Vanilla Bean Birthday Cake

So this month is my favourite month of the year because its my birthday month. So naturally, I give special attention to March babies. 

My Uncle C turns 55 this year and naturally I wanted to make him a cake. So I called up my cousin M and interrogated her on the flavours that he likes. Her only reply was that he likes anything vanilla.

Hmmm.. vanilla eh.. the first thoght that came to my mind was Adriano Zumbo's V8 Cake. I first saw it on the second season of Masterchef Australia. For the benefit of those who don't know who Zumbo is, he's an amazing patissier based in New South Wales, Australia. The V8 cake is basically an 8 layered and textured vanilla cake. It has layers like vanilla jelly, toasted vanilla brulee, vanilla daquoise and so on. 

So I searched for the recipe and oh my was this cake challenging. To begin with I had no access to ingredients such as miroir glaze, titanium dioxide, almond praline paste or pailette feuillitine (just to name a few). So instead of attempting all the layers, I decided to pick out components from the recipe. 

I decided on attempting the vanilla ganache to fill my layers with and vanilla creme chantilly to frost the cake. Mind you the whole thing is a min two day process.

So Monday night, I prepared the vanilla sheet cake. This was just a recipe that I always turn to for a simple white cake. In addition to the vanilla extract, I added vanilla beans as well for extra flavour.

Then whilst the cakes were baking in the oven, I quickly prepared the vanilla ganache and creme chantilly. Now the recipe for the vanilla ganache calls for 300g of white chocolate and when I went shopping for chocolate the day before, Cadbury Dream was 220g per block. So there I stood in the aisles of Cold Storage wondering weather I should get two blocks or just alter the recipe to accommodate the 220g. 

The creme chantilly called for thickened creme but I bought whipping cream instead and the final product (the next day) still whipped up well. Phew!

Can you see the specks of vanilla beans in the cake. It was heavily scented with Madagascan vanilla. Mmmmm .... 

Then came the vanilla ganache. Now when I took it out of the fridge, it was firm and held its shape. Then the more I started working with it, the more it started to melt. Arghhh once again my frustration with the Singapore heat. Sigh. I quickly filled the layers and popped it back into the fridge. But I can see the weight of the cake squeezing the ganache out. Moments like this I wish I had a blast freezer or cake ring... I'll invest in a cake ring.

Frosted the slightly cooled cake with the creme chantilly and piped rosettes all over it. It was still too hot for the frosting to hold its shape but it was 2am by then and I was like - I need to get this done.

Made smaller tasting pieces with the scraps. I tought it was too sweet and Mom thought it was perfect. Lets see what my Uncle says. 

Components of the Cake :- recipes adapted from Adriano Zumbo's V8 Cake

Vanilla Bean Cake
Any white sheet cake with vanilla beans added to it

Vanilla ganache
300g white couverture chocolate
185g thickened cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
95g unsalted butter, softened

Vanilla crème chantilly
4g gold strength gelatine leaves
590g thickened cream
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
175g caster sugar
24g cold water

To make the vanilla ganache, heat the cream, extract and vanilla seeds into a saucepan. Bring to to boil and pour over white chocolate. Mix all until combined and let it cool to room temperature. Whisk in the butter and refrigerate till needed.


To make the vanilla crème chantilly, cut gelatine into small squares, soak in the cold water. Place cream, vanilla and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to 70-80°C, and then stir through the gelatine and water mixture until dissolved. Place in a container, cover the surface with cling wrap and place in the fridge.