Cherry Cakes taste every bit as delicious as they look!
Cherry Murphy is a qualified chef and pastry chef behind Melbourne boutique cake range, Cherry Cakes, which are possibly the most Instagrammable cakes in the world and taste just as good as they Instagram! And when Cherry stopped by the Eat Drink Play office to drop off one of the cakes from the winter menu, there was actual fist pumping happening when she revealed it was our favourite one from the range.
Five new cakes feature on the Cherry Cakes winter menu using a thoughtful selection of fresh and earthy seasonal ingredients, resulting in decadent and luscious layers of moist sponge cake, rich butter cream and fresh, juicy winter fruits.
Think roasted pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove with balsamic candied pecans and vanilla bean Italian buttercream. Or our favourite, which we devoured very quickly, the peanut butter and jelly stout cake; an earthy and rich chocolate stout cake with raspberry jam, layered with peanut butter and fresh raspberry Italian butter cream, topped with macarons, fresh berries and figs.
Cherry has honed her craft in a number of commercial kitchens including as a dessert chef at the Westin Hotel, cupcake designer for Little Cupcakes and head chef at John Gorilla café. She is a wedding caterer and café supplier and self-proclaimed good time gal – an essential trait in the art of divine cake making, we hear.
If baking up a storm is your thing (lets be friends, maybe?) try your hand at one of Cherry’s recipes for a super delicious wintery cake that’ll be a show stopper at your next dinner party! If you’re more skilled at cake ordering like us, visit Cherry’s website to place your order instead.
Chocolate Coffee Stout Cake with Figs.
- 225 room temperature butter
- 350g brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or half a scraped vanilla bean pod.
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of coffee stout, this time of year these can be found at any good bottle shop or craft beer store.
- 1 cup of cocoa powder
- 225g Self Raising flour.
- 275g sugar
- 100g water
- 3 egg whites
- 500g room temperature butter
- 1/2 cup of fig jam
- Berries to decorate.
- Preheat oven to 160C.
- Place butter and sugar in an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat until light brown in colour. Scrape down the sides as you go to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Slowly add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Don’t stress if it looks a little bit split at this stage as it will come back together later in the process.
- In a separate bowl mix together your coffee stout and cocoa powder so that it forms a thick paste.
- Slowly add one third of your flour to the cake mix, then 1/2 the cocoa and stout mix. Repeat, alternating between the two mixes while continuing to beat, until everything is combined.
- Butter and line two 7inch cake tins with baking paper and divide that batter between the two.
- Bake for half an hour or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Let rest in the tins for five minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.
- While the cakes are cooling you can start the buttercream. Place the water and sugar in a small pot over high heat.
- Attach the whisk attachment to your stand mixer and add your egg whites.
- Carefully watch your sugar syrup and using a candy thermometer check the temperature from time to time. When the syrup reaches 110 degrees turn your stand mixer onto medium speed to begin whipping the egg whites.
- Once the sugar syrup reaches 117 degrees turn your stand mixer up to hight and very carefully pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl and into the beating egg whites. Let the mixer run for about ten minutes or until the mixture has cooled. It should look thick and glossy.
- Slowly add small pieces of the room temperature butter and watch your meringue mixture turn into a beautiful lush buttercream. Beat until smooth.
- Add the fig jam, and mix until incorporated.
- Once your cakes have cooled down slice them in halves horizontally so that you have four thin layers.
- Using either a spoon or a piping bag spread 1/4 of the buttercream over each layer of cake, stacking as you go.
- To finish the cake top with fresh figs and berries, and serve to all your pals who are sure to be super impressed.
Cherry Cakes
Order cakes at www.cherry-cakes.com
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