Here Comes Santa Claus!

Santa Claus finally came over to our house last night ;)

My two boys have been waiting for this day ever since the school holidays started. During the past weeks, they kept changing their minds about what to wish for from dear Santa. After much deliberations, both of them finally made their final decisions, and wrote their wishes to Santa, just last week!

In the past, they would constantly pester me with questions on how Santa can come into our house since we don't have a chimney! I always tell them my standard answer..."he will find some ways to get in, so don't worry!" It was only after reading a book about St Nicks, both of them agreed that the old man will shrink into the size of an ant, and crawl into our house by the key hole ;p Last nite, they were still talking about installing a few hidden video cameras, and setting up some infra red security systems at the various corners of the living room so as to catch Santa in action! Just before bedtime, they have wanted to prepare some cookies and a cup of hot coffee for Santa...but mummy was simply too tired to get it ready, and told them Santa would have his fair share of cookies and drinks from all his rounds.

We woke up early this morning. The first thing they did was to look around for presents left by Santa. They couldn't wait till boxing day to unwrap the presents, and I was being a little too kind to grant them their wishes (I had meant to try to stretch their patience a little longer!). Naturally, due to their 'short notice' they didn't get what they have wished for from Santa! My younger boy came to the conclusion that Santa must have made a mistake and placed the wrong gifts meant for other children, lolz! Anyway, they are still very happy with what he has offered ;)


I made this Santa Claus cake as dessert for our xmas eve dinner last nite. Don't ever think that I am creative enough to come up with this on my own!! I have copied the entire idea from this Japanese Meiji website here. It even came with a demo video to show you how to make and decorate the cake. I can't read a single Japanese word, but the video is really self explanatory.


I didn't follow the sponge cake recipe given in the website though. I used one which I copied from a Japanese to Chinese translated cookbook. This recipe is for an 18cm (7") cake, which is just the idea size for our family.


Making the sponge layer was relatively easy. I filled the middle with some non-dairy whipping cream and some strawberries slices. I also thought that frosting the exterior with cream was not too difficult this time. The only problem I faced was making the chocolate curls for the beard. In order to get very nice curls, first, the chocolate must be at the right temperature (room temperature)...soft enough for it to curl when you scrap it. Second, you got to use the right tool. I tried using a normal small spoon, it didn't curl up but broke into tiny bits instead...then I tried using a peeler...the curls was way too long! Then I realised the right tool should be a small ice cream scoop. Since I don't have one, I looked around my drawer to find something suitable. It was a plastic spoon (the 2.5ml end) which is use for dispensing medicine for my kids that did the trick!


The cake tasted very delicious...light and refreshing. The texture of the sponge layer was very soft and moist! I think it has got to do with brushing the sponger layer with sugar syrup. The cake was not dry at all even though I made it one day ahead. There is no doubt that this sponge cake recipe is going to be a keeper!


Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm sponge cake)

100g cake flour
3 eggs, room temperature
90g caster sugar
20g unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Method:

1. Sift cake flour, set aside. Line bottom and sides of an 18cm (7 inch) round pan with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 170degC. Position rack at the lower bottom of the oven.
2. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the batter should leave a ribbon-like texture when the beater is lifted up). Turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.
3. Add sifted cake flour into the batter. With a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. Take care not to deflate the batter. (To ensure proper folding in of the flour, you can add the flour in three separate additions.)
4. Add the melted butter, fold with spatula until well blended
5. Add in fresh milk, vanilla extract and fold in gently with spatula.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30~35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Unmold and invert onto cooling rack, cool completely.

Recipe source: 点心达人, 轻松学 / 小川智美著