Lychee Rose Cake
Say ‘I love you Mum’ by surprising her with a homemade Lychee Rose Cake this Mother’s Day! After all, she’s always been the one feeding us. This pretty-in-pink cake contains two layers of moist lychee butter cake studded with sweet, juicy lychee pieces, whose delicate floral notes are paired perfectly with a light rose-scented Italian buttercream.
* Contest with Tecno * [Update: Contest ended on 13th May 2018, Mother’s Day]
For this Mother’s Day, our partners at Tecno are giving away a Tecno Steam Oven with Grill (worth $699) for one very lucky winner to pamper mummy dearest with! With the functions to defrost, steam and grill, this will be a all-in-one that works for any household.
All you have to do to win is to share with us in the comment box, what you will be cooking for your mum with this Mother’s Day; let it come from your heart!
Ingredients
(Makes one 8” round cake)
Servings: 8 pax | Cooking Time: 2 hours
Lychee Butter Cake:
- 1 can (454g) lychee in syrup
- 240g cake flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 240g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 180g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Rose Buttercream:
- 4 egg whites
- 90g sugar
- 90ml water
- 180g sugar
- 420g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon rose water
- 1-2 drops pink gel food colouring
Method
- Strain lychees and set aside the syrup.
- Cut lychees into small quarters and dry between paper towels.
- Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Then beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and then fold into creamed butter mixture, alternating with ½ cup of reserved lychee syrup.
- Fold half of the prepared lychees into batter
- Portion batter into two greased and lined 8″ round baking pans.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 340°F/170°C for 30 minutes or until skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove cakes from oven and set aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make rose buttercream by placing 180g sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Whisk egg whites in stand mixer on medium speed, gradually adding 90g sugar until stiff peaks form.
- When the temperature of the boiling sugar reaches 116°C, remove the pot from heat and pour the sugar syrup in a slow steady stream into the mixer while it is running on high.
- Continue whisking the meringue until it is cooled to room temperature.
- Add soft butter cubes a bit at a time into the meringue and whip until buttercream is formed.
- Add in pink gel food colour and rosewater.
- Assemble the cake by removing cake from tin. Trim the top of the cakes to get even layers.
- Place one cake layer on a cake board. Brush on remaining lychee syrup.
- Spread a thin layer of buttercream, top with remaining lychees and then spread another thin layer of buttercream.
- Place the other layer of cake on top, brush with reserved lychee syrup and cover the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream.
- Using piping bag with a closed star tip (Wilton 1M), pipe rosettes all around the cake.
- Chill to set, then serve.
