Korean bento cake

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 1 day

1. STEP 1

   

   How to make Korean bento cake? Start cooking by baking biscuits, vanilla and chocolate. Prepare your food. I baked vanilla first. To make the sponge cake more fluffy, all ingredients should be at room temperature, so take out the eggs in advance. The butter and milk will become hot and can be removed before cooking. I make 4 cakes - two vanilla with cherries and strawberries, chocolate with cherries and Snickers. Read about the biscuits at the end of the recipe.

2. STEP 2

   

   Beat the eggs into a deep bowl. Be sure to wash your eggs before using them, as even seemingly clean shells can harbor harmful bacteria. It is best to use food grade detergents and a brush. Add vanillin and salt, which will balance and enhance the taste. Start beating the eggs at low mixer speed. Add sugar in portions, beating well after each addition. Beat eggs with sugar until fluffy and light.

3. STEP 3

   

   Pour the milk into the butter and heat well in the microwave until almost boiling. The butter should be completely melted. Sift flour and baking powder into beaten eggs. By doing this you will not only remove possible debris, but also saturate the flour with oxygen, which will make the cake more airy. Gently stir in the flour from bottom to top. Then pour in the milk and butter. Stir until completely homogeneous. The dough will be fluid, that’s how it should be.

4. STEP 4

   

   Line a baking sheet (I have 30*40cm, but a slightly smaller one would be better) with parchment. Pour the dough onto it and spread it evenly. Bake the biscuit in the oven, preheated to 180°C for 15-20 minutes. The exact time will depend on your oven and the size of the cake. It should turn red and rise. Read about ovens in the article at the end of the recipe.

5. STEP 5

   

   Remove the finished biscuit from the oven and remove from the baking sheet. Cool it, remove the paper. Cut out the cakes using a suitable size mold. I chose a diameter of 12 cm, I got 4 pieces. Wrap the biscuits in cling film and put them in the refrigerator for 8 hours - this way all the moisture will be evenly distributed and the cakes will crumble less. You can use the leftover biscuits for other desserts - potato cakes, for example.

6. STEP 6

   

   While your light cake is baking, prepare the chocolate cake. Prepare food for him. Kefir and egg should be warm, take natural, odorless cocoa butter. Boil the water; you will need it hot, at a temperature of about 80°C.

7. STEP 7

   

   Pour soda into kefir, stir and set aside. A reaction will occur between them, carbon dioxide will be released, which will raise the biscuit during baking.

8. STEP 8

   

   Sift flour and cocoa into a bowl. It is also better to sift it, since cocoa often collects in lumps. Add a pinch of salt and stir dry ingredients.

9. STEP 9

   

   Beat the egg into a bowl, beat it with a mixer at high speed, gradually adding sugar, until fluffy and light. Then pour oil and kefir into it, which will increase in volume and bubble. Stir everything with a mixer. While doing this, add hot water.

10. STEP 10

    

    Pour the dry ingredients into the wet part and mix gently until smooth. The chocolate dough is thicker. Spread it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (I used 30*40cm again).

11. STEP 11

    

    Bake the biscuit in the oven at 180°C. The chocolate cake takes longer to bake, from 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the finished biscuit, cool, and remove the paper. Cut out the circles in the same way, wrap them in film and put them in the refrigerator.

12. STEP 12

    

    Prepare the fillings. I will make cherry cofiture, strawberry and caramel with peanuts. Prepare products for confiture. The berries are suitable both fresh and frozen. There is no need to defrost them first. I will make two cakes with cherry filling, so there will be more of it than strawberry.

13. STEP 13

    

    Place the berries in a saucepan (I took frozen ones), pour in water, add sugar and starch. Place the saucepan over low heat and simmer the contents until thickened. Stir the confiture while cooking, then pour into a bowl and cool. If you prepare the filling in advance, cover it with cling film “in contact” so that a film does not form on the confiture.

14. STEP 14

    

    Cook strawberry confiture in the same way. When the berries soften during cooking, mash them with a masher. Cool the finished confiture as well.

15. STEP 15

    

    For the third filling I chose caramel with nuts. Prepare food for her. Use cream with a fat content of at least 33%. Heat them in the microwave until almost boiling. Pour the sugar into a thick-bottomed saucepan and pour water into it. Shake the ladle to moisten the sugar. Place it on low heat. Boil the caramel until it turns amber in color; there is no need to stir it with a spoon; shake the saucepan only occasionally.

16. STEP 16

    

    When this happens, turn off the heat and, while stirring constantly, pour in the hot cream. The mixture will boil violently, be careful. Turn the heat back on and wait until it boils. Add butter to caramel. Cook it for a few more minutes until it reaches the desired thickness. Add a pinch of salt at the end. Cool the finished caramel and mix with peanuts.

17. STEP 17

    

    Prepare the cream for the filling. Prepare food for him. Chill the cream cheese and cream well before preparing. Melt the chocolate in short bursts in the microwave. Read the article at the end of this recipe to learn how to substitute different types of cheese.

18. STEP 18

    

    Place cheese, cream and powder in a deep bowl. Beat them with a mixer at low speed until smooth. Separate a quarter of the cream, add melted chocolate to it, it will go into the Snickers cake. Transfer the creams into piping bags.

19. STEP 19

    

    Prepare the impregnation for the cakes. To do this, mix condensed milk with water. Start collecting cakes. They are all assembled in the same way. I'll show you on vanilla with cherry. Soak the bottom cake with diluted condensed milk.

20. STEP 20

    

    Pipe cream onto it along the edge, forming a side. Place the filling in the center. Apply the cream on top of the filling, smooth it out, covering the confiture.

21. STEP 21

    

    Place the cake on top and soak it as well. Similarly, assemble a vanilla cake with strawberries and a chocolate cake with cherries. For Snickers, use chocolate cream. Place the finished cakes in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to stabilize.

22. STEP 22

    

    Prepare leveling cream. It is prepared in the same way as cream for filling - cold products are whipped with a mixer. Divide the cream into 4 parts and color it in different colors as desired. I left two parts white, made one pink, and one turquoise.

23. STEP 23

    

    Remove the cakes from the refrigerator. Apply leveling cream to sides and top. Using a spatula, level the cake on all sides. Color the remaining cream in other colors. Decorate the tops of the cakes with brush strokes, flowers, and inscriptions. The style of bento cakes implies negligence and uneven decoration, which is precisely their charm.

24. STEP 24

    

    Transfer the finished cakes to special lunch boxes, placing them on parchment. Glue a spoon and a candle onto the lid of such a box. You can donate)

Comments on the recipe

Testomania

07.11.2023

4.6

I never cease to admire the idea of ​​Korean bento cakes! I've been meaning to try making them for a long time. I made only one vanilla sponge cake, I didn’t make a chocolate one. The resulting dough seemed too liquid to me, I played it safe and added additional flour (a heaping tablespoon). I baked for about 20 minutes. From the sponge cake I was able to make 2 small beautiful cakes for a gift and another one from scraps for my family (the children were extremely indignant at taking the cakes out of the house). Soaked with condensed milk, as in the recipe. I used fresh fruits (strawberries, cherries, apricots) for the filling. I had enough cream (without adding chocolate) to fill three cakes and top two (I covered the third with butter, which I mixed with the rest of the condensed milk). To decorate, I sprinkled the bento cakes with coconut flakes and used beautiful candies. We got some wonderful gifts! Of course, they will not replace a large, full-fledged gift, but as a “token of attention” this is a win-win option (we gave it to teachers in kindergarten). And judging by the leftover cake, they must be delicious! Thanks to the author for the recipe, and to the Koreans for the idea!

Margarita

07.11.2023

4.5

This was my first time making cakes like this, the biscuits turned out great, but the cream didn’t thicken (but that’s entirely my fault: I decided to experiment. But the recipe is good, I’ll make it again

Natalia M

07.11.2023

4.9

Very beautiful cakes! I really want to eat all this deliciousness myself)))

Alena Konareva

07.11.2023

4.5

I’m disappointed! I’ll start in order: The cakes are baked in waves, this recipe does not make enough for 4 cakes, but a maximum of 2. Since the cakes are baked in waves (even though in a liquid state you flatten them completely on a baking sheet), you can cut out 2-3 normal cakes that are more or less even . Picking it off the parchment by hand is unrealistic, the finished biscuit breaks, I had to “tear it off” with a spatula. These biscuits turned out not airy as in the description, but heavy, not particularly porous. We stood as per the recipe for 8 hours in cling film. Impregnation for cakes made from condensed milk and milk is not impregnation at all, but sweet water, ineffective. Due to the fact that the cakes are dry, you want to feel some kind of syrup or cognac in the impregnation, but this sweet water did not soften the cakes at all. Next, cream for filling and cream for leveling - the difference in ingredients is minimal, I decided to make it only for filling and use it to level, There was enough cream for 2 cakes. I made cakes for Mother’s Day for both mothers (my mother and my mother-in-law), I didn’t have time to take a “before” photo, I asked for a cross-sectional photo. Instead of cherries, I used grated country strawberries with sugar. I will look for other bento recipes, this one definitely didn’t suit me

Alena Gorlova

07.11.2023

4.8

Thanks for the recipes. How much weight does one cake make?

Julia

07.11.2023

5

Hello, this is a great recipe, I’ll definitely make it, it’s making my mouth water 😉 Is it possible to make a larger cake using this recipe? For example, 18 in diameter? How to calculate ingredients?

Catherine

07.11.2023

5

Good afternoon, please tell me For 1 vanilla cake.. how much cream cheese and cream is needed (for leveling and filling)🙏🏻