Tiger Sponge Cake

Step-by-step cooking

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 flour with oxygen. This will increase the rise of the dough, and the biscuit will turn out lush and airy.

3. Step 3:

   

   Wash and dry the eggs. Carefully separate the yolks from the whites. The whites should not get a drop of yolk, otherwise they will not climb.

4. Step 4:

   

   Beat the yolks on a high speed mixer with half the norm of sugar and vanilla sugar. Continuing to beat, gradually pour in hot water. Whisk until a light fluffy mass is obtained.

5. Step 5:

   

   In a clean, dry, fat-free container, whisk the whites. Start whipping at low speed to a soft foam. Without stopping whipping, pour in the remaining sugar in parts. Gradually increasing the speed, whisk the whites to a dense, stable foam.

6. Step 6:

   

   In the yolk mass, mix the whipped whites with a spatula in portions. Do this carefully so as not to disrupt their air structure. Mix the mass with smooth movements from the bottom up.

7. Step 7:

   

   Gradually pour in the flour sifted with baking powder. Also carefully mix the sponge dough, achieving its complete uniformity. It is not necessary 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 lush.

9. Step 9:

   

   Cover the bottom of the baking dish (I have d = 22 cm) with parchment. The walls of the mold do not need to be lubricated. Put the dough into the mold, gently smooth it out. Bake the sponge cake in a preheated 180C oven for 35-40 minutes. Determine the cooking time, focusing on the specifics of the operation of your oven.

10. Step 10:

    

    Do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes, so that the biscuit does not settle from a sharp drop in temperature. For the same reason, do not rush to take it out of the oven turned off, let it stand with the door ajar for about 10 minutes. Cool the biscuit and remove it 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:

    

    I used a cream sundae to finish the cake. It also needs to be done in advance so that it cools down enough. Corn starch can be replaced with potato starch, but in the first version, the cream will taste better. Leave the butter at room temperature for a while so that 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, mix well.

14. Step 14:

    

    Add the rest of the milk, stir.

15. Step 15:

    

    Cook the mass over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spatula. When it begins to thicken noticeably, reduce the heat to a minimum. 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.

19. Step 18:

    

    Continuing to beat, add 1-2 tablespoons of custard base.

20. Step 19:

    

    Mix the whole base into the butter, whisk at high speed. In order for the cream sundae not to delaminate when whipping, the custard base and butter should be the same room temperature.

21. Step 20:

    

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

22. Step 21:

    

    Whisk until a uniform cream color is obtained. To finish the cake, the cream sundae should be cooled for 1.5-2 hours so that it becomes stable.

23. Step 22:

    

    For buttercream, the cream and the form in which they will be whipped should be well cooled. Keep them at least 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

24. Step 23:

    

    How to whip cream properly? 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 I know if the cream is whipped enough? The creamy mass should retain its shape and not spread. At this point, stop whipping. Otherwise, the cream will turn into butter.

25. Step 24:

    

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

26. Step 25:

    

    Put the first cake on a flat plate, soak it with any fruit or berry juice.

27. Step 26:

    

    Put part of the butter cream on the cake, smooth it out.

28. Step 27:

    

    Cover with the second cake.

29. Step 28:

    

    Assemble the cake by repeating the impregnation-cream-cake. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream. Put the cake in the refrigerator to make the cream more dense.

30. Step 29:

    

    Cut out the tiger cub's ears from the cut top of the sponge cake, smear them on all sides with orange cream and put them on the cake. With the help of a small nozzle "closed star", decorate the ears with cream first, then draw the desired contours of the tiger cub's muzzle.

31. Step 30:

    

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

32. Step 31:

    

    Additionally, I took pink confectionary pearls and dark chocolate for decoration.

33. Step 32:

    

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

34. Step 33:

    

    Cut the cake into portions and treat the guests. Bon appetit!