How and how to decorate a birthday cake for New Year 2020

The background of the cake

It is unlikely that you will be able to find out who the first person to make the cake is. It is known that the appearance of such confectionery delicacies as cakes, pastries and many other sweets is associated with the beginning of sugar production. Its production began in the 14th – 15th centuries in Venice. From there it was supplied to other cities in Italy, and then throughout Europe. Even the word “confectioner” speaks for itself, because it comes from the Italian word “condiere”, which translated into Russian means “cook in sugar.” The word “cake” translates as “round bread” and is also of Italian origin.

The spread of cakes around the world began in France. It was French confectioners who were the first to bake biscuits, jellies and meringues. The word “cream” also has French roots. Only a person who knew how to draw could become a confectioner. The masters did not only sculpt and draw, they devoted a lot of time to studying history and architecture. Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that modern French chefs have achieved such tremendous success in the confectionery field.

Then cakes made from chocolate dough, as well as Viennese cakes made from puff pastry, came into fashion. They reached the peak of popularity by the 19th century. They were usually soaked in whipped cream or milk-chocolate syrups. Cakes with several tiers were first produced in England. Cakes arrived in Russia only at the end of the 19th century. Today there are a great many cake recipes.

Rules for working with mastic

When using mastic as a cake decoration, you need to remember a few simple rules for working with it:

1. The finished mastic must be rolled out into a layer with which to cut the biscuit, and for this it is best to use a silicone mat. If you don’t have one, you can get by with a simple cutting board pre-wrapped in cling film. This method is also very convenient, since a rolled out layer of mastic on cling film can be easily transferred to the cake;
2. Mastic may stick to the surface on which it is rolled out, and to avoid this, you need to lightly sprinkle it with starch or powdered sugar;
3. The mastic layer must be rolled out with a margin, this is required so that the future cake is completely covered with it, and there is not a single missing place;
4. Excess mastic must be cut off only with a special roller knife shaped like a small disk, otherwise the edges may turn out torn and unsightly;

5. Cut pieces of mastic can also be useful; they can be braided or twisted into a rope, and then decorate the base of the cake;
6. If the mastic elements do not stick to each other, they can be slightly moistened with plain water;
7. When covering the cake with a layer of mastic, you must remember that the baking surface must be perfectly flat. To do this, you need to grease it with cream, after which the cake is placed in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes so that it settles. After time, you can cover it with mastic;
8. If you want to turn matte mastic into a shiny one, you can lubricate it with a solution based on honey and vodka. To do this, you need to mix both ingredients in equal proportions, then apply evenly to the surface of the mastic. Alcohol vapor will quickly dissipate, leaving a beautiful honey sheen;
9. Figures made from mastic should be sculpted in advance so that they are fully formed and dry before placing them on the cake. Otherwise they may lose their shape;

10. The finished cake covered with mastic should be covered with a cardboard box or plastic bag, since mastic is very sensitive to humidity.

How to make a New Year's cake with your own hands?

To successfully prepare a New Year's cake at home, you need to be responsible when choosing products. You also need to mix the components in a certain sequence and properly bake the product under special conditions. In general, there are many little things without which it is impossible to properly bake a New Year’s cake with your own hands. Even a seemingly insignificant omission can lead to the fact that the biscuit may not rise. In order for any housewife to make a New Year's cake with her own hands, she must follow a few simple rules.

Protein dough

Light-textured protein dough is an excellent basis for making melt-in-your-mouth desserts - cakes, pastries, cookies. The basis for obtaining a fluffy mass is proper whipping. First you need to separate the whites from the yolks, then keep the mixing bowl and mixer in the cold, and the dishes should be perfectly clean so that there are no traces of fat on them. To make the whites for the New Year's cake whip easier and faster, you need to add a few drops of juice squeezed from fresh lemon or a pinch of salt. The whites for the New Year's cake must first be beaten without adding sugar, then add it in small portions, continuing to beat the protein mixture with a mixer until stable peaks form. In some cases, sugar is added to already whipped whites, after which it is gently mixed with the protein mass from bottom to top using a spoon. Cocoa, nuts, vanillin, and lemon juice can be added to the dough as flavorings.

Biscuit dough

The secret to a fluffy sponge cake is pre-processing the flour by sifting it. During this action, the flour is saturated with oxygen and cleaned of large particles and debris. To achieve maximum effect, you need to sift the flour at least 2 times. If you decide to make a sponge cake for the New Year with your own hands, then to make it airy and light, you need to add a little starch to the flour. It should be taken into account that the biscuit does not like high volume, so during cooking you should not slam the doors loudly and open the oven until the dough is ready. If the sponge cake burns, cover it with wet paper on top. If it gets dark at the bottom, it is recommended to place a container of water at the bottom of the oven. When the biscuit is ready, you need to let it stand in the oven for another 5 minutes. Next, you need to keep it for at least 8 hours, preferably in a cool place. After this, the biscuit will be much easier to cut and better able to soak.

Shortbread dough

If you want to make shortcrust pastry cakes for the New Year, then it is important to know some information about it. Vanillin, cocoa powder, crushed candied fruits, nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice or various spices are suitable as flavorings for such a cake. Ingredients and tools should be left in the refrigerator for a while before cooking. Both the oil and the cook's hands should be cold. Hands should be washed under cold water and dried with towels. Otherwise, the oil will heat up from the heat of your hands, and it will be difficult to roll out the dough.

Products should be 6-8 mm thick. If you need it thicker, you need to add baking powder to the dough. The rolled out layers need to be moved to a baking sheet by wrapping them around a rolling pin. If the dough is soft and thus cannot be placed on a baking sheet, then it is simply spread on it.

If New Year's cakes are made from such dough, then you need to let the finished shortbread cake cool and only then remove it from the mold, since the consistency is very fragile, the hot cake can easily be broken.

Unleavened puff pastry

A DIY New Year's cake made from puff pastry should be baked at 230 degrees. To prevent the product from swelling during cooking, it must be pierced with a fork or knife in several places. You can do this with a fork. To ensure that the finished cake has an appetizing golden appearance, you can brush the surface with egg. You can check readiness by prying the edge of the dough with a knife. If it rises easily, the cake is not ready yet.

Ways to decorate a New Year's cake with mastic

Mastic has recently become very popular among confectioners who receive individual orders for preparing holiday cakes, because it is thanks to it that cakes turn into works of art. The coming New Year 2020 can also be met with such a sweet masterpiece. Mastic is not so easy to buy in a store, but it is very easy to prepare at home.

There are several recipes for making mastic, and one of them will be based on the use of the popular children's treat marshmallow, which resembles a sticky marshmallow.

Method No. 1 – marshmallow mastic. The recipe will require the following products:

Preparing mastic according to this recipe will take no more than 1 hour in total; the calorie content of the product per 100 g will be approximately 345 kcal.

How to cook:

1. The marshmallows will need to be melted, for this you can use a microwave: put the marshmallows in a special bowl and heat for 25 seconds, turning on the microwave at maximum power. It is necessary to check the marshmallows in the microwave every 7-10 seconds so that they do not burn. You can also use a regular gas or electric stove, heating the marshmallows in a metal bowl and stirring it periodically;

2. First melt a small piece of butter in a water bath to make 1 tsp. melted product, add it to the liquid marshmallow mass;
3. Pour the required amount of milk into the resulting mass, mix everything well;
4. Gradually stirring the sweet mixture with a spoon, add powdered sugar and then starch. The finished mass must be mixed so that there are no lumps in it;
5. The mastic must be kneaded like dough; for this it is recommended to use a silicone mat or a regular cutting board previously wrapped in cling film;

6. It is necessary to knead the mastic until it becomes elastic and dense (does not stick to your hands), and after that you can add food coloring of the required color to it (the amount of dye depends on how intense the color itself should be). Mastic is ready to decorate the cake for New Year 2020.

Method No. 2 – gelatin mastic. The following products will be required here:

This mastic also takes about 1 hour to prepare; the calorie content of the product per 100 grams will not exceed 400 kcal.

Step by step recipe:

1. You need to start with gelatin, which is filled with water and left to swell for about 15 minutes, after which it will need to be slightly heated in a water bath, stirring occasionally (you can also use a microwave);
2. It is necessary to gradually add powdered sugar into the finished gelatin mass, not forgetting to stir the product;

3. Simultaneously with the powder, pour in lemon juice and knead the future mastic until elastic and firm;
4. At the final stage, you can add any food coloring if the cake recipe requires it.

Method No. 3 – Milk-based mastic, which requires the following:

Mastic based on condensed milk and milk powder requires approximately the same preparation time - about 1 hour and 10 minutes, and in terms of caloric content such a product will contain about 470 kcal per 100 grams.

Step-by-step cooking method:

1. Pour milk powder and powdered sugar into one bowl, mix both ingredients;
2. Pour lemon juice into the bowl, mix the product again;
3. Gradually stirring the future mastic, pour in condensed milk, then knead it like dough until elastic;
4. Roll the finished mastic into a ball, wrap it in cling film, and then put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes;
5. After the specified time, add food coloring to the mastic, mix a little so that the color is uniform, after which you can begin decorating the birthday cake for the New Year's table on the main night of 2020.

Fruit cakes

Fruit New Year Cake

New Year can't be complete without amazing fruit desserts. And that’s why we bring to your attention a recipe for a delicious cake called “Fruit New Year”!

Ingredients:

For the biscuit:

• eggs – 3 pcs.;
• sugar – 0.5 tbsp;
• soda – 1 tsp;
• flour – 200 g.

For filling:

• oranges – 3 pcs.;
• tangerines – 3 pcs.;
• pineapples – 150 g;
• banana – 1 pc.

For cream:

• gelatin – 50 g;
• vanillin – 1 sachet;
• sour cream 10% – 900 g;
• sugar – 1 tbsp.

Preparation:

1. We dissolve the gelatin by filling it with water. After an hour, heat over low heat, but do not boil, the gelatin should completely dissolve. After which the resulting liquid must be cooled.
2. Next, knead the dough by mixing eggs, sugar, soda and flour.
3. Place the biscuit in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. Cut the biscuit, which has already cooled, into 1.5 x 1.5 cm squares.
5. Peeling tangerines and oranges. We divide the tangerines into slices, and cut the oranges into circles.
6. Cut bananas and pineapples into cubes.
7. Beat the sour cream with the addition of sugar, vanillin and cooled gelatin.
8. We lay out the fruit beautifully in a mold that has detachable sides.
9. Next, place one sponge cake layer.
10. Place fruit on the biscuit cubes, fill with cream mixture, then again biscuit, fruit and cream.
11. Cover the dessert with a piece of cling film and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
12. In the morning, take out the cake and carefully turn the pan over onto a flat plate.

That's it, if you love jelly fruit desserts, you will love this amazing treat!

New Year's cake decorated with chocolate figures

It's very easy to decorate any cake with chocolate figures. Figures can be “drawn” with melted chocolate on parchment paper. Then let the chocolate harden. If you want to “draw” a complex figure or a certain size, you can draw a stencil on parchment paper with a simple pencil.

Cake decoration with chocolate Christmas trees

The first thing that comes to mind are figures of Christmas trees or snowflakes.

New Year's cake with chocolate trees

Some useful tips

1. Milk-based mastic always turns out to have a characteristic milky color, therefore, if a perfectly white layer is required, it will be necessary to add the appropriate food coloring to it;
2. Adding dye to the mastic also follows a certain rule: roll out part of the mastic, add a few drops of dye, and then roll out the whole layer until the color is uniform;
3. It is best to use liquid gel food colors based on natural fruit juices. You can also use regular concentrated juice of a particular fruit;
4. If you need to prepare marshmallow mastic for future use, then instead of milk (as in the first recipe) you need to add citric acid on the tip of a knife or a teaspoon of lemon juice. In this state, the mastic can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 months (it must be wrapped in cling film).

Now you know how to decorate a cake for the New Year 2020. A festive cake covered with mastic based on natural ingredients will become a real masterpiece among other dishes.

As you can see, mastic is absolutely not difficult to prepare at home; it does not require a large number of ingredients or any special skills, but in the end the housewife will not be left without compliments for her ability to prepare wonderful confectionery products. Happy New Year and Christmas!

And another idea for decorating a New Year's cake is in the next video.

Sponge cakes

“Winter Cherry” sponge cake

The “Winter Cherry” cake is prepared on the basis of a sponge cake and is the most delicious dessert that will decorate your New Year’s table!

Ingredients:

• eggs – 12 pcs.;
• sugar – 2.5 tbsp;
• flour – 3 tbsp;
• pitted cherries – 1 tbsp.

For cream:

• sour cream – 2 tbsp;
• sugar – 1 tbsp.

For decoration:

• chocolate 1 bar.

Preparation:

1. Let's get straight to the sponge cakes. Break the eggs, separate the yolks from the whites.
2. Take the whites and mix with granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy.
3. Then beat the yolks with sugar until a fluffy foam is obtained.
4. Next, use a mixer to beat the yolk mixture with the protein mixture.
5. Throw in the flour here, take a spoon, and knead the dough until smooth.
6. Pour the dough into the mold and send it to the oven and bake at 180 degrees.
7. To prepare the cream, beat the chilled sour cream with added sugar.
8. Cut the cake into two parts lengthwise.
9. Coat the bottom cake with creamy mixture.
10. Next, add the cherries.
11. Then another layer of cake and cover everything with sour cream.
12. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
13. Then cut the dessert into pieces and sprinkle with chocolate shavings and decorate with mint leaves.