Winnie the Pooh cake - Part 2

Those of you who are with me since the beginning of my blogging adventure will probably remember my first MMF adventure back at the end of April. I prepared this cake for my daughter's 2nd birthday. Winnie the Pooh is her favourite cartoon character, and I made this Pooh bear in gumpaste popping out of a honey jar.
Now, I left the recipe for the cake itself hanging in the air all these months. And then I noticed that lots of people land on my blog searching ideas for Winnie the Pooh birthday cake. So I thought it was time I talked a bit more about this cake.
This is only the first part, the base. I should be able to write another post soon regarding the honey jar (which is a different cake) and making the Pooh bear itself.
I have to say I was happy with the choice of the cake recipe. Little less with the cream that went with it.

I have no idea why it's called Miracle cake, and have no idea where I copied the recipe from, I vaguely remember it might be from my aunt's cookbook and probably long time ago. But I'm glad I have, because I  really liked it, but then hazelnuts are my favourite nuts, especially when toasted, because their flavour becomes more intense. And for this cake I toasted them in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, at 200°C. I cut the baked cake in two horizontally and filled it with hazelnut buttercream, and then covered it with MMF.

 HAZELNUT CAKE ("MIRACLE CAKE")

• 4 eggs
• 250 g sugar (I actually reduced the original 300 to 250, but might even go down to 200)
• 200 g flour
• 100 g ground hazelnuts
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tblspoon cornstarch
• 1 lemon 

Toast and then grind the hazelnuts. 

This is Francesca's favourite job.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form and set aside.
Beat the egg yolks with sugar until creamy, add 10 tblspoons of cold water (one at a time). 

With a wooden spoon, fold in the dry ingredients - flour and cornstarch sifted together with baking powder, and hazelnuts.

In the end, add the egg whites and freshly squeezed lemon juice, always mixing gently with a wooden spoon.

                                     

Bake in a greased and floured cake form 

for about 30-35 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C. Do not open the oven during the first 25 minutes or the cake might "sink" in the middle. I always do the toothpick check before taking the cake out of the oven.

Let the cake cool completely before decorating it with your favourite buttercream or other filling/frosting.

I used this recipe for Hazelnut buttercream but wasn't quite happy with it and ended up adding some melted chocolate, too. Or perhaps, thinking now, I should have reduced the hazelnuts into paste (with the stick blender), or add Nutella directly to have hazelnuts and chocolate together. Now that would be something to try next time.

HAZELNUT BUTTERCREAM 

• 3 eggs
• 300 ml milk
• 15 tblsp caster sugar
• 2 tblsp flour
• 250 g butter
• 250 g ground hazelnuts
• 100 g powdered sugar 

Mix the eggs with caster sugar and flour,  

add the milk and cook over medium heat until dense and let it cool. 

Beat well the butter (at room temperature) with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the hazelnuts and then mix with the cold egg cream.

Cut the cake in two horizontally and fill with cream.

Decorate the top and the sides as well.

                                    

I covered the cake with MMF, but you could simply decorate with some whipped cream and whole hazelnuts.

(Cro)

TORTA OD LJEŠNJAKA ("ČUDO TORTA")

 Pročitajte i OVAJ članak.

• 4 jaja
• 250 g šećera (u receptu je stajalo 300 g, a moglo bi se još više smanjiti jer je zbilja slatko)
• 200 g brašna
• 100 g mljevenih lješnjaka
• 2 žličice praška za pecivo
• 1 žlica škrobnog brašna
• 1 limun

Razdvojite bjeljanjke i žumanjke. Umutite čvrst snijeg od bjeljanjaka s prstohvatom soli.
Posebno umutite žumanjke sa šećerom. Dodajte 10 žlica hladne vode (jednu po jednu).
Prosijte skupa brašno, škrobno brašno i prašak za pecivo.
Dodajte žumanjcima pa pažljivo i polako miješajte drvenom kuhačom.
Na kraju, jednako pažljivo umiješajte umućene bjeljanjke i svježe iscijeđeni sok cijelog limuna.
Istresite u namašćen i pobrašnjen kalup za tortu i pecite u pećnici zagrijanoj na 180°C. Ne otvarajte pećnicu tijekom prvih 25 minuta ili će torta potonuti u sredini. Kad vidite da se počne odvajati od stijenki kalupa, provjerite čačkalicom zabodenom u sredinu je li pečena. Čačkalica mora izaći suha.
Izvadite tortu iz kalupa i ostavite na rešetki da se potpuno ohladi prije rezanja i filovanja.
Ja sam je filovala kremom od lješnjaka ali nije mi se baš jako svidio okus pa sam dodala i otopljenu čokoladu. Možda bi bilo dobro lješnjake izmiksati štapnim mikserom u kremu pa onda dodati u fil. Drugi ću put probati tako. Za sad ovo je recept.

FIL OD LJEŠNJAKA 

• 3 jaja
• 3 dl mlijeka
• 15 žlica šećera
• 2 žlice brašna
• 250 g maslaca ili margarina
• 250 g prženih mljevenih lješnjaka
• 100 g mljevenog šećera 

Umutite jaja sa šećerom, dodajte brašno i mlijeko pa kuhajte da se zgusne.
Umutite maslac sobne temperature sa šećerom. Dodajte mljevene lješnjake pa pomiješajte s kremom od jaja.
Prerežite ohlađenu tortu horizontalno, namažite kremom iznutra i izvana.
Ja sam je prekrila Marshmallow fondantom (MMF) ali možete je jednostavno ukrasiti tučenim slatkim vrhnjem i cijelim lješnjacima.

(Ita)
TORTA ALLE NOCCIOLE

 Leggete anche QUESTO post.

• 4 uova
• 250 g di zucchero
• 200 g di farina
• 100 g di nocciole tostate e grattugiate
• 2 cucchiaini di lievito per i dolci
• 1 cucchiaio di amido di mais
• 1 limone

Separate i tuorli dagli albumi. Sbattete gli albumi con un pizzico di sale a neve ferma.
In un altro contenitore, sbattete i tuorli con lo zucchero finché gonfi e spumosi.
Setacciate insieme la farina, l'amido e il lievito. Aggiungete ai tuorli sbattuti mescolando con attenzione usando un cucchiaio di legno.
Unite anche gli albumi montati a neve mescolando sempre con i movimenti su e giù per non smontarli.
Versate il tutto in uno stampo da torta imburrato e infarinato e infornate nel forno già caldo a 180°C. Non aprite il forno durante i primi 25 minuti. Fatte comunque la prova con lo stuzzicadenti prima di togliere dal forno. Lasciate raffreddare completamente prima di tagliare e farcire.
Questa volta ho usato la crema di burro e nocciole ma non mi è piaciuta tantissimo. Per rimediare ho aggiunto un po' (non so quanto) di cioccolato. Pensandoci adesso, forse era meglio ridurre le nocciole in crema con un frullatore a immersione invece di tritarle. Ma forse era ancora meglio sostituire le nocciole con la Nutella. 

CREMA DI BURRO E NOCCIOLE

• 3 uova
• 300 ml di latte
• 15 cucchiai di zucchero
• 2 cucchiai di farina
•  
• 250 g di burro a temperatura ambiente
• 100 g di zucchero a velo
• 250 g di nocciole tritate

Mescolate le uova con lo zucchero, aggiungete la farina e il latte.
Cuocete la crema sul fuoco medio finché diventi densa. Lasciatela raffreddare.
Mescolate bene il burro con lo zucchero a velo, unite le nocciole tritate e alla fine anche la crema di uova.
Tagliate la torta in due orizzontalmente, farcite con una parte della crema, coprite con il secondo disco e decorate con il resto della crema.
Io poi ho coperto la torta con l'MMF, ma potete semplicemente decorarla con la panna montata e nocciole intere.