Dinoland Mango n Peaches Cake

Dinosaur theme for birthdays never go out of fashion and is surprisingly popular with little boys. Presenting my Dinoland macaron scene on top of a mango and peaches fresh cream chiffon cake! 

I learnt something new from a baker on Instagram (account is flourhour_afterdark) that you can pipe macaron batter on silicone cupcake cases. I am not a stranger to piping macaron batter on silicone hemisphere mould trays but have not tried cupcake cases before. It was surprisingly easy to pipe on and easier to unmould than the tray types! I used the swiss meringue method recipe for the macarons. I created the volcano and tree foliage using silicone cupcake cases. 

I achieved the height of the volcano by piping on stacked cases. A little wiggling with a toothpick is enough to dislodge the silicone case from the baked shell. 

Freshly baked shells! 

The lava on the volcano was added on post-baking with royal icing. The dinos were decorated with royal icing and edible markers. 

Putting it all together! The volcano is filled with crunchy chocolate balls (store bought) and dark chocolate ganache. The rest of the macarons are filled with dark chocolate ganache. 

I made the vanilla chiffon sponge using my default recipe. 

Freshly baked vanilla chiffon cake! 

I used a mix of stabilized dairy cream and non-dairy cream to get a good balance of stability and taste. 

Recipe for cream

Ingredients:

100g + 100g heavy cream

2 gelatin sheets, bloomed in ice water

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g whip topping (non-dairy cream) 

Steps:

1. Heat 100g of heavy cream until about 40C. 

2. Add bloomed gelatin and vanilla. Whisk until gelatin is melted. 

3. Add 100g cold whipping cream and whisk until well combined. 

4. Press cling wrap on surface of the cream and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

5. When ready to assemble, whip non-dairy cream till stiff peaks. Whip chilled dairy cream until stiff peaks as shown below. 

6. Fold dairy cream into non-dairy cream and transfer into piping bag with a hole cut for assembly. 

To assemble, the sponge was sliced horizontally into 3 pieces. Between the sponge layers was the cream, mangoes and canned peaches and some homemade mango yuzu compote. Use an acetate sheet to hold the layers together during assembly. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight before removing the acetate sheet. 

I love the clean and fresh look! 

Thank God it was a well-received bake! 

With love,

Phay Shing