Cake decorating

I have celebrated my birthday today so I have had a good opportunity to bake a fancy cake. I generally don’t like overly decorated cake as then it can look like a statue, not a treat ;). I love cakes decorated with fruits and berries (sometimes flowers) that gives a rustic appeal. I baked honey cake this time decorated with sugared figs. Yum!

HONEY MASCARPONE CAKE

• 170g honey
• 115g butter
• 80g yogurt
• 160ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 220g flour
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

(For the frosting)

• 500g mascarpone cheese
• 250ml double cream
• 55g sugar
• 1tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean seeds

(For the decoration)

• 2-3 ripe figs, cut in quarters
• granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two same size baking tins and set aside.

2. Cream butter with honey. Add yogurt, milk, eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and vanilla extract and mix to combine.

3. Divide the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 20min each, or until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.

4. Cool the baked cakes on the wire rack

5. Meanwhile make a mascarpone frosting by whisking mascarpone cheese together with double cream, sugar and vanilla.

6. When the frosting becomes thick enough, spread the half of it on one cake.

7. Line two cakes on top of each other (plain cake goes on top of the frosted one).

8. Pipe the rest of the frosting on the top.

9. Dip the figs into the sugar and place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminium foil (I used just a baking sheet, but that burns quite easily so I don’t recommend using that). Using a kitchen torch, caramelise each fig.

10. Use these figs to decorate the cake.

Enjoy!

Rasa ;-)