Preparation: Chocolate and Coconut Number Cake

• It is necessary to assemble it 24 hours before serving.

  I will show you the various steps to make the Chocolate and Coconut Number Cake:

  1) At least 2 days before you must make the bases, and free up refrigerator space.

• 2) 24 hours before serving: prepare the creams. The cake MUST rest/chill for 24 hours.

  3) 1–4 hours before serving: decorate with chocolates or sweets as you prefer.

  

• 4) To make the letters/numbers, arm yourself with cardboard, a ruler and a compass, and draw them. They must have a maximum height of 34–35 cm (approximately 13 3/8–13 3/4 in) and each number should occupy a width between 18 and 19 cm (approximately 7 1/8–7 1/2 in).

  

• 10) Tip: with the leftover shortcrust pastry I made decorative cookies with cookie cutters and placed them on the cake.

  

• Take the butter out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before starting. Weigh all the ingredients and sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, or into your food processor.

  

• Add the butter and then the whole egg and the yolk: knead quickly, just enough to make the mixture homogeneous.

  

• After making the shortcrust pastry dough, transfer it to your work surface and form 4 balls, wrapping each in plastic wrap.

• Preheat the oven to 356°F (180°C) on static setting.

  Place each dough ball between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out with a rolling pin, thinning and widening it.

• It should be about 6 mm thick (about 1/4 in — slightly thinner is also fine). Make sure it is as large as or slightly larger than your cardboard number template.

  Good — now make 4 sheets. 2 for each number.

• Transfer each rolled-out dough to a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes, then move on to the next one.

• Once all sheets are chilled and flattened, place the cardboard number template on the chilled dough and cut around it with a knife, trimming away the excess.

  

• Bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat the process for all other shapes.

  Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before assembling the cake.

• It’s simple and quick: in a bowl place the cold mascarpone and the hazelnut spread. As you can see I didn’t add sugar because the hazelnut spread is already very sweet.

  

• Then, with a whisk or wooden spoon, mix until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.

  The chocolate mascarpone cream is ready.

  

• This one is also quick and doesn’t require cooking:

  Place the cream and the bowl of your stand mixer in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before starting.

  

• Whip the cream to stiff peaks and set aside.

  In another bowl, whip the mascarpone with the powdered sugar, taking care to avoid lumps.

  

• Then add the whipped cream, the desiccated coconut and fold gently from the bottom up.

  The coconut mascarpone cream is ready.

  

• Find 1 or 2 trays large enough to hold the letters/numbers, and above all that can easily fit in your refrigerator.

• Fill the piping bag with the chocolate cream and pipe rosettes side by side on the lower cookie layer of each letter/number.

  

• As soon as you finish, place the other cookie layer on top and press gently to make it adhere.

  Repeat on the other layer with the white mascarpone and coconut cream, decorating as in the photo.

  

• This is the part where you can let your imagination run wild.

  I used cookies cut from the leftover pastry: hearts, anchors, etc.

  

• I then added pieces of coconut chocolates and little blue chocolate eggs because it was for a baby boy; I also had white chocolate sticks and other sweets at home.

  

• Finally I tinted a little of the white mascarpone cream with a drop of blue food coloring and piped small rosettes here and there.

  You’re done.

  

• I recommend decorating it shortly before serving to avoid decorations from bleeding.

  The Chocolate and Coconut Number Cake is perfect for a special occasion like Emmanuel’s birthday.