Recipe: Vanilla peach fuzz ombré cake
A Garden Day celebration wouldn’t be complete without something sweet. So why not bake a delicious garden-inspired cake?
Local chef Mynhardt Joubert, from Mynhardt Cathedral Cellar Kitchen in Paarl in the Cape Winelands, shares his recipes for showstopping cakes that are sure to impress your guests with their beautiful decoration and incredible flavours.
This cake makes enough for eight to ten people. Also, check out chef Mynhardt’s recipes for a poppyseed cake with beetroot icing and carrot cake.
Vanilla peach fuzz ombré cake
Photo: Adel Ferreira
Prep time: 45 minutes
Baking time: 25 min
Oven temperature: 160 °C
Basic vanilla sponge
Ingredients:
225 g butter
180 g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla paste or vanilla essence
250 g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
½ teaspoon of salt
100 ml full cream milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 160 °C.
Grease three 18 cm tins with butter and line with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl with a hand or stand mixer.
Start adding the eggs one by one and whip until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla paste.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and fold gently into the batter with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure to keep the airiness of the batter.
Pour in the milk and gently fold in until well combined.
Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until lightly golden brown and a tester skewer comes out clean. Let it cool.
Buttercream icing
Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or paste
2 tablespoons milk
3 drops food colouring
Method:
Whip the butter for at least 6 to 8 minutes until it becomes a pale white colour – this is essential.
Whip in the sugar for another 4 to 5 minutes, then add the vanilla paste.
While whipping, slowly start adding the milk.
Divide the frosting into three bowls. Leaving one batch white and colour the other two-thirds with a few drops of food colouring – one lighter and the other darker – to attain the desired colours for the ombré effect.
White chocolate cream cheese frosting
Ingredients:
250 g of cream cheese
100 g of crème fraîche
200 g of good-quality white chocolate
Method:
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until just soft, taking care not to overheat.
Whip the cream cheese and crème fraîche together and slowly start adding the melted chocolate.
Spoon into a piping bag.
Photo: Adel Ferreira
Peach compote
Ingredients:
500 g of fresh peaches sliced and chopped
100 g of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
Method:
Place 250 g of the peaches and the sugar into a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove and puree in a food processor or with a stick blender.
Return the puree to the pot and add the remaining 250 g of peaches to the pot. Gently warm the peaches then add the cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water.
Let it thicken, remove, and let it cool down completely.
Assembling the cake:
Start by placing the first sponge onto your cake stand. Pipe a third of the cream cheese frosting onto the sponge, starting in the middle and working your way out. Make a ridge on the outer rim to contain the peach compote
Spoon a generous amount of the peach compote into the centre. Place the second sponge on top and repeat the first step with the second sponge.
Place the third sponge on top and press down onto the cake to make sure that it is sturdy and in its correct place.
Cover the cake with the white buttercream icing using a pallet knife.
Start with the darker buttercream icing and decorate the first bottom third of the cake, repeat with the second lighter-coloured frosting for the second third of the cake.
Using your pallet knife dipped into hot water, start turning the cake and smoothing the layers into each other to create the ombré effect.
Decorate with small meringues and fresh flowers.
Celebrate with us!
Celebrate Garden Day with us on Sunday 20 October! For food, decor and party ideas and inspiration, visit our blog and check out our social media. Want to join an event, enter a competition or bag a promo? Visit our Events page.
Share your celebration with us @gardendaysa and tag #GardenDaySA.