One of the most popular series on British Television over these last few years has to be the Great British Bake Off. Running over a number of weeks, it takes a group of ordinary baking enthusiasts through a series of baking challenge. It is the ultimate Bake Off Battle. Each week the bakers tackle a different baking skill, which become progressively more difficult as the competition unfolds. As the shows go on, bakers are eliminated with one finalist being crowned the winner at the very end. It is compelling viewing to say the least, especially if you like baking! (And who doesn't!)
This summer Dr. Oetker teamed up with Kimberley Wilson (One of the runner's up in the 2013 series) as part of the Even Better Baking Team to create a pretty incredible Orange and Rose Exploding Cake recipe.
Not only is it simple to make, and very pretty, but it's also fabulously delicious. Just the perfect way to celebrate any occasion. Don't let the list of ingredients fool you into thinking you can't do it. Just watch the video, print out the recipe and take it away. I guarantee you will be surprised as just how easy it is and your guests are sure to be super impressed!
*Orange and Rose Exploding Cake*Serves 16Printable Recipe
A delicious and attractive cake created by the GBBO finalist, Kimberly Wilson!
For the Orange Sponge:225g of self raising flour (1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS)225g of unsalted butter, very soft (scant cup)225g of golden caster sugar (1 cup plus 3 TBS)3 large free range eggs1 tsp of Dr Oetker baking powderpinch of saltzest of one orange85g of ground almonds (scant cup)1 to 2 TBS of fresh Orange juice1 tube of Dr Oetker neon orange color gel
For the Rose Sponge:225g of self raising flour (1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS)225g of unsalted butter, very soft (1 scant cup)225g of golden caster sugar (1 cup plus 3 TBS)3 large free range eggs1 tsp Dr Oetker baking powderpinch of salt85g of ground almonds (scant cup)1 to 2 tsp Dr Oetker Limited Edition Rose Flavour1 tube of Dr Oetker hot pink color gel
Buttercream150g of unsalted butter (2/3 cup)400g icing sugar, sifted (3 cups)
a few drops rosewater
To Decorate:454g of Dr Oetker ready to rol Marzipan (1 pound)700g of Dr Oetker ready to roll icing (1 1/2 pound)1 pack of Dr Oetker Sugar butterflies1 tube of Dr Oetker Pink color gel1 tube of Dr Oetker Orange color gelorange apricot glazeRibbon (optional)
Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Grease and baseline four 8 inch round sandwich tins. Set aside.
Place the eggs, butter, sugar, flour, orange zest and orange color gel for the orange cake into a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until combined, being careful not to overmix. Divide the mixture between two of the prepared cake tins, level off with the back of a spoon. Repeat with the ingredients for the rose cake.
Bake all of the cakes in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and sprining back. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Make the butter cream by beating all of the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
To create the cake, place a rose cake layer on a plate or cake board. Use a small of buttercream on the underside to hold it in place. Spread 3 TBS of butter cream over the top and cover with an orange layer. Repeat until all four layers are used and stacked alternately on top of each other. (rose, orange, rose, orange) Reserve 2 TBS of the buttercream for later and then crumbcoat the cake with the remaining buttercream.
Knead the ready to roll marzipan into a smooth ball and then roll it out on an icing sugar dusted surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Gently lift the marzipan and cover the cake, smoothing all around as you go. Trim off any excess with a pizza cutter or a sharp knife.
Using a 12 cm (4.72 inches) round cutter as a quide, cut out a circle of greaseproof paper and place this on the center of the cake. This will help to keep the icig from sticking to the marzipan when you come to roll it out.
Colour 100g of the Dr Oetker ready to roll icing (1/7 of it) with some orange gel and roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Using the same cutter as above, cut out a circle of the orange icing and place this over the circle of grease proof paper. Retain any off cuts of the icing for later. Wrap them in cling film to keep from drying out.
Colour the remaining Dr Oetker ready to roll icing with pink color gel. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick.
Brush the cake with warmed apricot glaze to help the icing to adhere. Carefully life the pink icing and cover the cake, smoothing and trimming as above. You should be able to see the outline of the circle of orange icing under the pink. Using a very sharp knife, or craft knife, cut a large cross through the center of the two layers of icing to the outer edge of the orange layer. Then divide each segment again so that you have eight segments. Using the tip of a knife, lift and peel back the segments. Use the tip of the knife to lift and pull out the layer of paper that should now be exposed.
Add butter cream to stick on the Dr Oetker sugar butterflies. Serve with a ribbon garnish.
