January 2020 Entries

This chocolate cake was an absolute dream to make! Thank you kindly for such a great and easy recipe! I made this for Lunar New Year, and I'm sure you've brought us good fortune (and deliciousness, no doubt!). For the recipe, I didn't substitute or alter anything except for adding filling and a creamier frosting - the filling had toasted coconut and strawberries I chopped up, threw into a container with a split and scraped vanilla bean, and covered in some caster sugar. That concoction hung out in my fridge overnight, then I layered the chocolate cake, cream cheese buttercream, strawberry pieces, and sprinkled with toasted coconut. I continued layered these til done, then covered with the cream cheese buttercream. The rich chocolate cake pairs superbly with the slight tartness of the strawberries, the coconut adding nuttiness and textural contrast. Decorations were flowers from my parents yard (washed first, of course!), whole strawberries, melted chocolate that I cut out into large and smalll circles while solidifying, and painted them with either pollen or gold dust (the gold and red from the berries symbolise good luck for Chinese New Year!). The swirls on top are strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream, I used it for some colour variation, but more so to help to support the little moons and flowers! Much like how true friends and family support each other, stick together, and build one another up. I call her the Summer Luna Cake. To me, this cake symbolises the richness, beauty, and unbridled joy that good food with our loved ones brings. To celebrating every moment in our circle of life!!