Penguin cake / Pingu cake

Another tradition in Denmark: we bring cake to work and kindergarten and… when it’s our birthday. It is really remarkable that the Danes are generally able to keep fit and slim with all the cake we eat…

Now Caroline had asked if she would please have a cake with ice and snow and penguins to bring to her friends at the kindergarten to celebrate her birthday with all of them. Of course she could:

The figurines were made out of fondant (which was also used to cover the cake).

The cake was P’s brown Christmas cake covered in 1:1 ganache:

Melt 100 grams of butter, 100 grams of sugar and 100 grams of syrup (don’t boil too much as it will turn in to a thick caramel and burn). Once cooled down a bit add 2 tea spoons of cinnamon, 1 tea spoon of clove and 1 tea spoon of cardamom. Then add 1 tea spoon of natron (hydrated sodium carbonate) dissolved in 1 dl of buttermilk. Finally stir in 250 grams of flour. Poor into a well greased baking tray and baked for approx. 20 min at 180 degrees.

I made one batch in a bowl shaped baking tray for the igloo and a normal round tray (22 cm in diameter) for the penguins and igloo to sit on.

1:1 ganache:

100 ml of boiling cream poured over 100 grams of fine chopped chocolate, stirred and chilled until it feels like butter.