Tiger Cub Sponge Cake

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 1 day 8 hr

1. STEP 1

   

   How to make a Tiger Cub cake? First, prepare the necessary ingredients for the sponge cake. They should be at room temperature.

2. STEP 2

   

   Mix flour with baking powder and sift to saturate the flour with oxygen. This will increase the rise of the dough, and the sponge cake will turn out fluffy and airy.

3. STEP 3

   

   Wash the eggs and dry them. Carefully separate the yolks from the whites. Not a drop of yolk should get into the whites, otherwise they will not beat.

4. STEP 4

   

   Beat the yolks at high speed with a mixer with half the amount of sugar and vanilla sugar. Continuing to beat, gradually pour in hot water. Beat until light and fluffy.

5. STEP 5

   

   In a clean, dry, grease-free container, beat the egg whites. Begin beating on low speed until soft foam forms. Without stopping whipping, add the remaining sugar little by little. Gradually increasing the speed, beat the whites until a dense, stable foam.

6. STEP 6

   

   Fold the whipped whites into the yolk mixture in portions with a spatula. Do this carefully so as not to disturb their airy structure. Mix the mixture with smooth movements from bottom to top.

7. STEP 7

   

   Gradually add the sifted flour with baking powder. Also carefully mix the biscuit dough, achieving its complete homogeneity. There is no need to delay the process - carefully, but not for long, so that the dough does not lose its airiness.

8. STEP 8

   

   The dough turns out homogeneous and fluffy.

9. STEP 9

   

   Cover the bottom of a baking dish (mine d=22 cm) with parchment. There is no need to grease the walls of the mold. Place the dough in the mold and smooth it out carefully. Bake the biscuit in an oven preheated to 180C for 35-40 minutes. Determine the cooking time based on the operating characteristics of your oven.

10. STEP 10

    

    Do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes to prevent the sponge cake from settling due to a sudden temperature change. For the same reason, do not rush to remove it from the switched off oven; let it stand with the door ajar for about 10 minutes. Cool the biscuit and remove from the mold. It is better to bake it 10-12 hours before assembling the cake so that the crumb thickens. Then the biscuit will crumble less when cut into cakes.

11. STEP 11

    

    To decorate the cake I used ice cream. It also needs to be made in advance so that it cools sufficiently. Corn starch can be replaced with potato starch, but the cream will taste better in the first option. Leave the butter at room temperature for a while until it becomes soft.

12. STEP 12

    

    Combine eggs, sugar and starch in a saucepan. Mix everything with a whisk until the lumps disappear.

13. STEP 13

    

    While stirring, pour in a small portion of milk and mix well.

14. STEP 14

    

    Add the rest of the milk, stir.

15. STEP 15

    

    Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spatula. When it begins to thicken noticeably, reduce the heat to low. Boil for another 1-2 minutes, the custard base should slowly slide off the spatula. Remove the pan from the stove.

16. STEP 16

    

    Cover the custard base with cling film "in contact" and cool to room temperature.

17. STEP 17

    

    Beat soft butter with vanilla sugar until fluffy.

18. STEP 18

    

    Continuing to beat, add 1-2 tbsp. custard base.

19. STEP 19

    

    Mix the entire base into the butter and beat on high speed. To prevent the ice cream from separating when whipping, the custard base and butter must be at the same room temperature.

20. STEP 20

    

    Set aside some of the white cream. Add orange dye to the rest.

21. STEP 21

    

    Beat until the cream has a uniform color. To finish the cake, the ice cream must be cooled for 1.5-2 hours so that it becomes stable.

22. STEP 22

    

    For buttercream, the cream and the form in which it will be whipped must be well chilled. Keep them in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours.

23. STEP 23

    

    How to whip cream correctly? It is important that the cream is fat, at least 33%. Beat the cream with a mixer with vanilla sugar at minimum speed, gradually adding powdered sugar and increasing the speed. How do you know if the cream is whipped enough? The creamy mass should retain its shape and not spread. Stop whisking at this point. Otherwise the cream will turn into butter.

24. STEP 24

    

    Cut off the top of the sponge cake so that the top of the cake is even. Cut the sponge cake into 3 layers.

25. STEP 25

    

    Place the first cake layer on a flat plate and soak it in any fruit or berry juice.

26. STEP 26

    

    Place some of the buttercream on the crust and smooth it out.

27. STEP 27

    

    Cover with the second cake layer.

28. STEP 28

    

    Assemble the cake, repeating soaking-cream-cake. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream. Place the cake in the refrigerator to thicken the cream.

29. STEP 29

    

    Cut out the tiger cub's ears from the cut top of the sponge cake, brush them on all sides with orange cream and place on the cake. Using a small “closed star” nozzle, first decorate the ears with cream, then draw the desired contours of the tiger cub’s face.

30. STEP 30

    

    I decorated the eyes and the lower part of the muzzle with white cream, leaving contours for the nose, tongue and stripes.

31. STEP 31

    

    Additionally, I used pink confectionery pearls and dark chocolate for decoration.

32. STEP 32

    

    Grind the chocolate on a fine grater and fill in the spaces left for the stripes and spout. Pink pearls - tongue, place chocolate in the form of round drops on the eyes. Place the finished cake in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours to soak it.

33. STEP 33

    

    Cut the cake into portions and serve to your guests. Bon appetit!