On their birthday, kids are waiting for a real miracle - and one of these miracles is the birthday cake. Girls will love products in the form of animals and princesses, but boys will be pleased with cars. Racing or cargo, realistic or reminiscent of cartoon characters - at home you can embody any fantasy.
Sweet cars: cooking features
A cake in the form of a machine is one of the most frequent orders in confectionery ateliers. Usually, such products are decorated with sugar mastic, it gives a perfectly smooth coating that can be painted in any color. Such cakes look very beautiful on family photos and videos, and the hero of the occasion himself is delighted. However, custom-made confectionery products also have disadvantages: high calorie content, an abundance of flavors and bright dyes, which are not very useful for the child's body. Another significant drawback is the price. Pastry chefs are not cheap, the larger the cake, the more expensive it is.
At home, you can make a safer, but equally delicious option. The base of the cake is made from a biscuit or a thicker gingerbread gingerbread, butter cream, chocolate or marzipan are used as decoration. When preparing, you can take into account the tastes of the baby and worry about his safety, using only natural dyes: fruit or vegetable juices, cocoa powder, caramel.
Simple cake for a toddler: a step by step recipe
For beginners, make a simple yet beautiful cake topped with cream. Ready-made delicacies are used as decor: dragees, glazed sweets, marmalade, cookies. From the specified amount of products, you get a cake for 8-14 servings. The nutritional value of each is about 350 calories.
Ingredients:
- 8 eggs;
- 2 cups sugar;
- 2 cups premium wheat flour;
- sugar or fruit syrup for soaking the cakes.
For cream and decoration:
- 200 g of natural butter;
- 0.5 cups shelled walnut kernels;
- 200 g of condensed milk;
- a pinch of vanillin;
- 200 g dark or milk chocolate;
- 4 round cookies;
- dragee in colored glaze.
Separate the yolks from the proteins, grind with sugar until white. Beat the whites with a mixer in a strong foam, adding a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice. Portions add proteins and sifted flour to the yolk mixture, kneading a light airy dough. Put it in a round detachable form, place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. To prevent the biscuit from settling, do not open the door while the cake is in the oven. Bake until golden brown, checking the doneness with a wooden skewer. For the cake, you will need 2 identical round cakes, it is convenient if the farm has 2 forms. Put the finished biscuits on a wooden board and cool. This will take at least 8 hours, if you soak the hot cakes, they will fall apart when assembling the cake.
Prepare the cream by whisking softened butter with condensed milk and a pinch of vanillin. To make the cream smooth and fluffy, it is better to use a submersible mixer. If the butter begins to flake off, place the container with the cream in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, and then continue beating.
Using a sharp knife, cut out a rectangular base for a typewriter from the first cake. Divide it into 2 parts lengthwise (you can use a special string knife or ordinary fishing line). Saturate both parts with fruit syrup, coat with cream and fold. Pour walnuts, fried in a dry frying pan and chopped in a mortar or blender, between layers. If the child or his young guests are allergic, it is better to refuse the sprinkling or replace the walnuts with almond petals.
Cut out a booth from the second biscuit cake: a square with a wedge-shaped ledge on one side. The sizes are freely chosen. Cut the biscuit blank lengthwise, saturate with syrup and coat with cream. Fold the halves, lightly pressing them together. Apply a portion of the cream to the bottom of the cabin and attach it to the base.
Cut the remaining biscuit into cubes, soak in syrup and assemble a platform for the car from them. Level the surface with a knife, cover the platform with finely grated chocolate. An alternative is to cover the platform with icing by melting the chocolate in a water bath with a little milk or cream.
Place the machine blank on the platform and start decorating. Cover the car body with cream from a pastry syringe, applying it in strips or rosettes. Outline the contours of the windows with melted chocolate or cream with the addition of cocoa powder. The wheels are made from a round cookie, covered with chocolate icing. The final touch is the decoration of the product with colored dragees. It can be scattered around the platform in any order or laid out with a beautiful congratulatory inscription.
Children's cake "Machine" from mastic: stage-by-stage preparation
Experienced cooks can try a more complex recipe using sugar mastic and homemade ganache. For baking to succeed, it is important to step by step. The process will take 2 days: in the first, the parts are made, the second is devoted to baking the cake and the final design.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups wheat flour;
- 2 cups sugar;
- 1, 5 tsp soda;
- 6 tbsp. l. cocoa powder;
- 15 g baking powder;
- 2 eggs;
- 1 glass of milk;
- 0.5 cups butter;
- 1 cup boiling water
For cream and decoration:
- 2, 5 Art. l. flour;
- 100 g sugar;
- 250 ml of milk;
- 250 g butter;
- 1 tbsp. l. vanilla sugar;
- 200 ml heavy cream;
- 530 g white chocolate;
- 200 g of dark chocolate;
- 390 g marshmallows;
- 900 g icing sugar.
Prepare the mastic by melting 330 g of white chocolate in a water bath. Soften marshmallows (300 g) in the microwave and add to the chocolate. Mix the mixture very quickly, otherwise it will harden. Add 2 tbsp. l. butter and 6 tbsp. l. cream, beat again. Pour 600 g of icing sugar in portions and knead until the mastic stops sticking to your hands. Divide it into 3 parts and add a few drops of dye to each: orange, blue, white. Knead the mastic until completely homogeneous.
Repeat the mastic kneading procedure, mixing the dark chocolate and the remaining marshmallows. Add powdered sugar and blue dye to the mass - you get an elastic elastic mass of dark green color.
Cut out circles from white mastic - future wheels for wheels. Roll out the dark green mastic on a board sprinkled with powdered sugar, cut out squares. Wrap cookies in each, form a knot, smooth out the folds and seal the joints with water. Glue white discs on the outside. Craft 4 wheel blanks.
Roll the orange mastic into a layer, cut into ribbons. Folding each loop, form a lush, voluminous bow. Twist the remaining ribbons into a spiral, wrapping the pencil. Cut out small parts from white rolled mastic: side mirrors, headlights, number plates. Lay out the parts to dry.
Baking and cake decoration
To prepare a biscuit, mix dry ingredients, beat 2 eggs in a separate container, pour in vegetable oil. Add milk and dry mixture to the oil mixture in turn, stirring thoroughly with a mixer. Finally, pour in a glass of boiling water and mix well again. Divide the resulting dough into 2 parts and bake round cakes. Cut them lengthwise and soak in 6 tbsp syrup. l. water and 4 tbsp. l. Sahara.
Prepare the custard. Mix 250 ml of milk and 2.5 tbsp. l. flour, thoroughly grind the lumps. Add 100 g of sugar and put the cream on fire. While stirring, cook until the mixture thickens. Add 100 g of white chocolate, 200 g of butter and vanilla sugar. Beat the warm cream with a mixer until fluffy. Coat the cakes with cream, put them on top of each other and refrigerate for half an hour.
Cut off the side parts in the form of crescents, connect them and install on the remaining rectangle-base. Cut off the excess with a sharp knife, attach the cut pieces to the base, creating the hood and fenders. Use a spoon to form round grooves for the wheels.
Roll out the blue mastic into a thin layer, put it on the cake and wrap it, removing the edges under the bottom of the machine. Attach the wheels, leave the blank to dry. Finally, glue number plates, headlights, mirrors and other small parts. Place an orange bow on the roof of the car. You can fix the parts with sugar syrup or plain water. All that remains is to put the machine on the dish and serve it to the festive table.
