Number cake is an absolute trend at the beginning of the year! Today this is the most popular cake among confectioners all over the world! Try it too! With our proven recipe and step-by-step instructions, it's very simple and fast! Excellent results guaranteed! Simple in design and decoration, a cake in the shape of a number will be a great table decoration!
Hello! Anita Vlasova is with you, and today I have an incredibly cool recipe for you! A recipe that many of you were probably looking forward to appearing on Pteat.ru! I will tell and show you how to bake a cake that became an absolute trend at the beginning of this year! Number cake ! This is truly the most popular (as of February 2022 for sure) cake, if not the entire Internet, then at least the Instagram network) There are many variations of this cake, I will show you one, but I will tell you what, what and at what point can be replaced so that you You've got your own number cake!
We are all already dreaming of warm, bright spring days! The cherished day is getting closer - March 8th. That’s why I chose the number for the cake in the super-current design, not just any number, but precisely - 8!
This number-shaped cake is made much faster than a regular sponge or mousse cake, and it looks simply amazing. It can look bright, can be decorated in pastel colors, and if you use chocolate cream and decor, this cake will turn out to be brutal in a masculine way (though this option is not suitable for us now, we are making a cake for Women’s Day)!
A number cake will not only be a wonderful decoration for the holiday table on March 8, but also an excellent gift for mothers, girlfriends, sisters and all representatives of the fair sex.
A cake in the form of a number is also good because you can use anything to decorate it: meringues, chocolate, cookies, berries, marshmallows, flowers, etc. - in general, almost anything edible you can find (just kidding! Of course, you should be thoughtful when choosing decor, choose colors and not go overboard with quantity!). I decided to decorate my cake with macarons, flowers, pistachio greens and fresh strawberries, but you - I repeat! - you can take something else.
So, let's go!
Cakes!
The original recipe calls for shortbread cakes (almond sablé), but now everyone bakes whatever they want, whatever they want) I wanted to make a cake with a honey tint - we’ll bake honey cakes!
We will weigh out all the necessary products at once, so as not to be distracted!
We will need:
- flour - 200 g (sifted)
- butter - 60 g
- sugar - 30 g,
- honey - 60 g
- 1 egg
- soda - 6 g
- lemon juice - 6 g
Let's continue!
We wait until the butter melts and the sugar and honey dissolve.
Add soda and citric acid, stir. The mixture begins to increase in volume, continue stirring (for a minute or two). As a result, the volume will increase approximately 2-2.5 times. Then add the egg and quickly mix until smooth.
Add flour and mix.
How to make a sponge cake
First you need to bake an airy sponge cake. For this you will need products.
| Ingredients | Quantity |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp. |
| Egg | 4 things. |
| Flour | 1 tbsp. |
| Vanillin | 1 pack |
Step-by-step recipe:
- Break eggs into a deep bowl and add sugar.
- Begin beating with a mixer until a high foam forms.
- Pour in vanillin and gradually add flour in small portions.
- Stir with a wooden spoon from bottom to top until smooth.
- Place 1/3 of the dough in the form of the number 1 on the parchment. The thickness should be no more than 1 cm, otherwise it will spread and lose its shape.
- Bake in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes.
- Take out the finished baked goods and wait for them to cool.
Video instructions for making sponge cake:
Let's put it away to cool!
The finished dough is smooth and almost does not stick to your hands, but you may find it a little runny. I strongly do not recommend adding more flour. After the dough rests, it will become denser and easier to work with. Wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for about an hour. At this time, you can prepare the cream, decor, and clean the workplace.
Recommendations for even application
In order to understand how to make the inscription on a cake with chocolate even and neat, let’s turn to geometry. If you are a beginner, you should not choose the inscription on the right side - this increases the chances of not fitting a word. Choose where the inscription will be located, determine how much space it will take up and how tall the font will be.
It is important to count the characters - letters, spaces and exclamation points, and also leave some space in reserve. If there are decorations along the edge of the cake, consider their width so as not to redo the design later.
Don't be shy about using a ruler - a little more time spent will ultimately save a lot of nerves. Use a toothpick to make a shallow groove; eventually it will not be visible, but all the letters will be perfectly in a row.
Drawing according to a pre-thought-out plan will go like clockwork. Even the first experience with such good preparation will be positive.
Now it’s time for the cream!
For the cream we need cottage cheese (400 g), powdered sugar (30-40 g (to taste)), cream 33-38% (40 g) and white chocolate (70 g). We take the cottage cheese out of the refrigerator in advance: we will need it at room temperature.
In a bowl, mix the cream and chocolate and melt them in a water bath until completely dissolved, then stir until combined. Make sure that water does not get into the container with chocolate!
After the cream and chocolate have combined, remove from the water bath and let them cool slightly. In a mixer at low speed, mix the cheese with powdered sugar (using a hook attachment). Then, continuing to stir slowly, pour in the chocolate in a thin stream. Stir until completely combined, at the end you can increase the speed. The cream is ready, leave it aside (do not put it in the refrigerator).
ATTENTION!
You can use any cream that is moist enough to saturate the cakes, and at the same time stable. It can be cream cheese with cream, mascarpone cream, ice cream and even chocolate ganache. Or any other cream that can hold its shape at room temperature. But I cannot recommend pure butter or protein cream: although they are stable, they will not soak your cakes.
What kind of chocolate is suitable for chocolate letters?
There are no minor details in the process of creating dessert decorations. The basic rule is that all ingredients must be of high quality. You cannot save even on such a small thing as butter for greasing molds.
Any chocolate is suitable for creating decor – black, white, milk. But the main product must be without fillers. It is better to use tiles made in Belgium or Germany.
What to consider when choosing chocolate:
- Dessert varieties become viscous after melting. The finished chocolate letters will have a matte surface.
- White varieties quickly acquire a liquid consistency.
- Bitter varieties have a high melting point. But with proper tempering, the finished decor turns out smooth and shiny.
- Confectionery glaze (drops). Melts well and hardens quickly. But the taste is somewhat worse than that of natural chocolate.
Note! You cannot make decor from porous tiles - the finished decor will have an uneven, bumpy surface.
Cut out the numbers!
I pre-printed and cut out the number 8 templates from A4 paper. You can draw them by hand.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator. We divide it into 3 parts. Take a piece of dough, roll it out thinly (on a mat or baking paper) and put a stencil with a number on top, trace it with a thin sharp knife.
Useful videos
If you don't want to bother baking three thin cakes, you can bake one thick one and then cut it lengthwise with a sharp knife.
Sometimes the dough cannot be shaped before baking because the dough spreads and becomes deformed on the baking sheet. Therefore, you can bake an even rectangular or round sponge cake by pouring it into the mold of the desired format, and then cutting out the desired numbers from it.
By making cuts in a certain way, you can easily make numbers from pieces of cake, that is, from its component parts.
For example, to make a figure eight, you need to bake two round cakes, and then cut a round hole in the center of each. The number eight is obtained by combining two such cake layers.
For a three you will need two halves of the same circle with a hole.
For one, four and seven, you will need a rectangular cake, which, with the help of masterly cuts and connections of parts, will turn into the desired symbol.
The ability to make a zero is especially useful, because it is next to a certain number that turns an ordinary nominal date into an anniversary one. For the zero, take a round cake with a hole cut in the center and cut it in half, turning it into two semicircles. Place a rectangular piece of biscuit between the semicircles on both sides. You will get an oval with a hole inside, that is, a zero.
For numbers 2, 5 or 6, you will need to combine pieces of rectangles with a circle or semicircle with a hole in the middle.
Let's bake cake layers for a number cake!
We remove the paper and everything unnecessary, prick the cake with a fork and put it in an oven preheated to 175-180C (use yours!).
As soon as the cake becomes golden, we take it out, but under no circumstances remove it from the paper. Leave on a flat surface until it cools COMPLETELY! When warm, the cake is very tender, soft, and may break. We bake 2 more cakes in the same way. You can use the leftovers to make small cookies using cutouts. And, by the way, they can be an additional decorative element)
Let's assemble our cake!
When all the cakes have cooled, we begin to assemble the cake.
Place the cream in a pastry bag with a tube attachment (the diameter of the outlet is 10-12 mm) and pipe the cream over the entire area of the cake. Attention! I made the cake without any toppings, but I’ll tell you what and how you can add, if desired. If you want a cake with filling, put it out at this moment! Between the “bumps” of the cream you will just get a small distance and there you can put, say, a berry - fresh or boiled with sugar and cooled. You can, for example, use spiced cherry sauce for this, which Tori Pteat wrote about here. In principle, you can pour the sauce over the cake between the “bumps” of cream. The main thing is that the sauce is not too liquid, and for this it must be boiled with starch or pectin!
After we have completely covered the cake with cream, put the second cake layer on it and pipe the cream again. Etc.
What forms are used to make the cocoa alphabet in cooking?
Chocolate letter molds
Molds for chocolate letters and figures can be purchased at the supermarket or ordered from a specialized online store. The cost of such “helpers” varies depending on the material from which they are made. Each confectionery mold requires its own individual approach to operation. Each material has its own recommended care.
Varieties of forms
Silicone
The advantage of a silicone mold is its environmental friendliness. Such a plastic material does not change its structure and remains safe when exposed to high temperatures. In addition, silicone does not react to low temperatures. For housewives, the degree of convenience is also increased by the fact that silicone molds are easy to clean and practically do not deform during use.
Forms made from this material do not absorb odors and do not react with the contents. Typically, manufacturers use medical silicone, which increases the level of confidence in such equipment in the kitchen.
Plastic
This type of mold is used in factories for freezing candies. They are tougher than silicone. The difference and at the same time a disadvantage is the ban on the use of plastic molds when baking. When exposed to high temperatures, the material produces substances harmful to health.
Therefore, housewives need to understand how to make chocolate treats in plastic molds without harming the health of loved ones.
Plastic letter shapes
First of all, you need to wait until the chocolate cools to a temperature of 45 degrees. Since, starting from 50 degrees, plastic produces toxins.
Plastic equipment must be thoroughly dried and lubricated before pouring in the chocolate mass. Otherwise, there is a chance of ruining the appearance of the edible alphabet.
Metal
Metal products differ from other forms in durability. That is why manufacturers are in no hurry to use metal in the manufacture of kitchen utensils. This material is quite cheap, but at the same time can last for decades.
Metal forms have a number of advantages:
- do not wear out for a long time;
- Dishwasher safe;
- When exposed to high temperatures, they do not release toxins.
To prevent chocolate masterpieces from sticking to the metal sides, wipe the mold with a piece of butter or vegetable oil. Use a brush or finger, whichever is more convenient for you.
Polycarbonate
Letters made of chocolate will also look good when using polycarbonate molds. They are simple and convenient, and also withstand large temperature fluctuations well. In addition, polycarbonate forms do not absorb odors from the contents.
In any case, no matter what material you choose, wash the necessary form for making an edible alphabet and dry it thoroughly. And also watch out for scratches on the surface. The presence of pits or bumps can change the final appearance of the product.
Preparing flowers for decoration!
I used fresh flowers to decorate the cake. The attitude towards fresh flowers as decoration among confectioners is ambiguous. But if you are careful, the flowers are not poisonous, of course! - you can use it (or even better, take flowers grown specifically for food, there are such ones. Well, or grown by you personally in your garden without any chemicals, those that you are confident in!). Flowers need to be washed in running water, dried and carefully isolated from contact with the cream! To do this, I tore off all the sepals on the back side and covered the ENTIRE back surface of the roses with melted cocoa butter! After processing all the flowers, I put them in the refrigerator for a while so that the oil hardened well. If you don't have cocoa butter, you can use chocolate.
Common mistakes
In principle, creating inscriptions is not that difficult from a technical point of view. If you already know how to decorate cakes, writing congratulations on them will be easy. But sometimes confectioners still stubbornly make basic mistakes, which ruins the appearance of the dessert:
- The piping bag is not positioned correctly. The spout should be at a height of about 2-3 mm from the surface. If the distance is smaller, the cream or topping will be smeared inaccurately. Raise it higher and the mixture will begin to stretch, creating extra lines.
- Temperature. If you are using chocolate or cream, cool it to 15-20°C. If the temperature is lower, the mixture will become thick and difficult to squeeze out. Hot cream can ruin the cake coating.
- The details of the inscription are strongly pressed in. If you post the text in small pieces, there is no need to immerse them in the cream. Let them just lie on top, slightly submerged.
- The stencil rises high. The lower the template with slots is located, the clearer the picture will be in the end.
- No strainer is used. Powdered sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon may contain debris and lumps. It's better if they don't end up on the cake.
In order not to make mistakes, the main thing is not to rush anywhere, even if you feel confident in your abilities. It's easy to make a mistake that you can't always correct. But if you are careful, a beautiful congratulation will definitely bring positive emotions.
Let's decorate!
So, our number cake is almost ready!
If you plan to eat it right away, then start decorating. If you want to let it brew, you can decorate it before serving. You can see I used macarons, strawberries, flowers and pistachio greens. I also baked cookies from the leftover dough and filled the voids with them. You can take whatever you want, that's the beauty of it! But be careful: it’s bad when the entire surface of the cake turns into one big pile of different-sized sweets, without an idea or color unity! Everything should be harmonious, and I personally like it when islands of light cream peek out here and there between the bright decorative elements.
You can eat!
Brew your favorite type of tea or brew aromatic coffee, cut off a piece of cake and ENJOY!
A small note: the cake can be cut almost immediately and then the cakes will be crispy. But if you let the cake sit, the cream will soak it in and the cakes will become soft. I prefer it crunchy! But if you like delicate textures and soft, rich fillings, leave your number cake in the refrigerator overnight or longer. Before eating, take it out and keep it at room temperature for at least an hour. Bon appetit!
And happy spring holiday, our dear readers!
