:D

It was time to make a birthday cake and I wanted to make something i've never made before. I had visions of passionfruit and decided to center it around that particular ingredient.

White chocolate was also on my mind, it needed to be fairly dense as well, and have 3 tiers! Each size slightly smaller than the one before it. The frosting also needed passionfruit incorporated.

I went looking and found two perfect recipes, adjusted them accordingly and added passionfruit to both where needed.

Now there was some debate going on in my mind of whether to use the passionfruit seeds or not. Apparently they are detested by some, liked by others. In the end I decided to leave them in the cake themselves and in the passionfruit sauce that was placed on top. I felt this was the right decision, it just wouldn't have been the same without the physical appearance of the seeds.

The seeds themselves were also perfectly fine to eat, they weren't hard and crunchy at all, they were in fact quite soft and added a nice texture. Perhaps some bakeries/restaurants do something to keep them hard or just don't involve them in the cooking process at all.

The cakes turned out really, really well, most of the passionfruit in the cakes stayed at the top of the cakes which made them look and taste fantastic. White chocolate and passionfruit is a great combination.

I ended up placing each cake on top of eachother as I hoped and made a cream cheese icing (with added passionfruit) and iced them completely. Finishing off with a passionfruit sauce poured from above.

If I made the cakes again I would probably leave the icing on just the top of the cakes, as you can see in one of the photos below with the in-progress shot of the icing being done. I don't like the all white appearance of a fulling iced cake in this circumstance. Having not done this kind of cake before I didn't know how the icing would turn out but now I know how to make it even better next time.

In the end i'm really pleased with this cake, a whole bunch of photos and the recipe follows below.

Passionfruit Mud Cake

Ingredients:

• 300g White Chocolate
• 200g Butter
• 250ml Milk
• 165g Caster Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 large Eggs
• 300g (2/3 cup) Self-Raising Flour
• 450g (1 cup) Plain Flour
• 1/2 Passionfruit pulp
• 225g Cream Cheese
• 5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 3 teaspoons Passionfruit Pulp
• 2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

Method:

1. Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently.
2. Remove from heat when chocolate and butter have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth.
3. Allow mixture to cool for at least 15 minutes.
4. Lightly beat eggs and add vanilla, then add to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.
5. Sift flours into large bowl and add one cup of chocolate mixture at a time, stiring well until it forms a paste.
6. Once all the chocolate mixture has been added, stir until smooth.
7. Use an electric beater for a couple of minutes to eliminate any lumps.
8. Pour mixture into a greased pan lined with baking paper.
9. Add even drops of passionfruit pulp on top of the cakes and using a knife, gently stir it through.
10. Bake in a 145 degree oven (fan forced) for around 1 hour 20 mins to 1 hour 40 mins, until a knife comes out relatively clean.
11. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
12. Making sure the cream cheese is cold and butter at room temperature, cream cheese, butter, passionfruit pulp and sugar into a food processor and pulse until just combined, pulsing for a couple more seconds longer. The goal not to over processing it or it will be ruined.
13. Beat with an electric mixer for a minute or so if lumps remain.

The cake recipe was original based off this one and the cream cheese frosting here.