Hey Lovelies, do you know this cake is gluten free?? Yes that masterpiece is dedicated to all those coeliacs! You can too have tasty, good looking treats too.
My dad said this cake reminded him of the Sydney Opera house. So I say I got my inspiration from the Opera house. He said the chocolate shards remind him of the sails on the opera house. This would be one tasty opera house, I must say.
I love the rich tangerine colour of the rosettes on top of this cake. I think it contrast nicely with the deep dark chocolate colour.
I like how the icing you can see speaks of orange zest throughout the icing. So this icing hasn't been flavored with artifical orange flavoring. It's the real deal!
The chocolate shards have been flavoured with orange chocolate oil. This is completely optional, but I highly recommend it because it intensifies the flavor. And I am a strong believer if you say something is in the cake, you should be able to taste it.
The cake is layered with 5 layers of gluten free sponge, I choose to use sponge because it doesn't rely on the gluten structure to help the structure of the cake. Gluten is the key ingredient in wheat, but upsets some peoples stomach. With sponges they rely on the air whipped into the eggs and sugar for the height of the cake.
On the bottom layer I have a rich orange curd, then in between each layers I have Swiss meringue buttercream. My absolute favourite frosting!! Then rich chocolate ganache is drizzled down the sides of the cake.
The cake is garnished with tangerine orange rosettes, orange slices and orange chocolate shards.
I made this birthday cake for Anna Wilkins in the boarding house, she has a gluten intolerance, hence the reason it being gluten free. We have a lot of girls in our hostel who have a intolerency to gluten. So I was very happy to able to provide them some baking they could eat.
But if you can eat gluten, do not be scared off by this cake, it is so delicious and many girls ate the cake and had no idea it was gluten free. You just got to be smart when you bake!
Recipe
Gluten Free Sponge
4 eggs
150g granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
88g gluten free flour
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
180g egg whites
300g sugar
280-310g butter
Orange zest of 2 oranges
Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
-Ensure you have a clean bowl and add your egg whites and sugar. With a hand whisk and the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk the egg whites until they have doubled in volume.
-You know your egg whites mixture is ready when you can rub your fingers together with the mixture and feel no sugar granules.
-With a free standing mixer, mix the meringue on medium speed for 5 mins and then the last 5 mins on high speed.
-When you feel the bowl and its temperature is neutral then you are ready to add your toom temperature cubed butter.
-Beat on medium speed, gradually adding butter pieces.
-Beat on high speed for 2 minutes until the frosting comes together.
Gluten Free Sponge Cake
-In a clean glass bowl, whip your eggs and sugar for about 10 minutes until very thick and frothy.
-In a separate bowl, add your flour, cornstarch and salt. Whisk until combined.
-Add lemon juice and vanilla to the egg mixture and beat until combinded.
-Sift in the dry ingredients in increments. This avoids lumps of flour throughout the sponge. Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour.
-Pour the mixture into a cake tin, that is lined.
-Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
-Bake the sponges until a skewer comes out clean.
Photo tutorial of buttercream coming soon xxx
