Triple Chocolate Peekaboo Cake with a Vanilla Chilli Pink Surprise!

Wow I hadn't baked for years and years and then BANG! 

A month after starting my new job, a baking competition was announced, sort of a friendly Great British Bake Off! 

Perfect opportunity to test that new oven, shape some sugar paste, try that chocolate ganache recipe AND most importantly try a PEEKABOO cake!!!! 

Oooh but hang on, shouldn't I make a decision on what technique to use first before getting too excited? 

Nooooo, let's do them all! 

On one cake!

So I set my heart on attempting a chocolate peekaboo cake, the inside cake being a vanilla, chilli, and pink cake in the shape of my company's name. 

It would then be covered in chocolate ganache and I would use some sugar paste for the decorations! Quite a grand project for someone who hasn't baked for a while, and never decorated anything - apart from my friend's cake (see post below).

Because we have this new thing about Vine, I made a Vine video! If you'd like to follow me, I'm HERE

 

Here are a couple of pictures here below:

First Cake, pink, vanilla with a hint of Chilli was baked, cut and frozen before being re-placed in the baking tray

I could have added more chilli, it was almost imperceptible within the chocolate cake

Peekaboo cake before the ganache. I cut the top because it had risen too high. Notice my installation: cake on top of its own baking tray, on top of a tupperware to catch all the extra ganache

After pouring the ganache, setting in the fridge

Decorations time. Strawberry-flavoured sugar paste, rolled out on some icing sugar, shaped and sprayed with a golden sparkle

My company's motto

I decided last minute to add some sugary flowers. The chocolate ones are ganache and the white ones are butter mixed with icing sugar. All were sprayed with the golden spray

Admittedly I'm a bit disappointed with how it turned out, the PAN letters are not very visible, I should have used a ARIAL police instead of keeping as it is on top of the cake. But for a first attempt, not too bad!! I'm still victim of my pet fear though which is to underbake, so naturally it was overbaked and a bit dense

I will finish this post asap with the recipes.... To be Continued...