This year we celebrated my daughter’s quarter-century with the Piggy Birthday Cake. The triumph of candy pink and softness.
Over the years, you’ve gathered that at our home, birthday cakes aren’t exactly the most modest thing in the world, but we like to amaze our friends and family with cheerful cakes that must also be delicious. That’s why I rely on the sponge cake recipe I’ve been making for many years now, and the mascarpone mousse that remains stable for a long time and is truly delicious.
A little manual skill and even the decorations are ready in a few minutes, you can also get help from the little ones, it will be like playing with Play-Doh.
Complete the birthday buffet with these recipes
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 891.05 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 96.19 (g) of which sugars 65.95 (g)
- Proteins 11.65 (g)
- Fat 55.57 (g) of which saturated 16.38 (g)of which unsaturated 2.04 (g)
- Fibers 2.39 (g)
- Sodium 84.59 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 230 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for the Piggy Birthday Cake
- 7 oz sugar
- 5.6 oz all-purpose flour
- 1.4 oz unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 eggs (large)
- 1 packet baking powder
- 17.6 oz mascarpone cheese
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 5.3 oz powdered sugar
- as needed red food coloring (a few drops as desired)
- 7 oz fondant
- as needed red food coloring
- 2 sugar eyes
Tools
- Stand Mixer
Preparation of the Piggy Birthday Cake
Beat the eggs with the sugar for 15 minutes.
Add the flour and baking powder to the egg and sugar mixture, stirring gently with a spatula to avoid deflating it.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch springform pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. Always perform the toothpick test to ensure the cake is perfectly baked inside.
Cool the cake upside down on a wire rack.In a bowl, mix the mascarpone with the powdered sugar. Whip the heavy cream in another container, adding the food coloring. You can choose the shade of pink you prefer by adjusting the drops of coloring.
Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone, blending gently to avoid deflating the mixture.
Cut the sponge cake in half and fill the cake with a bit of mascarpone mousse.
Place the remaining mascarpone mousse in a piping bag with a large star nozzle and decorate the entire surface of the cake with rosettes.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Prepare the decorations. Divide the block of fondant into two parts. Color one part with a few drops of red food coloring, adjusting to your desired shade of pink. Leave the second part white, as it will be used for the crown.
Shape the ears and snout with the pink fondant, following the shape you see in the photo.
Dust a little powdered sugar on the work surface and roll out the remaining white fondant with a rolling pin, forming a rectangle about 3 inches high and 6 inches long. Use a pastry cutter or a sharp knife to cut out the points of the crown. Roll the strip on itself to form a little crown. Remember to slightly bend the points outward.
Store the decorations in a cool place, but not in the fridge, until it is time to serve the Piggy Birthday Cake.
When ready to serve, place the decorations on the cake and light the candles.
