Oman dining: 3D cakes for all occasions

Lifestyle Monday 23/October/2017 19:52 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman dining: 3D cakes for all occasions

Gone are the days of simple cakes with just a layer of frosting. In the last few years the cake industry has evolved and 3D cakes have become quite popular. Even though these cakes are expensive, they do make a huge statement at a party. From cars and dolls to any cartoon character of your choice there is a vast range of designs to choose from. While it takes a lot of time and attention to details to make them, they look truly unique once done. Few of the ingredients that make these cakes so eye-catching are fondant, modelling chocolate, and in some cases marzipan.
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Recipes by Sidra Jahanezeb

CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients

FOR CAKE
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 4 tablespoons dark or milk chocolate
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 50g butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 cup butter milk

FOR CHOCOLATE GANACHE
• 200 ml cream
• 250 g chocolate chips

Preparation
Pour boiling water on the chocolate and mix till smooth. Keep aside. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Keep aside. Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy then add vanilla essence, eggs, oil, and chocolate mixture. Whisk to combine. Now add sifted flour mixture and butter milk in 3 batches. Pour in a 9 inch round pan and bake in a pre -heated oven for 20-25 minutes or take it out when a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

For ganache
Heat cream making sure that it does not boil. Now pour hot cream over the chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Keep it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then whip till it spreads.

To assemble the cake
Spread ganache between the two layers of the cake and on top as well. Decorate as desired.

COOKIES AND CREAM CUPCAKES

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Ingredients
• 12 Oreo cookies
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Preparation
Separate cookies, being careful to keep the cream on 1 side. Insert liners into cupcake pan. Place the cookie with filling on it, filling side up, in the bottom of each paper liner. Keep aside. Break the remaining Oreo into chunks. Toss them in 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour (so that they won’t sink to the bottom of the cupcake). Keep aside. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Keep aside. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence, eggs, milk and flour. Whisk to combine. Do not over mix the batter. Add the cookie chunks into the batter and fold them in. Fill the liners 3/4th of the way. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 17-20 minutes. Frost with your favourite frosting. I used Ganache with Oreo cookie crumbs mixed in.