Melon cake

 

When the going gets tough, the tough gets baking! 

How's life so far, guys?


Remember the trending Japanese melon cake last year? Here's my cheaper version 😜 It's actually pretty easy to make than it looks! 

Well, this is the second time that I made it, I helped one of my taste tester to make a cake for her husband's birthday more than a week ago. We didn't expect much but how hard can it be?! Surprisingly it turned out pretty awesome, with layers as good as the one we've seen on Instagram! *pats my back again* 🙄🤣

Onto the melon, as you can see from the photo of the melon below, it has a Japanese label, and since melon from Japan is pretty expensive, the one I bought was probably grown elsewhere as it's dirt-cheap! Those wily fruit vendors and gullible consumers! 😁 In fairness, the melon tastes good, it's sweet with a bit of crunch, the way I like my melon....

Making this cake is really easy though a much riper melon is easier to handle as the inside is much softer. 

Basically a layer cake, with Chantilly cream aka dairy whipping cream with a bit of sugar to hold the layers together. No step by step photo though but it's easy to figure it out.

I used the same old, same old genoise sponge recipe, it's a forgiving recipe and will come out delicious no matter how you manhandle the batter....

The only issue I have with this cake is the melon jelly, this is the first time that it doesn't hold its shape after several hours in the fridge 😞 Maybe I overheated the jelly mixture but I usually do that most of the time and no problem at all......

Warning! This is a light, sort of boring cake but perfect if you love less sweet cakes and not for those who loves buttercream frosted cake....


Matcha genoise sponge, recipe adapted from Okashi

115 grams cake flour

4 grams matcha powder (sifted once or thrice together with flour and salt)

2 grams fine sea salt

45 grams whole milk

30 grams butter

5 grams vanilla extract

170 grams (3 large)  eggs, at room temp, lightly beaten

100 grams caster sugar

15 grams (liquid) glucose 

** You can either bake this in a 7-inch round (30-35 minutes) or 12-inch square pan (20 minutes). Line pan with parchment paper.

* Preheat oven to 170ºC.

* In a small heat-proof bowl, combine milk, butter and vanilla, set aside.

*  Combine the eggs, sugar and glucose and stir until combine. In a pan of barely simmering water, heat  egg mixture while whisking (in broad strokes) until temperature registers 40ºC or 60ºC (faster to whip)

* Take out pan from heat and beat until mixture has tripled in size and when you lift the beater, the mixture will just stay on top rather than dissolving after few seconds. Fold in the flour mixture.

* Meanwhile, heat the milk-butter mixture until butter is melted, keep warm. 

* Add about 1/3 of the batter to the warm butter mixture, mix well. Pour it back to the remaining batter and gently fold until just combined.

* Pour batter in a prepared pan and tap several times to the counter to remove air bubbles.

* Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

* Take out sponge from the pan and place in a wire rack, cover with plastic wrap or place in a food-safe plastic bag to prevent it from getting dry. Cool completely and place in the freezer until needed.

* Cut out two 5-inch and one3.5-inch round, put back in the freezer until needed. You can use the leftover sponge to make other cake.


Melon jelly

120 grams melon purée
8 grams caster sugar
3 grams gelatine powder

* In a small heat-proof bowl, stir the purée and caster sugar, sprinkle the gelatine powder on top and let bloom for about 5 minutes. Mix well and place bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir until gelatine is completely melted. Let cool at room temp before pouring into the prepared mould.

* Freeze until needed.


Preparing the melon

* Rinse and wipe dry the melon, cut about 1-inch off the top. Using a rounded tablespoon, remove the seeds in the middle first. If you only have one melon, use the melon baller to cut out some balls. You can also use a pairing knife to hasten the work but be careful not to pierce the sides. Scrape as much melon as you can. 

* Once you hollowed out the melon, pat dry with kitchen paper towel. Put it on the plate upside down and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to further dry the inside so as to chill it.


Chantilly cream

325 grams dairy whipping cream
25 grams caster sugar

* Beat cream until stiff peak forms, chill in the fridge until need.

Assembling the cake

* Cut the melon and strawberries into desired shape. Pat dry each piece with kitchen tissue.

* Pipe some cream at the bottom of the hollow melon, place the (3.5-inch) sponge on top and cover it with the cream.....

* In a nutshell: 
      cream   
      sponge
      cream
      melon
      cream
      sponge
      cream
      strawberries
      cream
      sponge
      toppings (melon balls and jelly)

* Decorate the top with melon balls and only add the melon jelly 30 minutes before serving.

* Chill in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving, less time during winter.

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