Every year for Simon's birthday I like to go all out on the baking front, and whip up some massive layer cake. This years cake turned out absolutely divine and I'm so stoked to be sharing it with you all! It consists of a vanilla, brown sugar and cinnamon sponge, layered with Biscoff spread, a homemade blueberry filling and Biscoff frosting. While making it I accidentally had some of the blueberry filling seep out of the side of the cake, but I decided to work with it rather than against it for once. And so I just splattered more blueberry mixture onto the side of the cake as I was frosting it to make this stunning purple pattern around the sides! I think it added such a nice pop of colour to the cake, and I'm so proud of how it turned out in the end. Not to mention the flavour is also fantastic, so I hope you give it a go! Note: This is a fairly time consuming process, as the cake and the ingredients require a lot of cooling and setting time in between each step in the process. I therefore recommend making all the components separately the day before, then leaving them to cool in the fridge overnight before assembling the day after.
Equipment:
Electric beater/stand mixer
3x 22cm diameter springform cake tins
2 wire racks for the oven
Parchment paper
Paper towels (quite a lot of them)
Aluminium foil
Cling film
Offset spatula
Bench scraper
Cake turntable
Piping bag/ziplock bag for piping
For the cake:
630g unsweetened soy milk
30g apple cider vinegar
3tsp vanilla extract
630g all purpose flour
510g granulated sugar
90g brown sugar
3tsp baking powder
1.5tsp baking soda
2tsp cinnamon
1.5tsp fine table salt
3 egg replacer (I used Orgran)
180g vegan butter
Biscoff frosting
375g smooth Biscoff spread
400g vegan butter
700g powdered sugar
Blueberry filling
500g blueberries
4tsp cornstarch
6tsp water
80g granulated sugar
Additional toppings + fillings: 300g biscoff spread
A handful of crushed biscoff cookies
Method:
Add apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and soy milk to a bowl and leave to curdle. Mix all dry ingredients (including the sugars) and set aside. Prepare the egg replacer, and heat the butter until just melted (or use one that is liquid at room temperature). Add the curdled soy milk, egg replacer and butter into the dry mix and mix until everything is well incorporated. Line the bottom of 3x22cm springform cake tins with parchment paper. Evenly distribute the batter into all three tins.
Lay out three strips of paper towels that are all long enough to wrap around the outside of your cake tins (and then a bit extra), and do the same with aluminium foil. Wet the paper towels in cold water - they should be damp but not dripping - and wrap each of them in the aluminium foil. Wrap each strip of paper towel/aluminium foil around one cake pan each. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius and place two wire racks in the oven for the cake pans to bake on. Place the cake pans evenly in the oven, two at the bottom and one at the top, making sure no cake is directly placed above another. Bake for about 45-50 minutes (switching the wire racks once you’re a little over half way through the baking, approximately at the 25-30 minute mark), until a toothpick or fork comes out clean indicating all cakes are cooked through. Leave the cakes to cool completely before wrapping in cling film or placing in an airtight container and place them in the fridge overnight.
To make the frosting, cream together butter and Biscoff spread in a large bowl. Gradually add powdered sugar and keep mixing until everything is incorporated and you have a light and fluffy frosting. Cover and set in the fridge for at least a couple of hours but preferably overnight to let it set up and harden.
Bring blueberries and sugar to a simmer, mix water and cornstarch and slowly stream it into the blueberry mixture while stirring. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes and let cool a little before transferring to a jar and placing in the fridge to cool completely for at least a few hours but preferably overnight to let it set up and harden.
How to frost and assemble:
If you find the instructions here a bit complicated or hard to understand, I highly recommend watching this video from Claire from the BA test kitchen as she has an excellent tutorial on cake assembly and decoration (which is where I learned what I’m about to tell you!)
Assembly:
Frosting:
Unwrap the cake layers from the cling film and remove the parchment paper from the bottom. Place one cake back on the bottom of the cake tin you baked it in and use this as your “cake plate” when decorating and moving it around. Place this bottom layer onto the turntable. Pipe a ring of frosting approximately 1.5-2cm high around the edge of the cake. Melt 100g Biscoff spread and drizzle on, spread it out carefully with a spoon until you have a thin layer of Biscoff at the bottom inside the ring of frosting. Let it set for a few minutes before spooning on blueberry mixture on top of the Biscoff spread until it just about reaches the top. Place the next cake layer on top and repeat the process.
Ensure each layer is placed right on top of the other and make sure the cake is level at all times as it’s a lot harder to correct this after the cake is fully frosted! Add your final cake layer and give the cake a crumb coat. This is done by spreading a thin, even layer of frosting all around with the offset spatula and using your bench scraper to scrape off any excess. This “locks” the cake crumbs in place and makes it a lot easier to frost the cake later. Let the crumb coat set for a few minutes and then add the rest of your frosting on top, evenly spreading it to coat the entire cake. Use your offset spatula to scrape off excess frosting and even out the whole thing. Splatter on some blueberry mixture with the back of a spoon before giving it the final scrape with the bench scraper to create a stunning purple pattern in the frosting. As mentioned in the introduction: if you find that any blueberry mixture leaks out while frosting the cake feel free to let it, and just incorporate it into the look of the cake. Let the cake cool in the fridge or place it in a cold room before adding the final Biscoff drizzle.
Once cooled, melt 100g Biscoff spread. Make sure it's runny but not hot, you want it to drizzle but not melt the frosting. Drizzle the spread onto the cake at the outer edge of about half of the cake, use a spoon to carefully spread it out and let it drizzle down the edge of the cake. This is easiest if you do it in a cold room that lets the Biscoff spread cool faster and harden before it reaches the bottom of the cake. Sprinkle on some crushed Biscoff cookies and finally pipe some frosting on top as a final touch. I recommend letting the cake set for a couple of hours before slicing into it just to make it easier to serve, but this is not strictly necessary. Enjoy your fabulous Biscoff cake!
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