Baking With Ro: Moon Cake!

It feels like it's been forever since I dove into the Nerdy Nummies cookbook. There's still so many amazing creations in here that I'm dying to make, as well as what's on Ro's YouTube channel. 

This past weekend was crazy busy with two birthdays in my family. Every year I love making some kind of cake for my Dad (my brother doesn't like icing, so I bake him brownies instead.) This year I thought it would be fun to put a theme to it and make a moon cake! My Dad is obsessed with anything space related and we are going to be seeing the new Star Wars film, Rogue One. Perfect!

This cake is very simple; it's essentially a vanilla white cake that is baked in a bowl instead of a tin. I used the recipe given by Ro in her book. The measurement conversion is always tricky, but it turned out really well.

Ingredients: 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder 

1/8 tsp salt

1 stick salted butter, at room temp

1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening

 1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

5 large egg whites

3/4 cup whole milk

Note: I didn't have any shortening, so I just added slightly more butter and it worked fine.

Preheat oven to 350*F or 175*C

Grease an oven-proof glass bowl with butter or cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the bowl aside. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter and shortening with an electric mixer until it has softened. Add the sugar and beat until it's light and fluffy, scraping down the side of the bowl as you go (about 3-5 minutes.)

Beat in both of the extracts. Add the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each. 

On a slow speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. The mixture will be thick once mixed together. 

Pour into the prepared bowl and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the oven for fifteen minutes, then drop the temperature slightly and slow-bake it for another 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Leave to cool them remove from the bowl carefully. Level the top with a knife if needed, then place flat side down on a cake board or large plate. 

Place the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill and to stop the surface from crumbling as you decorate. 

For the craters, use a small ice cream scoop to make holes in the surface. 

Using whichever buttercream frosting you like, mix in a little black food coloring until you get the desired grey. Make sure to mix it well, so that the color has blended evenly. 

Spread the icing over the cake and level it out using a spatula. I used a spoon to help spread the icing in the craters. 

Hint: If you aren't happy with the texture, simply chill the the cake in the fridge for thirty minutes and try again with another layer. Or have a tall glass with hot water to dip your spatula into to help get a smooth texture and get rid of excess icing. 

Feel free to add any other space-themed decorations on top. And it's done! 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and it was super-easy to make. 

Make sure you check out Ro's book and her YouTube channel for more ideas like this one. You'll be baking like a pro in no time. 

What do you think of the cake?

Steph x.