Tea, Cake, the Whole Shebang!

Disney Classic # 42 - Treasure Planet

I came up with the idea for this cake back in 2010 when steampunk had a new wave of popularity in the UK. It was everywhere! I was thinking about cakes and treats I could bake for the Disney movies which came out in the 2000's which I am less familiar with, and it hit me that not only the design, but also the principle of Treasure Planet had a steampunk vibe. A Victorian tale animated with a sci-fi spin - heck, even Cap'n Long John Silver is a cyborg! Originally I had planned to make cupcakes decorated with cogs and gears, but unfortunately my cogs and gears turned out sub-standard so I decided to try to make a compass to decorate a large cake instead. Not as "steampunk" as I would have liked... but it does tie in with the movie!!

I decided to make the cake chocolate orange, as the flavour was suggested a few weeks back as alternative to the strawberry cupcakes I made for Atlantis, and I thought it would be both yummy, and the brown cake/frosting would suit the theme. I sort of made the cake recipe up as I went along, but used this recipe for the icing.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Makes 12 slices

Ingredients:

For the cake:
200g margarine
200g caster sugar
200g self raising flour
2 medium eggs
rind and juice of one orange
2tbsp cocoa powder
75g dark chocolate, melted

For the frosting:
120 ml milk
2 tbsp plain flour
pinch of salt
120g dark chocolate
100g butter
150g icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract


For the decoration:
White chocolate stars
Modelling paste
Bronze and silver lustre dust
Vanilla extract
Edible glue

Note: The compass decoration can be made a couple of days in advance to save on time, and needs to be made at least one day in advance to allow it time to dry.

1. To make the compass decoration: roll out the modelling paste to the desired thickness. Cut two rounds out and press into the rounds of a bun tray to set, these will form the outer casing of the compass. Mould a round insert to fit inside this parts. Cut out two crosses and a "pointer". Mix the lustre dust with a little vanilla extract to make a paint. Paint the outer casing and the pointer bronze, and paint the arrows silver. Leave everything to dry for a few hours then use the edible glue to stick everything together.
2. To make the cake: Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and grease and line a cake tin.
3. Beat the margarine and sugar together in a large bowl until creamy. Mix in roughly half of the flour until just combined, then beat in one of the eggs. Repeat with the remaining flour and eggs until a smooth mixture has formed.
4. Grate the orange zest into the mixture and then fold in the orange juice until a pale and creamy mixture has formed.
5. Add the melted dark chocolate and the cocoa powder to the mixture and beat until fully combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth with the back of a spoon until level. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes - 1 hour, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Allow the cake to rest in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
7. Once cooled, make the frosting. In a small saucepan over a medium heat, whisk the milk, flour and salt until the mixture thickens. Place this into a small bowl to cool.
8. Melt the chocolate and place to one side to cool.
9. Grate the butter into a large bowl, then add the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Beat with an electric mixer on a low speed for 1-2 minutes, than add the milk mixture, followed by the cooled, melted chocolate. Continue to whisk for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy.
10. Spread the frosting over the cake than sprinkle the white chocolate stars over the top. Place the compass decoration in the middle of the cake, cut into slices and enjoy!

Next time we're watching Brother Bear, and I'll be decorating a chocolate cake based on images in the movie.

Happy Thoughts
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