Book Graduation Cake

This was a Chiffon cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and fondant. It was for the graduation party for four boys who are going to different schools. The color scheme followed the school identities. 

Each book was individually decorated and then stacked.

However, books are heavy, no matter real or pretend ones :-)  Concerned about damage during  transportation, I split the cakes into two sheets and added more decorations.

Dr. Seuss Graduation Cake

This is a Match Chiffon cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream for a girl who is going to Columbia University, whose school color is blue. The cake toppers are made from fondant.

Shanghai Style Fried Rice Cake (上海油炸糍饭糕)

 This is a traditional Shanghai breakfast item. I basically followed this YouTube video.

Ingredients

Calrose rice - 3 cups
Water - 5 cups

Salt - 2 tsp

Yield 1/4 sheet of rice cake. Double for 1/2 baking sheet.

Steps

1. Rinse 3 cups of rice and add to rice cooker, add water to 5 cups mark. Cook rice. 

2. Put a layer of plastic wrap at the bottom of the baking sheet, scoop out rice and spread and press evenly. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap. I used double portion to fill a half sheet baking tray.

3. Put the tray in refrigerator overnight. 

4. Remove the wrap on top, brush with oil, and then flip the rice cake, brush the other side with oil. Slice into preferred size.

5. Put enough oil in a pot and heat it up to 320 - 350F (160-180C) and then deep fry each piece one by one until brown.

6. Serve warm.  

Matcha Mousse Cake

Light and smooth, this is one of my favorite cakes.

Ingredients

【Green Tea Chiffon Cake Base】
Egg - 3
Cake flour - 60g
Green tea powder - 1 TBSP
Oil - 25 g
Milk - 60 g
Sugar - 36g for egg white
Sugar - 18g for egg yolk
Salt - a pinch
【Mousse】
Milk - 1 and 1/4 cups (~280 g)
Cream cheese - 1 package (226 g)
Heavy whipping cream - 1 and 3/4 cup (~400 g)
Sugar - 3/4 cup (~158 g)
Gelatin - 25 g
Matcha powder - 2 TBSP

Steps

1. Using a 9" cake pan, make the Chiffon Cake base following the steps in Green Tea Chiffon Cake. Since this is a smaller cake, bake under 350°F for 15 minutes. Place cake at bottom of mousse ring after it is cool.

2. In a small bowl, add a few TBSP of milk, and Gelatin powder and let it bloom.
3. Warm up the rest of the milk in microwave or sauce pot, mix in Gelatin until it is fully dissolved.
4. In a blender, add cream cheese, sugar, and warm milk, blend until you get a smooth mixture. Add in Matcha powder.

4. Using stand mixer to beat the heavy cream lightly until the whisk can just draw marks on cream.

5. Fold the cream mixture and whipped cream together.

6. Setup the mousse ring, and put in the cake base, and add mousse.

8. Refrigerate the cake for 4 hours or overnight.

9. Remove the mousse ring and serve. It is best to warm up the cake knife before cutting the cake.