Renée's Birthday Cake for Mom

This is the chocolate and custard cake Renée made for her mom on her birthday.


The cakes were made the night before, and now it's time to put together the chocolate icing and custard filling.


Mmmmm melted chocolate! (for the frosting)


After leveling the tops of the layers by slicing off the tops, Renée places the the first layer on parchment paper that she's cut into triangles. The triangles are arranged in a star so they can be easily pulled out later. She covers the cake with a very thin layer of apricot preserves (which she's pushed through a mesh strainer) to create a seal between the exposed cake and the custard she's about to pour on top of it. This keeps the cake from getting soggy and also has such a mild flavor that most people won't notice it's presence.


Not only did she get cherries, she got cherries that were already soaking in chocolate. Renée cut off the very bottoms of the cherries so they'd sit on the cake better without rolling over (since the icing is so thin and won't hold them up).


Notice the way the frosting is pooling around the bottom of the cake. When Renée pulls out those paper triangles, we'll be able to remove that and make the cake look perfect around the bottom.


Check out that nice thick layer of custard! It was delicious!


Holy Crap! Look at all those dishes! But more importantly, check out that Hot Lil Pepper mug!! That's so totally awesome! (I made it, you can get one too if you want.)

I'm glad I was visiting when she made this one!
~Danny