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Surprise centre cakes and tall cakes rule the market
This festive season cakes are making a special appearance in different shapes and sizes. Here’s a look at what’s in trend
Come festivities, mithai and milk-based sweets take the front seat. But, this year, festive cakes made a splash. From rabdi and gulab jamun flavours, to fault line and massive cakes, there’s much that went down (our throats).
Cake trends
Trends in the cake industry change on a regular basis and the current trend is of fault line cakes. Manish Khanna, founder and partner, Noir and Brownie Point, says, “A tall cake is made and with icing and a fault line is created across the sides, with fillings of either candy, printed matter or gems in the centre, and the edges are laced with gold leaf or paint. With the internet brimming with options, people are keeping up with trends and the minute a new one starts somewhere in the world, we, in India, are ready with our versions of it.”
Rachel Goenka, who has her book Rachel Goenka’s Adventures with Mithai, says, “Some of my favourites from my first book, Adventures with Mithai are the Gajar ka halwa cake with cream cheese frosting, Red velvet cake with Srikhand frosting and Chai, brown butter and rose cake.”
Namrataa Kripallani, founder, Forennte Patisserie, shares that tall cakes are definitely in this season. “Clients are loving customised tall cakes topped with French macarons, chocolate shards and fresh flowers. A touch of gold and glitter is the trend of this festive season.”
Coming to the festive surprise, Jordan Colaco, head chef, Cinco, says. “The cake trends for the season are more innovative with lots of flavours brought together. For Diwali, it was rasmalai cake with pista and saffron mousse, for October fest, we have maple bacon cheesecake.”
Selva, executive pastry chef, The Westin, says, “This festive season there are nut filled cakes and ones with Indian flavoured spices. Special cakes focus more on flavours and nuts. Decide the flavour and nuts that compliment your cake and play around to bake a perfect treat this season.”
Flavours of the season
Bunty Mahajan from Deliciae is of the opinion that custom cakes have been a long standing member of the cake family. She says, “Often made in sync with a theme, people choose to incorporate fashion, music, hobbies, games and anything else you can think of. For the grandeur that tall cakes carry with them, these are a preferred options for weddings and engagements.”
Chef Amal Farooque, SugarOverDose adds, “Tall cakes add a lot of character to the look and flavors of cake. It helps to showcase the fillings, textures of a cake and yet add to the look & feel of the cake. While having an extravagant appeal to it.”
Sandhya Seshadri of L’eclair Studio adds, “In the recent times chefs have started experimenting with flavours that go well with chocolate such as passion fruit, raspberry and tahini. Another upcoming flavour is ispahan, a combination of rose, lychee and raspberry. To keep up with the everchanging trends, they also often experiment with different flavours such as avocado flavoured cakes, olive oil infused cakes, vegan cakes, keto and paleo friendly, etc.”
Dramatic cakes
Chocolates molded into the shape of crackers like sparklers, rassi bombs, anar, laxmi bomb, ladi bomb etc. Khanna says, “For the quintessential card player during Diwali, we have chocolate molded in the form of playing cards, poker chips and currency. Apart from these, we have the roasted almond stuffed dates coated with chocolate cones and blueberry jam, honey nut crunch cake, the bonbon chocolates with soft centres, also replacing photos with currency and doing the currency pull cakes for a fun evening. Doing the same even in a giant cupcake.”
Rachel Goenka, The Chocolate Spoon Company, “We also have explosive cakes which is a surprise in its itself and a favourite for every season. They come in two variants - Chocolate and Rainbow. “
Recipes
1. Chocolate Ganache Cake:
Ingredients: Ganache: 3/4 lb bittersweet chocolate (min. 54% cocoa mass; approx. 3 cups), 3/4 cup heavy cream (min. 33% milk fat), 140 gm unsalted butter (soft)
Cake: 2 1/4 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1 cup cocoa powder, 3 large eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 10 tbsp vegetable oil (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons), 1 1/4 cups whole milk, 1 1/4 cups strong coffee, 1 1/4 tsp salt, 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Method: Ganache: Cut the butter into small pieces and let soften at room temperature. Next, chop the chocolate into small pieces. Heat the cream over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a gentle boil, pour it over the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Whisk until you reach a smooth consistency. Add the soft butter, whisk, cover and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 350° F (175°C) and prepare two 9″ -inch non-stick cake pans. If not using non-stick pans, spray first with non-stick cooking spray.
Cake: In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together. Whisk until everything is evenly combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and oil together. Then add the milk and cooled coffee and whisk until blended.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk well, making sure everything is evenly combined. Divide the batter between the 2 baking pans and place immediately into the oven. Bake for approximately 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and place onto a cooling rack for about 10 to 15 minutes. Flip the cakes onto a cooling rack, peel off the parchment and let completely cool before icing.
To assemble the cake, whisk the ganache. Keep 3 tablespoons of ganache aside. If your cakes have a dome shape, slice a bit off the top to even them out. Using an offset spatula, begin icing the cake by placing a large dollop of ganache in the center and spread it around evenly. Carefully place the second cake on top, crumb-side down. Ice the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache and keep to set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Once the cake is set, melt the ganache kept aside and pour it on top of the cake and spread it evenly. Let it drip on the sides. The cake not can be topped up with Chocolate shards and orchids. A little gold can be sprayed along with some gold glitter to go with the festive season.
By Namrataa Kripallani, founder, Forennte Patisserie
2. Rabdi mousse cake with hazelnut ladoo
Ingredients: 250gm rabdi, 10gm agar agar, 200gm whipped cream, 1gm saffron, 100gm nutella, 50gm chocolate sponge, 25gm milk chocolate, 50gm desiccated coconut, 10 gm cream
Method: Mix rabdi and agar-agar powder together, add cream and saffron to the mix and set it in a mould. Warm cream and add the chocolate and Nutella to the cream mix together gently, once cold add chocolate sponge and desiccated coconut and make it in the form of ladoo
By Jordan Colaco, head chef, Cinco.
