You’re Number One by Viktorija Siskova Make a

You’re Number One

Seen the trending number cakes and ever wondered how to make one? Follow this step-by-step guide on how to make a delicious and beautiful pink birthday cake fit for any princess's party. There is no doubt this number cake will be the number one cake for your little princess and amongst your guests.

EDIBLES

MACARON SHELLS Almond Paste

Fine, dry almond flour: 195g (63/4oz) Silver Spoon Royal Icing Sugar: 150g (51/4oz) Fresh egg whites: 62g (21/8oz), at room temperature SK Paste Food Colour: Pink WHITE CHOCOLATE VANILLA CHEESECAKE FILLING

SK Belgian Couverture Chocolate: 450g (1lb) White Chocolate Whipping cream 36% fat: 330g (115/8oz) Liquid glucose: 26g (7/8oz), optional Mascarpone cheese: 510g (1lb 21/8oz) Vanilla bean paste: 12g (3/8oz)

STRAWBERRY CONFITURE

Italian Meringue

Fresh egg whites: 62g (21/8oz), at room temperature SK Essentials Pure Albumen: 2g (1/16oz) Silver Spoon caster sugar: 170g (6oz) Still water: 42g (11/2oz)

HONEY DOUGH BISCUIT CAKE

Egg: 1 large Silver Spoon Caster Sugar: 96g (33/8oz) Raw wild forest honey: 50g (13/4oz) Unsalted butter with 82.5% fat: 65g (21/4oz) Superior grade wheat flour, plain white: 240g (81/2oz) Bicarbonate of soda: 0.6g (<1/16tsp) White vinegar: 10g (1/4oz) Salt: a pinch Strawberry puree: 200g (7oz) Caster sugar: 30g (1oz) Fruit pectin NH: 4g (<1/4oz) Citric acid crystals: 1.2g (1/8tsp)

DECORATION

SK Meringue Mix: 250g (83/4oz) Vanilla SK Paste Food Colours: Pink and Yellow SK Edible Wafer Paper (White) Rainbow Dust Double-Sided Edible Food Pen: Black SK Pastelz Dust Food Colour: Pink SK Designer Metallic Lustre Dusts: Classic Gold and Gold Sparkles Clear alcohol, i.e. vodka or gin SK HD Sugar Modelling Paste: 150g (51/4oz) White SK Essentials Edible Glue Pink pearl sugar sprinkles: small and medium Mini marshmallows: 20

The Italian macaron shells recipe makes a batch of approximately 60 shells, equating to 30 sandwiched macarons.

The cheesecake filling and confiture are enough for the biscuit cake and for 8–10 sandwiched macarons.

EQUIPMENT

Silicone macaron baking mats: 3 Aluminium, heavy-duty baking trays: 3 Templates: page 86 Parchment paper Piping bags: 6 large Wilton Round Piping Tips: nos. 12 and 2A Wilton Open Star Piping Tips: nos. 8B and 1M PME JEM Round Piping Tip: no. 3R Fine sieve Mixing bowls: 2 large and 2 small Cocktail stick Ceramic bowls or containers: 3 Airtight container Foldback clips Cling film Silicone spatulas Stainless steel ball whisks: 3 Saucepans: 2 small and 3 large Stand mixer Electric mixer CND Digital Candy Thermometer Eventek Non-Conduct Digital LCD Infrared Thermometer CND Multi-Mount Oven Thermometer SK High-Quality Paintbrushes: nos. 4, 6 and 8 Hand blender Non-stick rolling pins: small and large Round pastry cutter: 5.5cm (21/4") Acrylic cakesicle stick

A

B

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D

PREPARING TO MAKE THE MACARONS

1Place the macaron mats on individual baking trays. If your mats don’t have piping guides, you can trace the circle template onto pieces of parchment paper and lay one underneath each mat.

TO P T I P

You can use laminated Teflon sheets if you don’t have silicone macaron mats.

2Cut off the tip of a piping bag and drop in a no. 12 piping nozzle. Twist the end of the bag with the nozzle and push it down into the tip itself – this will form a dead end and keep the batter from oozing out when you fill the bag (A).

3Place the bag nozzle-first into a tall cup, then fold the wide end of the bag over the rim and set aside. This will make it easy to fill the bag later.

MAKING THE MACARON SHELLS

Almond Paste

1Sieve the almond flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and discard any large pieces of almond remaining in the sieve. Make sure you have the exact amount of each ingredient.

2Add the fresh egg whites into your sugar and almond mixture, along with a little Pink paste food colour. Take a silicone spatula and start mixing all the ingredients together – it may seem dry at first but keep mixing and eventually everything will come together. You want to end up with a pink paste, so add the food colour gradually and use sparingly until you get the desired shade (B). Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside.

Italian Meringue

1Add the water and caster sugar into a small saucepan and carefully mix the ingredients together with a teaspoon. Attach a digital candy thermometer to the saucepan (it should be touching the bottom of the pot) and then place the saucepan on the hob. Don’t turn the heat on yet!

TO P T I P

You can use a foldback paper clip to attach a digital candy thermometer to your saucepan.

2Add the fresh egg whites into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the albumen (egg white) powder and gently mix with a fork or a small whisk. There will be some clumps but they will dissolve later.

3Turn the hob on a medium temperature and allow the watersugar mixture to simmer. By the time it reaches 110˚C (230˚F), turn on your stand mixer to a medium speed.

4Watch your egg whites and your sugar syrup closely. You only want the egg whites to get foamy; there should not be any liquid left. And don’t take them to soft peaks! Your sugar syrup is only going to get to 118˚C (244.4˚F). If your egg whites are ready before your sugar syrup, just turn the mixer down low or turn it off completely.

5Once your sugar syrup reaches 118˚C (244.4˚F), remove the digital candy thermometer, start your stand mixer if you stopped it, and slowly pour the sugar syrup into the foamy egg whites. As soon as all the sugar syrup is added, set your timer to five minutes and keep the same speed. Make sure it is cool in your kitchen! The meringue should cool down to 28˚C – 32˚C (82.4˚F – 89.6˚F) within this set time – use your non-contact thermometer

You can easily change the colou r of you r macarons i f the cake theme is di fferent!

to check the temperature. Your meringue should be stiff but elastic; the tip should be slightly falling down (C).

6Add half of the Italian meringue into the bowl with your almond paste. Gently fold it in until both parts are well combined and you don’t see any white streaks.

7Add the rest of your meringue and start gently folding in circular motions without lifting the spatula. Scrape the batter from the bottom up from time to time, making sure all the batter gets folded well. Do not deflate the batter! It should end up being fluffy, voluminous and should slowly fall down the spatula (D).

Piping The Shells

1Pour all the batter gently into the piping bag you prepared earlier.

2Preheat the oven to 150˚C (300˚F/ Gas Mark 2). Place the oven thermometer on the middle rack closer to the back of the oven and leave it in there for 15–25 minutes. Keep an eye on the thermometer; the temperature inside your oven should be 150˚C (300˚F/Gas Mark 2).

3Take the first baking tray and, using the guides, pipe circles onto the first prepared mat. Holding the bag vertically, gently squeeze the batter out until it fills the circle, then release the pressure and lift the bag up with a quick circular motion. Move to the next circle and repeat for the rest of the tray (E). Make sure to apply equal pressure on all sides of the bag so it dispenses the same amount of batter at the same time.

4Once you have piped your first batch, bang the tray down four to six times on your worktop laid with a kitchen towel. If you can see air bubbles, pop them with a cocktail stick. Leave the rest of the batter in the piping bag. Twist the end of the bag to lock the batter and place it in a cup with the nozzle upwards, then set it aside in a cool place. 5 Depending on your climate and humidity, the drying time may vary. Leave this batch to rest for 12–15 minutes at least. Gently touch the top of the shells and, if they do not stick to your finger, they are ready to be baked. If they are still sticky, leave the shells to dry for an extra five minutes. E

6Once the oven temperature is 150˚C (300˚F/Gas Mark 2), quickly and carefully remove the thermometer from the oven and place the tray on the middle rack. Set the timer for 18 minutes.

7Whist the first batch is baking, take the same piping bag of batter and repeat steps 3–5 to pipe the shells onto the second tray. Leave the shells to dry until the batter does not stick to your finger.

8By the time your first batch is baked, the second batch should be ready for baking. If you touch the side of a cooked shell and it does not wiggle, the macarons have baked well and are ready. Remove the tray from the oven and let the shells cool completely before attempting to remove them from the mat. The shells should come off easily, but you can bend the mat away from the shell to help them come off easier.

9Making sure the oven is at 150˚C (300˚F/Gas Mark 2), repeat step 6 to bake the second batch. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the shells to cool completely. Remove the cooled shells from the mat and set aside.

10 If you are using smaller trays then you’ll have some batter left. Take the final tray and repeat steps 3–5 to pipe the rest of your batter in circles onto a third mat. Repeat step 6 and bake the last batch of circle shells. Once baked, remove the tray from the oven and allow the shells to cool completely, before removing from the mat and setting them aside.

TO P T I P

You will only need 6–10 macarons as decoration for this project. The spare shells you will end up baking can be filled with any desired filling and enjoyed by themselves!

F

11 Match up all the respective shells (F) and place them in an airtight container until your filling is ready.

MAKING THE MERINGUES

1Preheat your oven to 70˚C (158˚F). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the circle template underneath it. With this, it’s best to secure the paper onto the tray using foldback clips.

2Cut off the tip of two piping bags and drop the no. 1M and no. 8B nozzles into the individual bags. Twist and form a dead end for each bag, then place it nozzle-first into separate cups and set aside.

3Mix up the meringue according to the instructions on the packet. Beat in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment at a medium-high speed for 5–6 minutes until it's fluffy, glossy and holds a stiff peak.

4Divide the meringue into two equal parts – leave one part plain white and spoon this into the piping bag fitted with the no. 8B nozzle. For the other part of meringue, take a cocktail stick and add a little Pink paste food colour. Gently mix the colour into the meringue until there are no streaks of colour. Spoon this into the piping bag fitted with the no. 1M nozzle (G).

5Take the baking tray and, using the circle guides, pipe some pink rosettes using the no. 1M nozzle (H). Next, some pipe white meringue kisses onto the tray using the no. 8B nozzle (I).

6Bake the meringues for 11/2 hours. Once baked, remove the tray from the oven and allow the meringues to cool completely before carefully peeling them off the paper.

TO P T I P

Liquid is the enemy of a stable meringue, so be sure not to use too much paste food colour. Too much liquid will break your meringue. Less is more!

MAKING THE BUTTERFLIES

1Trace the butterfly template onto a piece of parchment paper or A4 paper and cut it out.

2Place the template on top of the wafer paper sheet and, using an edible ink pen, trace around the butterfly shape. You will need 8–10 butterflies to decorate your cake (J). Once traced, use scissors to gently cut out your butterflies.

3Take a piece of paper towel and place one butterfly on top. Use a no. 6 paintbrush to dab some Pink pastel dust food colour over the entire butterfly (K). Repeat for all butterflies.

4Use a no. 8 paintbrush and a little Gold Sparkles dust to add some sheen to each of the butterflies (L).

5Mix equal parts of Classic Gold and Gold Sparkles dusts with a little clear alcohol to make a paint. You’ll be using this throughout the project so keep any leftover paint until finished.

TO P T I P

If you would rather not use alcohol to make the paint, you can use the same amount of lemon juice or vinegar instead.

6Take a no. 4 paintbrush and go along the entire edge of one butterfly with the paint to add a golden trim. Paint a line vertically down the centre of the butterfly and fold it gently (M). Set aside to dry. Repeat with the remaining butterflies. 3 Trace the crown template onto a piece of paper and cut it out. Roll out your pink modelling paste to a 4mm (3/16") thickness and use the template and a craft knife to cut out a crown (P). Carefully trim and tidy up any edges that are jagged. Use the craft knife and cut out diamond shapes from the centre of each pointed top part of the crown. Keep all your offcuts!

MAKING THE CROWN AND STAR WAND

1Knead a little Pink paste food colour into 150g (51/4oz) of White modelling paste until pliable and the colour is well combined. Gradually add a little more food colour to the modelling paste if needed until you reach your desired pink shade.

2To match the paste colour to your macaron shells, it is necessary to neutralise the colour. To do this, add a tiny amount of Yellow paste food colour to the pink modelling paste (N) and knead until completely mixed through. At this point, you will see that the colour of your paste is getting a softer shade. Add a tiny bit more Yellow paste to neutralise the colour further and match to the colour of your shells (O).

TO P T I P

If you see that your modelling paste is drying out, add some coconut oil and knead the paste for a few minutes. You will then have a more pliable and elastic paste that will not crack.

TO P T I P

If you have one, you can use a medium Periwinkle Leaf cutter to evenly cut out the diamond shapes for the crown.

4To set the shape, wrap the crown around a 5.5cm (21/4") round pastry cutter. Dip the clean no. 4 paintbrush into edible glue and wipe off the excess. Paint some glue over the two ends and secure together (Q).

R S T

5Once secure, gently open up the top part of the crown by bending the tips backwards slightly (R). Set the crown aside to dry overnight.

6Once dry, paint a little edible glue over the very tip of each crown section and attach a medium-sized pink sugar pearl to each point (S).

7Glue some small pearl beads around the perimeter of the base of the crown (T). Leave to dry for at least one hour.

8Using the same gold paint that was used for the butterflies, paint the top edges of the crown and inside the diamond shapes (U). Also take some Gold Sparkles dust and brush over the entire crown to add a pretty sheen.

9For the wand, roll out all your pink modelling paste offcuts to a 4mm (3/16") thickness. Trace the star template onto a piece of paper and cut out. Transfer the template to the pink paste and cut out a star using the craft knife.

10 Paint a little edible glue over one end of an acrylic cakesicle stick and secure the pink star on top (V). Leave to dry overnight.

11 Apply a little golden paint along the top edges of the star. To finish, brush some Gold Sparkles dust over the entire star to add a sheen.

U

MAKING THE BISCUIT DOUGH

1Using the template, draw the number ‘1’ shape onto a sheet of parchment paper or A4 paper and cut it out. You can use whatever shape you would like, but keep in mind the size and amount of cookie dough needed, respectively. 2 Prepare three sheets of parchment paper for the dough and set them aside. Preheat your oven to 170˚C (338˚F/ Gas Mark 3).

3To make dough, add the sugar, salt, egg and honey to a large saucepan and mix the ingredients together until well combined. The hob should still be off at this point. Next, add the butter (cut into cubes) and place the pan on the hob. Turn on a low heat and, stirring constantly, whisk until the butter fully melts. Make sure the mixture is not boiling! Once melted, remove the pan from the hob.

4In a small bowl (or ramekin), combine the white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda – the mixture will get foamy. Pour this into the saucepan and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool down to room temperature.

5Once the mixture has cooled down, add half of the sifted flour to the pan and mix with a whisk. Next, add the other

V

W X Y

half of the flour and start kneading the dough by hand (W). It will stick your hands at first but quickly knead into a ball. This dough is very elastic and easy to work with.

6Wrap the dough in cling film (or transfer to a separate bowl sprinkled with some flour) and leave in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight. If you are in a rush, you can work with the dough straight away.

7Once set, sprinkle some flour on a rolling pin and onto the parchment sheets you prepared earlier. Now take a piece of the dough, place it on the paper and roll it out to a 2mm – 4mm (1/16" – 3/16") thickness. Lay the number template on top of the dough and cut around the shape using a sharp knife. Keep all your offcuts! To finish, remove the template and prick over the dough with a fork so it doesn't swell during baking.

8Repeat step 7 another two times to make three cut-out numbers in total. 9 Lay the baking paper and each number ‘1’ on top of separate baking trays and bake for 10–15 minutes until they turn a nice golden colour. Once baked, set aside to completely cool down and remove any excess flour with a pastry brush (X).

10 If you have leftover dough, don't let it go to waste. Using a plunger cutter of any shape and size, cut out and bake some extra cookies to decorate your cake with. Bake until golden brown and then set aside for later.

MAKING THE STRAWBERRY CONFITURE

1Mix the pectin NH and caster sugar together in a small bowl.

2Heat the strawberry puree in a saucepan on a medium heat until it reaches 35˚C – 40˚C (95˚F – 104˚F), but not higher than 45˚C (113˚F). Whisking constantly, gradually drizzle the sugar and pectin mixture into the pan and bring the puree to boil. Simmer for 30 seconds to activate the pectin, stirring constantly.

3Take the pan off the heat and add the citric acid crystals. Mix well and then pour into a separate bowl. Leave the confiture to cool down completely at room temperature or in the fridge.

4Once the mixture has cooled down, it will have set and formed a stable gel-like consistency. Using a silicone spatula, mash up the confiture (Y) and spoon it into a piping bag. There is no need to fit the bag with the nozzle as the tip of the piping bag can just be cut instead. Refrigerate if needed. You can store it for up to two weeks in a fridge.

MAKING THE CHEESECAKE FILLING

1Microwave white chocolate for 30 seconds in a heatproof bowl, then take it out and give the chocolate a stir. Place the bowl back in the microwave and repeat the process for another 30 seconds at a time until the chocolate has completely melted.

2Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the liquid glucose syrup and vanilla bean paste. Heat the cream on a medium heat until it reaches 80˚C – 85˚C (176˚F – 185˚F). Pour it over the melted chocolate and leave it for 30 seconds before stirring with a silicone spatula. Use a hand blender and pulse a few times until well combined.

3Pour your ganache into a large heatproof bowl, cover with cling film and leave to set in the fridge for a few hours.

TO P T I P

You can use any fruit or berry puree to make your confiture – it will go well with this cheesecake ganache recipe.

Z

AA

AB

AC

4Once the ganache has half set (Z), place mascarpone cheese in a large mixing bowl and start beating with an electric mixer on a medium speed. Add the ganache into the cream cheese one spoon at a time, beating until both parts are well combined. Keep beating until you have mixed in all the ganache (AA).

5Split the filling between two new piping bags: one bag fitted with a no. 3R nozzle (to fill the cake) and the other bag fitted with the clean no. 2A nozzle (to fill the macarons).

PIPING THE MACARON FILLING

1Gather together the bags of strawberry confiture and cheesecake filling. Also collect the 12–20 macaron shells you’ll be using to decorate your cake, match them up and place them on a silicone mat or a sheet of parchment paper – one half with the flat side facing down and the other half with the flat side facing up.

2Take one macaron half and pipe the cheesecake filling in a circle around the perimeter of the macaron’s flat side. Next, pipe a little confiture into the empty centre of the circle (AB) before sticking the second half of the shell on top to sandwich them together. Repeat this technique to sandwich all the shells together. Leave the macarons in the fridge in an airtight container to soak up the filling for at least two hours and to chill before decorating the cake.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE

1Gather together your number ‘1’ biscuits and place one centrally on a serving platter. Pipe dotted rows of cheesecake filling over the entire biscuit area to cover the first layer, starting around the perimeter and working your way into the centre. Next, pipe some strawberry confiture in between the small gaps of filling (AC). Place the second star biscuit layer centrally on top and gently press down to adhere. 2 Repeat step 1 two more times. You should end up with three layers of biscuit with the cheesecake filling and confiture in between. The top layer of biscuit should only have the cheesecake filling piped on top. Place the cake into the fridge for at least two hours to let the filling harden or leave in the fridge overnight before serving.

3When you are ready to decorate the cake, gather all your other decorations: the pink meringue rosettes, white meringue kisses, mini marshmallows, pink macarons, wafer butterflies, crown and star wand.

4Sit the cake directly in front of you and begin decorating as desired using the filled macarons (AD). I only used six but you can use all 8–10 if you want.

5Once you have stuck the macarons to the cake, use the rest of your decorations to fill in the gaps, attaching them in the following order: macarons, pink rosettes, white meringue kisses, wafer butterflies and mini marshmallows.

6To finish, add the crown and a star wand around the cake. You can gently lay them on top of the cake or sit them beside the cake as an additional decoration. This biscuit cake is pretty much fool-proof as the decorating possibilities are endless! The cake should be consumed within 72 hours.

AD