Caked out

Lots of cakes, though have been very slack in posting...

So here you go... all in one fell swoop... :)

So what do we have here... Lots of birthday cakes mainly... all with similar makeup, though all different flavours... Firstly Kal's cake... filled with raspberry and amaretto cream... a nutty roulade surround and topped with fresh berries and funky homemade chocolate decorations...

And this one. A special commision for S... A banoffee-chocolate-rum gateau... :) This one was a bit different, instead of just sponge layering through the cake, I changed the texture of this one a bit. It has a crunchy caramelised biscuit base dotted with pecans... then a filling of luscious rum cream, fresh bananas and caramel... the second layer was a plain chocolate cream peppered with fresh raspberries. Topped with raspberry cream filled profiteroles encased by crunchy caramel and the cake itself finished with an elegant chocolate surround.

So what else do we have... let's see....Well this one. I was a bit undecided about this one. The filling was a lychee and strawberry filling. The fruity lychee mousse was very refreshing, though I am just not too keen the texture of the lychee mousse... maybe the puree needs to be finer next time? Though it did make for a very spring flavoured treat!

So last, but by no means least... this retro looking number. Topped with butterscotch cream fill profiteroles and fresh strawberries, hides a butterscotch pear surprise ! There were a number of steps to this seemingly simple cake... and it gave me trouble! One of the layers of sponge was supposedly a hazelnut dacquoise, though whilst I was busy getting on with my vanilla poached pears, I may have forgotten that they were in the oven. I think I need another timer ! :P

Luckily, the rest of it behaved itself. So, sandwiched in between the vanilla sponge was a creamy butterscotch mousse, then the troublesome dacquoise, followed by the poached pear purée mousse, with some of the poached pears roughly chopped into the mix. Finished with smashed up praline of toasted pistachios, pecans and hazelnuts... Pure indulgence...