Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. This cake, made with a lot of love, is my humble attempt at giving him a very special present on this wonderful day.

Happy birthday papito! I love you! 

This cake consists of Brazil nut sponge cake layers with baba de moça filling covered with meringue frosting. Baba de moça is a traditional Brazilian recipe.  This egg coconut custard cream is a common filling for birthday cakes and pastries. Made basically with coconut milk, egg yolks and sugar syrup has a suave flavor that it’s perfectly paired with a nut sponge cake.

I was surprised with the crunch and moist texture provided by the Brazil nuts. And the taste was wonderful! I prepared a meringue frosting and  I also used coconut flakes and meringue kisses to add a heavenly look.

  

A Birthday Cake for my Dad

Brazil Nut Sponge Cake

(Makes 2 discs 6-in pans. You will need 2 discs to make 4 layers.)

4 eggs

125g sugar

150g Brazil Nuts

7 tablespoons Rice flour

Preheat the oven to 340°F/ 170°C.

Place the Brazil Nuts and rice flour in a food processor. Process until the Brazil Nuts are finely ground.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale.

Right away, gently combine the ground Brazil nuts into the eggs with a rubber spatula. Start with the spatula in the center of the bowl, work up the sides of the bowl and bring the mixture back down towards the center, all the while turning the bowl regularly. Continue until you have a smooth and homogenous mixture.

Transfer the batter to 2 greased 6-inch baking pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes until lightly colored. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Baba de Moça (Egg Coconut Custard Cream)

6 egg yolks

200ml coconut milk

250g sugar

½ cup water

Place sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Cook sugar syrup, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 194 F / 90 C degrees. Let the syrup in the pan to cool.

Pass the egg yolks through a sieve. In a bowl, mix the eggs yolks with the coconut milk with a rubber spatula until well combined.

When the syrup are chilled, pour the egg and coconut mixture over the sugar syrup. Over medium heat, stir the mixture until thick consistency. Blend with a handheld immersion blender and set aside to cool.

Meringue Frosting

(from here)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup

5 large egg whites, room temperature

Bring 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the corn syrup, and 3 tablespoons water to a boil, stirring. Wash down side of pan with a wet pastry brush, and cook sugar syrup, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 230 degrees.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites with a mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Add sugar syrup in a slow, steady stream down side of bowl. Beat on high speed until thick, fluffy, and cool, about 7 minutes.

Assembly

3 tablespoons coconut milk

100g coconut flakes 

Divide each cake disc to make 4 layers. Place one layer cake on a serving plate. Brush with 1 tablespoon coconut milk. Spread ¼ to 1/3 cup baba de moça over top. Repeat to make 2 more layers of each. Top with remaining cake. Cover with meringue frosting. Decorate with coconut flakes.