Welcome to HowToCookThat, I'm Ann Reardon and this is ... Matt!
And today we are going to make a birthday cake for Matthew.
We are also going to do a KITCHEN TOUR, I feel like we've got so much on.
We've had so many birthdays lately, we've had Jedd's birthday, we've had Dave's birthday
and tomorrow is Matthew's birthday YAY
and you are turning 13.
Everyone asks that in the comments "how old is Matthew?
He's turning 13".
The other question that I get a lot in the comments is "what cake should I make for my
sister or my Mum or my brother?"
And my answer is always to find out what they like, it's their cake.
So Matthew likes things like Sarsaparilla (Root Beer) which I don't like so I wouldn't
put that in a cake if I was choosing but he might like that.
Yeah I'd love Sarsaparilla in a cake!
You'd like Sarsaparilla in a cake.
Ok well let's find out what else you'd like.
So do you want like a 3D sculpted fondant cake with some sort of theme or character
this year or something a bit plainer?
Um, probably something a bit more plain because like I just want something that looks cool
but tastes delicious as well.
Good, okay so getting a bit too old for Thomas the Tank and all that stuff definitely.
Okay so you want something, maybe if we do a round stacked cake.
Vanilla or chocolate cake?
Probably vanilla.
Okay what would you like between the layers?
What sort of flavours do you like?
Maybe meringue and strawberries and cream and I really like that Fizzy Chocolate that
you made in the Fanta cake.
Right, so we've got some Fizzy Chocolate, Sarsaparilla, Cream, Strawberries and Meringue.
Do you think all those flavours will go together?
Maybe, we'll see!
Well, I'll let you go and I will get cooking because we have a party tomorrow to celebrate
you.
Yay!
For the vanilla cake we need sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, oil, flour, baking powder and
salt.
And I'll put all the recipe quantities on the HowToCookThat.net website and I'll to
that below.
Add the salt and the baking powder to the flour and whisk them together to get rid of
any lumps and to aerate it.
Pour the milk and the oil into a bowl and whisk those together too.
Put the eggs into a mixer bowl with the sugar and the vanilla and whisk that on high speed
until they are light in colour and look nice and fluffy.
Turn it onto low speed and add in a third of the flour, followed by half of that milk
and oil mixture.
And then repeat that until all of your ingredients are added and you want to mix it until it
is just combined, don't overmix it.
Fold some baking paper in half then in half again and then fold it in half again along
that line there.
Put it on top of a baking tin and draw around the line so that the middle of it is in the
centre of the tin and you get the angle of the arc there.
Just cut that out with scissors, then open it up and place that into two 9-inch round
baking tins.
Pour the mixture into those 2 tins, dividing it equally between the 2 and then bake them
in the oven until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Once they're baked, invert them onto a wire rack.
Carefully take off your tin and then peel off the baking paper and leave those to cool.
For the meringue we are going to need egg whites.
To separate the eggs I just crack the egg and then hold it upright and open up the top
so that the yolk stays in your bottom shell.
Tip it between the shell a couple of times to make sure all the white is out and you're
done.
As well as the whites, we'll need some sugar and a little vinegar.
Add the vinegar and the sugar to the bowl and whip that on high speed for several minutes.
Now it is important that you don't have any egg yolk in your whites or they will not whip
up.
Lift the beaters to check that they're stiff.
That meringue is looking nice.
Pipe spirals of meringue onto baking paper.
Now I've drawn a circle the size of my tin onto the paper so I know what size.
And I want it to be a little bit smaller than the baking tin.
You need 3 spirals.
And then with the left over, pipe little meringues that are going to go on top of the cake.
And we want to bake all of these in a slow oven so they can dry out on the outside but
they'll still be nice on the inside so that when we add the cream they'll turn into like
a marshmallowy layer in our cake.
Now to make sarsaparilla syrup we are going to need sugar and sarsaparilla.
Remember you can use any soda that you like here if you don't like sarsaparilla just swap
it out and heat that in the microwave until the sugar is dissolved.
And then you just want to leave that to cool.
For the sarsaparilla jelly, we need sugar, gelatine and sarsaparilla split into 3 quantities
(I've got all those details on the website).
Add the gelatine to the smallest bowl of Sarsaparilla and mix that in well, then add the sugar and
leave it for a few minutes for that gelatine to soften.
Now pour some of the sarsaparilla into a bigger bowl with all of that softened gelatine and
sugar mixture and microwave that until the sugar is melted and the gelatine is dissolved.
Add the remaining sarsaparilla to cool it down.
Now line a tin with plastic wrap and pour in the jelly mixture and refrigerate that
until it is set and then we are just going to cut it into cubes and use it on the layers
of the cake.
Now for the fizzy chocolate that he asked for.
I'm using white compound chocolate, sherbet (google 'Ann Reardon sherbet' for this recipe)
and popping rocks.
Melt the white chocolate and then simply add in the sherbet and the pop rocks and mix them
in well.
When I did the Fanta Cake I didn't use pop rocks in it but I think it'll go well in this
cake.
Spread that out in a thin layer on some baking paper and leave it until it just starts to
firm up.
Once it is a little firmer, cut it into long shards that you can poke into the top of your
cake so it gives it some more height and makes it look really majestic.
Now for some buttercream.
Combine the icing sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until they go lighter
in colour and look fluffy, that'll take a few minutes.
While that is mixing let me show you around the new kitchen.
We're just put up the beautiful blue splash-back, that was the last thing that I had to do.
I had to pain the back of it and get it installed into place, which was quite tricky.
Dave and I were trying to juggle it in there but I'm happy with how it turned out in the
end.
We've got lots of storage, plenty of drawers so that I can have all the things that I need
organised in there.
And in this cupboard I have all brand new appliances that Kitchenaid generously supplied
for the new kitchen.
And there's been lots of love from you guys in the comments for the new pink mixer that
I've got, they're from Kitchenaid as well.
And I have this huge open storage shelf for all my camera gear and baking tins and yes
I do still film and edit all my own videos so I need room for all that gear too.
Making this kitchen has been a labour of love, it took longer than expected.
Me and Dave worked hard, we even got a friend called Russell to come over and help us with
some of the bits that we didn't know how to do ourselves like sawing through the metal
... sparks going everywhere there!
And putting together cupboards which said they just needed a saw but there's no way
you can cut in a circle using a saw, so we had to get out some other power tools and
put all that together.
So it's gone from being a total mess to being this totally organised, beautiful place to
bake and make videos and just make beautiful food.
So I hope that you love it as much as I do, leave a comment below, letting me know what
your favourite bit of the new kitchen is😀 Okay so that's the new kitchen and this is
the other side of the kitchen of course with the HowToCookThat sign and the bench in the
middle and I've brough Jedd in because I thought he might like make his brother's cake, would
you like to help?
Yes.
I thought you would.
Ok so we're going to start off with one of our layers of cake down the bottom.
And then we're going to get a spoon of our syrup that we made earlier that tastes of
sarsaparilla and spoon it over the top of the cake.
That's it, all of it.
Spreading it out.
So everybody gets some on their slice, that's the way a bit more because see these people
don't have any.
There we go you've got it.
Next we're going to put the meringue disk but in order to put them in the cake, we're
going to need something to make it moist.
A normal pavalova would have cream and strawberries, so we are going to make up a strawberry cream.
So Jeddy you've been asking to use this mini mixer since we got it so today's the day.
Can you pour the cream in and with that cream we are going to put a little bit of icing
sugar, not too much because the meringue is very sweet so don't need heaps.
Good job, that's the way!
And then we want to mix it with these strawberries, so can you tip the whole bowl of strawberries
in too.
That's a lot of strawberries!
It is, can you get it in?
What cake did you have for your birthday?
Minecraft cake, put a thumbs up if you saw that video.
👍🏻 We'll just turn it on low, if we turn it on
high it will go ... everywhere!
Like on the Sugar Bowls.
When it went BANG!
Just as well you weren't in the room for that one.
Can you turn that onto low for me.
That one?
Yeah that one would be good, that's the way.
It's splatting a little bit, what we want the mixer to do is chop up the strawberries
and whip the cream so we are going to end up with like a strawberry flavoured cream.
It's going to be yummy.
Yay, that's looking good.
Okay so we're going to get a dab of cream.
Dab!
And pop it on here.
I'll just put it in the middle because cream is quite soft it's not good structurally so
what we're going to do Jedd is we're going to put some buttercream around the edge.
I probably should have done that first but I'm a little bit distracted.
Okay so we'll put some buttercream around, yes you can help.
Squeeze around the edge.
Keep squeezing, squeeze, there we go.
So then we'll put a bit more cream right to the edge of that.
Now Jedd we are going to need a layer of meringue.
Meringue lollipop!
Grab a meringue and pop it right in the middle on top.
Can you do that?
Ooh careful you might need two hands.
Right in the middle.
Yay!
Good job that's perfect.
We are going to put a little bit more cream, not much but a little bit on top of that because
the meringue will absorb all the moisture from the cream and go nice and marshmallowy.
Oooh.
Do you like marshmallow?
Yes.
Marshmallow is the best.
So I'm not actually quite sure how this is going to hold up as a cake Jedd, it might
all just slide off each other.
But this is what Matthew wanted.
Yeah, you cut it and all the things just slide off.
That would be a pity.
Okay more simple syrup or sarsaparilla syrup, pop that on top of this one.
Good job, I like the way you're doing it super carefully.
Good job buddy, I'll just grab a little bit more there.
Well done, so now we need some more cream.
Yeah!
Add some more of that, cream and strawberries.
So it gives the cream like a pinky colour because it has all chunks of strawberry in
there.
Oh you know what I forgot again?
Piping!
We'll just put that in the middle, then we'll pipe.
Twist the top so it doesn't come out, okay, you ready, squeeze.
And spin, there we go.
Good job do you want to spread that cream in the middle out?
Whenever I'm filming something for HowToCookThat Jedd always asks if he can help don't you?
Yes.
He loves helping.
I help with jobs outside.
You do, you help with so many things.
Wonderful.
I'm just going to put some sarsaparilla jelly on the cake so that it tastes even more of
sarsaparilla.
So you get those little bursts of sarsaparilla flavour through.
We've got strawberries and sarsaparilla.
I'm not sure on this flavour combination but, as I said, you've got to go with what the
birthday boy wants in a cake.
And that's what makes it special is because you've made it just for them.
Another layer of meringue please.
Pop it on top.
Good job, can I straighten it up just a little, just there.
Wow.
Bit more cream and strawberries you think.
Yes!
And we are just putting a little layer there because otherwise, meringue is high in sugar
and it will draw all the water out of the cake and we don't want the cake to get dray.
So we are going to put the cream on it so it draws the water out of the cream and it
will make it that marshmallow we were talking about.
Yes.
Sound good?
Yes.
Okay, another layer of cake.
You can't see the sarsaparilla jelly.
No because we've hiddlen it in the middle.
It's like a secret.
You know it's there don't you, but Matthew doesn't know it's there.
Put the sarsaparilla syrup on top, do you want to do that.
A little bit more around this side.
Now what do we not want to forget this time because I've forgotten it every time?
Piping.
Piping first, that's right.
Give it a squeeze, there we go.
Not quite, you need to squeeze a bit harder.
Ready?
Squeeze!
Oh, not that hard!
Okay we'll just put that bit in the middle.
Squeeze, there we go that'll do.
It needs a little more there.
Good attention to detail, good job, high five.
Now I've got cream on my hands.
Oh you got it in my hair!
How did I do that?
Just go to the tap over there and wash your hands.
Or wash my hair!
Yeah wash your hair, just dip your hair in the water.
And then come back over here, do you think it would look a bit funny?
Yes.
I think it would look a bit all wet.
What's next, some sarsaparilla jelly, you want to do it?
Just spoon some of that on top, there you go.
Another bit, oh that was a little spoon.
Pop that one on top, woah this is going to be a tall cake. then a little bit more cream.
You want to give me a little dab of cream.
Maybe a little more, okay pop that one there.
There we go.
Dab of cream.
A dab of cream, did you know I found someone on Google Maps the other day that was dabbing
the Google maps camera.
Last layer of cake, okay now we need some more syrup on top.
What do you think, does it look good on top just like that?
You think it looks good?
No.
No I don't think it looks good on top, we are going to have to put some decorations
on top.
Matthew was wanting fizzy pop rock chocolate, did you want to taste some?
It's good.
You don't really taste the pop rocks but you only taste a lot of the chocolate but you
see after you've bitten into it, it's just like a sudden starts popping.
In your mouth?
Yeah.
That's a good description, that's what pop rocks are like.
They pop in your mouth.
Rice bubbles.
A bit like rice bubbles but do they taste like rice bubbles or Rice Krispies?
No.
What do they taste like?
They taste like sweet, oh they taste like, kinda like warm icecream or something.
Like icecream, like you'd imagine icecream.
Right I think we should start with the popping candy chocolate, what do you think?
Yes.
Can you get a piece and just go like this with your piece, just poke it into the top
like that.
So it's going to give the cake even more height.
Push that in.
What do you think, looking good.
Might need a little bit more, maybe here.
How's this going to fit in the fridge.
Yeah it's just going to be massive.
I think we're going to have to move the shelves in the fridge to make it fit.
Can you pop some meringues in, just around the top whereever they fit.
And I'll pop some strawberries in and we'll see where they fit.
So that just gives a little bit of colour otherwise it's all a bit monochromatic.
Yes a little bit white.
Do you know what monochromatic means?
No.
One ... colour.
That's right, so you were right when you said a little bit white.
A lot white.
So we want some other colour in there to make it look a little bit more interesting.
Can you put some down the middle, drop them in, that's it.
Drop some more in so it piles up in the middle.
I think this is looking pretty good, do you think Matthew is going to like this cake?
Yeah, I think so too.
Is it yummy.
That's the best part of helping make cakes isn't it, you get to eat some.
Yeah.
So what do you think Jedd?
Do you think Matty will like that cake.
Yes, I think you've done a fantastic job, high five.
I'm going to go get Matty, I'll be back in a minute.
1, 2, 3.
Woah!
Boo.
It's so cool, it looks so delicious I just want to eat it now.
This has pop rocks and sherbet in it so it'll be fizzy in your mouth, we've got meringues
and strawberries, then in between the vanilla cake we've got meringue and strawberries and
cream and sarsaparilla jelly...
I love sarsaparilla!
We know that's what you asked for you funny.
And Jedd doesn't like sarsaparilla, he tasted it but he still put it all over the cake because
it's just for you.
Awww.
We love you Matt, happy birthday for tomorrow.
Yay.
And we will enjoy eating this at the party.
Subscribe to HowToCookThat for more crazy, sweet creations, click here for more cakes
without fondant and here for the latest video, which is this one at the moment but it won't
be in a week's time.
Make it a great week and we'll see you on Friday.
"Oh how baby I love you".