Summer Fruit Cake

I haven't made layered cakes in such a long time! There has just been not much opportunities or reasons for me to make one. That's why I'm so glad when Sylvia called for a birthday cake. :) It was also a very fun process thinking through the many different kinds of cakes that could be made: rich chocolate torte, strawberry shortcake, mango mousse cake, blueberry and mango mousse cake, mocha cake, plain vanilla cake, mango cream cake, etc... The options are endless! Sylvia finally decided on a fruit cake. Now, this is not the western fruit cake where you mix in raisins and other kinds of dried fruits in the cake batter. This is more of the fruit cake you would find in an Asian bakery.

The cake itself is made of 2 layers of vanilla sponge cake moistened with some mango compote. I wanted a good mix of fruits that have different vibrant colors as the filling, so I picked some fresh strawberries (they are in season!), mangoes, mandarin oranges, green grapes, and blackberries. I then frosted the whole cake with Chantilly cream. Sylvia had requested for the cake to not be too sweet - so I cut down on the amount of sugar for the cake and for the cream as well. :)

The most dreading part about making layered cakes for me is the decorating part. I think that this is the only dreading part about baking. If you know me back when I was in grade school and even secondary school, I am not a very creative person. If you see my report card, the bad grades would be in art and PE. Thankfully, I have a creative director next to me when I was making the cake. :p Alvin helped in arranging the fruits on the cake so that it doesn't look too heavy and the cake looks balanced. This creative director also happens to be extremely talented at dish washing. :p Thanks, Alvin! :)

I also learnt a new tip in preparing my cake for frosting: to stack the cake inside a 3" cake pan lined with plastic wrap. You can follow the instructions from Cake Journal here. I works great for me! :)

Well, the cake will be picked up tonight. I'm crossing my fingers hoping that they'll like it. :)