Nando's Cake

I’ve never made a cake version of savoury food before, so this was a bit of a challenge. This was a 21^st cake for one of my housemates who is quite partial to the occasional Nando’s meal! I’d like to thank Brighton Nando’s for donating the chip holder, napkins, takeaway wrapping paper and the famous Nando’s “medium” stick.

In order to make this authentic looking, I took a few shortcuts, such as using a shop bought jam roly-poly for the corn on the cob.

~ 

Nando's Cake 

You will need:

For the decoration

• 10” cake board
• Nando’s greaseproof paper
• Nando’s napkins
• Nando’s chip holder
• Nando’s cocktail stick

For the sponge

In order to make the chicken shape, you need both a sandwich cake and a loaf cake. The amounts stated here are divided into equal amounts – one for each tin.

• 2 x 3 eggs
• 2 x 250g self-raising flour
• 2 x 500g caster sugar
• 2 x 500g margarine
• 2lb loaf tin, greased and lined
• 18in round tin, greased and lined

For the buttercream

• 140g butter, softened
• 280g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk

For the corn on the cob

• Jam roly-poly
• Yellow fondant
• Very small amount of white fondant
• Brown gel food colouring
• Small sponge brush (I used the one on the far left from an Asda paintbrush selection)
  
• Cocktail stick
• Shine spray (I used PME glaze spray, bought on Amazon)
  

For the chips

• 12 Cadbury’s Fudge bars
  
• Golden yellow fondant
• Edible glue
• Red sugar (to be peri peri salt)
  

For the chicken

• 300g pale brown fondant
• Brown gel food colouring
• Golden yellow/orange food gel food colouring 

Method: 

For the sponges

1. Heat the oven to gas 4.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale with a wooden spoon.
3. Beat in the eggs.
4. Sift over the flour and fold in using a large metal spoon.
5. The mixture should be of a dropping consistency; if it is not, add a little milk.
6. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and gently spread out with a spatula.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
8. Allow to stand until completely cool.

Repeat these steps with the second lot of ingredients and cook in the round tin.

For the buttercream

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft.
2. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
3. Add the remaining icing sugar and one tablespoon of the milk and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth.
4. Beat in the milk, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.
   

For the corn on the cob

1. Unroll the jam roly-poly until it is about the width of a corn on the cob and discard the other layer.
   
2. Cut a slice about 10cm long.
3. Roll out the yellow fondant to about 1cm thickness.
4. Spread the sponge with a small amount of the buttercream and cover it with the fondant.
5. Scratch the shape of the individual sweetcorn into the fondant with the cocktail stick.
6. Roll out a small amount of white fondant, and cut out two round shapes (about the size of a £2 coin) and stick these onto the ends of the cake with buttercream.
7. Spray the “corn” with shine spray and sponge a small amount of brown gel food colouring onto the cake to look like charring.
   

For the chips

1. Slice the fudge bars into three slices lengthways.
   
2. Roll out the golden yellow fondant.
3. Spread a very small amount of buttercream across the fudge bars, and cover them with a fondant.
4. Repeat this over all the slices.
5. Leave the “chips” to set in the fridge.
6. When set, place the chips into the cardboard chip holder.
7. Brush the top level of chips with edible glue, and sprinkle with red sugar to replicate the “peri peri” salt.
   
    

For the chicken

1. The shape of the cake is created according to the following template.
   
2. Cut the round cake to form the body of the chicken.
3. The two edges cut off should be placed on either side of the top of the cake to build up the chicken “breast.”
4. Cut out a triangle from between these two added bits. (Shown by the black area).
5. Cut the loaf cake into the two thigh shapes, as shown by the template.
6. Roll out the pale brown icing.
7. Spread the entire cake with buttercream.
   
8. Cover the cake with icing, pressing the fondant into all of the crevices and cut away the excess.
9. Using the remainder of the fondant, make two "wings" by rolling out two thick sausage-shapes (about 10cm in length with the diameter of a penny). 
10. Fold these sausages in half, and attach with cocktail sticks to either side of the "chicken."
11. Using the sponge brush, press a mixture of brown and golden yellow gel food colouring over the whole chicken.
12. Press the cocktail stick into the chicken
    

To finish the cake

1. Assemble the constituent parts on the cake board, covered by the greaseproof paper.
2. Add the napkins at one side. 

Now grab a knife and fork and tuck in! 

Love, Chloe xx 

~  Follow me on Twitter @CrumbsCakeBlog ~

Blackforest Pavlova

I wanted to make a quick but impressive looking dessert for Valentine’s day which put a twist on the usual Blackforest flavour combination. I've added salted caramel and combined frozen cherries and fresh cherries for a mixture of textures. The marbled chocolate shards are really easy to make, and add a decorative edge. 

The best part of this dessert is that everything can be prepared in advance, and then the components can be assembled very quickly at the last moment before serving.

I always try and make some kind of plan before I make a cake, so I thought I'd include my scribbles in this blogpost as well! 

 ~

Blackforest Pavlova

You will need: 

For the meringue

• 8 egg whites
• 230g caster sugar
• 230g icing sugar, sifted

For the decoration

• 225g fresh cherries
• 200g milk chocolate
• 400 white chocolate

For the filling

• 200g salted caramel - (I used ASDA Extra Special salted caramel sauce, but you could make your own)
• 600ml double cream
• 350g frozen morello cherries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

For the meringue

1. Preheat the oven to fan 100°C and line 4 baking sheets with non-stick greaseproof paper.
2. Tip the egg whites into a bowl and beat with and electric whisk until they form stiff peaks.
3. Begin to add the caster sugar, a spoonful at a time until fully incorporated. The meringue should look thick and glossy.
   
4. Sift a third of the icing sugar into the mixture, then fold it in. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time.
5. Divide the mixture between the 4 trays, spreading the mixture out into rounds.
6. Bake for 1 1⁄2hours or until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour.
7. Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack.
   

For the decoration

1. Cover 3 baking trays in cling film and keep to hand.
2. Melt the white and milk chocolate separately in a bain-marie.
3. Once melted, divide the white chocolate between the three trays equally and pour over. Spread the chocolate into a thin layer with a spatula.
4. Drizzle the milk chocolate over the white chocolate at random.
5. Using the handle of a teaspoon, make “swirly” patterns in the chocolate to create a marble effect.
6. Leave the chocolate to cool in the fridge.
7. Once cooled, break into fragments of different sizes and shapes. There is no accuracy to this, the rougher the better!
8. Set the shards aside until decoration.

(Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this stage, but the chocolate marble shards can be seen in the final photos)

For the filling

1. Using an electric whisk, whip the cream until softly whipped. Return to the fridge until required.
2. Place the frozen cherries into a saucepan and heat on the hob until fully defrosted.
3. Strain the cherries, retaining the liquid. Place the cherries aside and return the juice to the saucepan.
4. Add the caster sugar and heat very slowly until a thick syrup is formed. Place this aside until required.

(You could even add a dash of cherry brandy to the reducing syrup for a more grown-up take on the dessert)

Assembling the dessert

1. Place one meringue layer on a plate and cover with a layer of cream, followed by salted caramel and finally a drizzle of the cherry syrup.
2. Dot one third of the frozen cherries all over (as there will be none on the top layer).
3. Place the next layer on and repeat the filling with cream, caramel, syrup and cherries.
4. Repeat until the final layer is placed on the top.
5. Cover this with the remaining cream and then “stud” it with the fresh cherries.
6. Then, stand some of the chocolate shards in the cream on the surface and stick others horizontally between the layers of meringue into the cream filling.
7. Finally, drizzle with the remaining salted caramel and cherry syrup and serve!

You’re finished! This dessert is best eaten in the first 2 days after serving, as the meringue may start to get a little soggy (but if you’re anything like me – the dessert won’t last two days anyway!)

Love, Chloe xxx

~  Follow me on Twitter @CrumbsCakeBlog ~