For my little boy’s first birthday, I went for a panda theme (let’s be honest, I took advantage of the fact that he’s not yet able to tell me what he’d like, to indulge myself with the theme :P) As for the star cake of this sweet buffet, I made a vanilla and red berry naked cake made up of a vanilla chiffon cake, a red berry confit and a vanilla whipped ganache. On top, I placed 3 far-too-cute little pandas. With a bit of (plastic) grass and cigarette russe biscuits as bamboo, it’s like being there!
Thanks to the blog Bulle de pâtisserie for the inspiration and for the sugar paste panda tutorial. I’m not at all an expert in sugar paste, but with a good tutorial, I can reproduce some nice things. But if you don’t want to make any special decoration, you’ll find photos of the same cake at the end of the article, since I’d made 2 that day.
What’s great about this type of cake is that you can vary the flavours to your personal taste. The chiffon cake can be flavoured with citrus zest or bitter almond extract, the confit can take on exotic airs with mango and passion fruit (but it could just as well be a compote of apricot, raspberry, strawberry and rhubarb, vanilla apples…), and the whipped ganache can also be flavoured differently. In short, you can have fun with these 3 elements that make up the cake.
What is a “naked cake”?
A naked cake is a “bare” cake (hence its name in English). Unlike traditional cakes entirely covered in frosting or sugar paste, the naked cake lets its different layers of sponge and cream show on the sides.
So you can see the structure of the cake with the alternating tiers of sponge and filling, which gives it a rustic, natural and very trendy look. Generally only the top is decorated. It’s a style of cake appreciated for its simple, authentic and photogenic side, while being visually less heavy than a fully covered cake.
You see a lot of these very clean-lined cakes for wedding cakes, often decorated with fresh flowers. It lends itself to many other occasions: birthdays, Mother’s Day, etc.
How do you organise yourself to make a layer cake?
To make this cake without stress, I advise you to make it over 2 days. The day before, you make the chiffon cake, which keeps without any problem until the next day. Simply wrap it in cling film and it will keep all its softness. You can also make the 2 discs of red berry confit (especially if you only have one ring, you’ll need to repeat the operation twice, so you might as well organise yourself a bit in advance). Finally, you’ll also need to make the whipped ganache.
The next day, all that’s left is to cut the cake, whip the ganache and assemble the layer cake.
Ingredients & method
5 components · Full recipe
Vanilla whipped ganache (start the day before)
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) Ivoire 35% Valrhona white chocolate
- 160 g (5.6 oz) heavy cream
- 1 organic Madagascar Norohy vanilla pod
- 340 g (12 oz) heavy cream, very cold
- 4 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine (= 2 sheets)
- 24 g (0.8 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Break the white chocolate into pieces in a bowl (you can melt it slightly in a bain-marie or in the microwave).
3
Heat the 160 g (5.6 oz) of cream with the split and scraped vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then cover and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.
4
Remove the vanilla pod, then reheat the cream.
5
Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine and stir.
6
Pour one third of the cream over the white chocolate and mix with a spatula to create an emulsion. Then add a second third, then a third, until you get a smooth, homogeneous mixture.
7
Add the 340 g (12 oz) of cold cream and mix again. Blend for a few seconds with a hand blender to fully emulsify.
8
Cover with cling film touching the surface and refrigerate overnight.
Red berry compote (make the day before)
Ingredients
- 320 g (11.3 oz) red berry purée
- 60 g (2.1 oz) sugar
- 7 g (0.2 oz) NH pectin
- 10 g (0.4 oz) lemon juice
Method
1
In a saucepan, heat the red berry purée until it just begins to simmer.
2
Add the sugar and NH pectin, pre-mixed together. Bring back to a full boil. Whisk well and leave to cook for a few minutes.
3
Off the heat, add the lemon juice.
4
Pour into 2 x 14 cm (5.5 in) diameter circles that have been lined with cling film, then freeze. I used a tart ring and an entremet ring, both 14 cm (5.5 in) in diameter. If you only have one ring this size, make the compote in 2 batches: halve the quantities, make the recipe, and freeze the first insert. Once frozen, unmould the insert, reclaim the ring and repeat.
Vanilla chiffon cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 80 g (2.8 oz) + 30 g (1.1 oz) sugar
- 140 g (4.9 oz) flour
- 5 g (0.2 oz) baking powder
- 2 g (0.1 oz) salt
- 45 g (1.6 oz) grapeseed oil
- 70 g (2.5 oz) milk
- 1 tbsp Norohy vanilla extract
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F.
2
Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
3
Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking powder, salt and 80 g (2.8 oz) of sugar).
4
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks with the oil, milk and vanilla extract.
5
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture. Stir with a spatula and set aside.
6
Meanwhile, whip the egg whites to soft peaks, gradually adding the 30 g (1.1 oz) of sugar. The whites should not be too stiff, to avoid lumps in the batter.
7
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter using a spatula.
8
Pour the batter into an 18 cm (7.1 in) diameter ring or tin (at least 6 cm (2.4 in) deep to avoid overflow) and bake for about 1 hour.
9
Leave to cool then run a small knife around the edge of the ring to unmould. Do not grease your ring! The chiffon cake must cling to the sides of the mould so it doesn’t sink after baking.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Whip the vanilla ganache with a mixer until firm enough to pipe but not over-whipped. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 14 mm plain tip.
2
Cut the cake into 3 horizontal layers using a large serrated knife. The bottom of the cake will serve as the top of the layer cake, to ensure a perfectly flat surface.
3
Place a cardboard cake board on a turntable, then set the first layer of cake on top.
4
Pipe the ganache in a spiral starting from the centre and spread roughly with a small offset spatula. Place a frozen red berry compote disc on top, then add a little more whipped ganache. Smooth again before placing the second sponge layer on top. Press down gently.
5
Repeat the process (whipped ganache, red berry compote disc, whipped ganache, then the sponge layer). The smoothest side of the cake should end up on top.
6
Add a little whipped ganache to the top and sides of the cake, then smooth with an offset spatula. The aim is to let the cake layers show through for the “naked cake” effect.
7
Refrigerate to allow the whipped ganache to firm up (at least 2–3 hours for the red berry compote to thaw).
Decoration
Ingredients
- 2 packets of cigarettes russes (about 56)
- 3 fondant pandas (make at least the day before so they can dry)
Method
1
Arrange the cigarettes russes all around the cake, cutting some to create varying heights. For the tallest ones (at the back), use half a cigarette russe plus one whole one.
2
Tie a large ribbon around the cake and make a pretty bow at the front. This will also help hold all the cigarettes russes in place.
3
Finally, place the fondant pandas (made at least the day before so they have dried) on top, along with a little greenery all around the birthday cake (I used small plastic branches).
4
Keep refrigerated until serving. Note: if this cake is not served on the same day, I recommend placing the cigarettes russes on at the very last moment, as they will otherwise go soft.
Gallery
