Happy Birthday Bean, Ben & Kenny!

we celebrated the march babies' bday last friday over at cblc. and there was a feast! they ordered 2 large oishi pizza and a family feast kfc meal. plus we had iced grass jelly for desserts :) not forgetting the red wine they opened after that! actually it wasn't really a feast cos there were quite a few of us...but we had two cakes!

the birthday boys

yupp i baked two cakes for this birthday celebration. one of it was choc mousse cake, using nigella lawson's instant choc mousse recipe and the other was cocoa puff cream cake taken off from Do What I Like.

somehow the choc mousse cake wasn't as successful. initially it wasn't 'gooey' enough and the whole thing didn't seem like it would set! now i think it might be because i didn't wait for the choc mixture to cool completely before pouring into the whipped cream. haha i was too impatient and pour the hot mixture straight into the cream! so in order to salvage it i added lots of gelatine to it! and i overdid it resulting in an overly jelly-like mousse haha. you should have seen how they were trying to hard to cut the choc cake ;p

cooking the choc, marshmallows mixture over fire

and you get this. which is then poured into double whipped cream

close-up of the cake!

the cocoa puff cream cake was a winner! and ironically it was sooooo much easier to make in comparison to the choc mousse cake. i would say it's like a simplified version of tiramisu. no baking required - all you need is khong guan cocoa puff biscuits, dairy whip cream and any other toppings you wish to add! thank you florence for the great recipe :)

i made those name cut outs!

i like the really well defined layers:) and i was surprised the biscuits tasted just like a cake!

we had lotsa fun that friday night. and lastly, happy belated birthday to the three birthday boys - bean, ben and kenny! hope you guys liked the cakes.

cheers!

from left to right:ben,sofero,boon,kit,kang,kenny,beanz

and here are the recipes. enjoy :)

Choc Mousse Cake
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Instant Choc Mousse.

Ingredients:
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
9 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces ( I used bitter choc)
1/4 cup hot water, from a recently boiled kettle
1 cup heavy cream ( I used Bulla's thickened cream)
1 tsp vanilla essence

And a choc sponge cake!

Method:
1.Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.
2.Put the saucepan on the stove, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt, stirring every now and again.
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Meanwhile whip the cream with the vanilla until thick and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. (Remember to cool the choc mixture!)
5. Slice the choc sponge cake evenly into 2 halves horizontally.
6. Sandwich the 2 layers of sponge with choc mousse, then cover the entire cake with mousse.
7. Refrigerate for about an hour.
8. Serve!

Cocoa Puff Cream Cake
Adapted from Florence's Do What I Like.

Ingredients:
40 cocoa puff biscuits (about 1.5 packs)
3 tins of Nestle Dairy Whipped Cream + 3 tsp rum essence

Method:
1. Mix cream with rum till well combined with a spoon or spatula.
2. Apply a thin layer of cream on the cake board to secure the 1st layer of biscuits.
3. Place the 1st layer of biscuits on the cake board. (I used 8 pieces of biscuits for every layer.
4. Top with 4 - 5 tablespoons of cream. (Up to your personal preference) Smooth and level the cream out.
5. Repeat step (4) till the desired height is achieved (Alternate layers of cream and biscuits). I did 5 layers of biscuits.
6. The last layer of cream was alot thicker so as to completely cover the biscuits.
7. Decorate the cake if you wish. I sprinkled colourful rice bits on the top and covered the sides with the biscuits. But the biscuits turned soggy the next day so i don't really recommend that. You could cover with choc ganache or sliced almonds.
8. Chill for at least 3 - 4 hours before serving.
9. Serve!