celsius. I used the ventilated mode for the oven as well as an oven thermometer to ensure that I get the right temperature.
2. Butter and line a 8 inches round cake pan with wax paper. If you have 2 pans, line both and bake both at the same time (with twice the ingredients), otherwise bake twice with 1 pan.

Directions for baking the cake(s)

1. Shift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
2. In an electric mixer, whip the egg whites till it reached soft peaks, then add half the sugar slowly and continue to whip until it reached stiff peaks, then set aside. Note that for egg whites to reached maximum peak, you have to ensure that everything it touches is grease free. I use vinegar to wipe the bowl, the whisk and the containers for separating the eggs.
3. In the electric mixer, whip the butter and sugar till it becomes light and creamy
4. Add the egg yolks one at a time into the butter cream until combined
5. Mix the Kahlua and instant coffee granules in a separate bowl and add to the cream until combined
6. Add the shifted flour+baking powder+salt to the cream mixture until combined
7. Scoop the stiff egg whites onto the cake mix and fold until combined
8. Pour the mixture into the cake pans and bake for 50 minutes or until the centre of the cake reached about 99 degrees Celsius
9. Remove the cake(s) from the pan and leave it to cool on a rack

Directions for preparing the icing

1. Mix the dark rum and instant coffee granules in a separate bowl and leave aside
2. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a saucepan
3. Add all the ingredients in the electric mixer bowl and whip all of them together until creamy and combined
4. Leave it in the fridge until it reached icing consistency

Directions for preparing the final "birthday" cake

1. Sliced off the top of the cooled cake to achieve a flat top. Reserve the top either as snacks or to use in Rum Ball (recipes to be provided in another post). Note that it is normal for pound cake to crack and budge on top.
2. Use a pastry brush and brush off crumbs around the side and bottom of the cakes. This is to ensure that the icing will "stick" on the cake properly
3. Use a spatula and spread a thick layer of icing on the sliced top of one of the cake. This will form the bottom layer
4. Stack the other cake, sliced top down, onto the iced surfaced of the bottom layer
5. Use the spatula and continue to ice the whole cake. Reserve the remaining icing for future usage or add more cocoa powder to darken it and use it to pipe cake decor on the finished cake
6. Leave it in the fridge till serving time

Voila! Bon Appetit!

When the cake was served that night, we decide to make it a double happiness icon. Our host's birthday was one week away and this call for a birthday celebration too! Thus we did the whole "Happy Birthday" thing and (holding my breath) ... the cake was served ... consumed and verdict awaiting (anxiously).

One of our close friend at the dinner that night is French and thus is our go to food critics all things categorized under western cuisines. Her comments was ... this is nice ... do you have a name for it. And glowing with pride (and relief), I proudly named the creation "Serene's Birthday Cake" in honor of our gracious host.

Happy Birthday Singapore and Serene!