Getting your pigs in a row!

Update: A Halloween version of this cake can be found HERE!

Update: The Easter cake mentioned at the end of this post can be found HERE.

In case you’ve missed the talk of the “cake community” on Facebook, here ya go!

Photo courtesy of Taartjes on Facebook.

The recipe was given at the Taartjes Facebook page, but in Dutch. Thankfully, some kind soul translated it. Using gram language. Thankfully, there are converter charts in cyberspace. I’ve copied in the recipe exactly as given and my notes are in bold.

HOW TO “PIGS IN THE MUD”:

– anglecake of 8 inches high (I “think” she means 2-8″ layers of cake..however tall a Kit Kat is. Don’t have one around to measure. Just as long as the Kit Kats are taller than the cake re: the photo.)
– 200 grams of milk chocolate (chips) 7 ozs.
– 250 ml whipping cream 1 cup + a tad
– cake filling (strawberryjam/cream cheese/butter cream/pastry cream/or anything else you like)
– 3 x five-pack KitKat (Total of 15 Kit Kats. More will be needed it you choose to do a 9″ or 10″ cake.)
– 250 grams of light pink marsepain  1 cup + a tad of marzipan, fondant or gumpaste for the piggies
… – big knife
– sate scewer (for piggies eyes) Toothpick!
– ribbon
– flat plate or serving board to present your cake on

Make your piggies, I don’t have a tutorial for them, it’s just like playing with playdough at school. (She’s right about this. Just try it!!! Go to your craft store and buy a package of pastel fondant, use the pink then bring me what’s leftover. Unless you get bitten by the cake decorating bug! Also, be sure you make them a day ahead so they have time to harden a bit.)

So now for the ganache part/the mud…if this confuses you, get a recipe out of your best cookbook and use it. Ganache really is really really really simple!
Pour the cream into a saucepan on your stove on low heat.
Keep stirring, it’s not allowed to boil.
Meanwhile open you bag of choc chips, or if you’ve bought the real chocolate, break the bars into pieces.
When almost boiling, turn of the heat.
Add the chocolate to the hot cream, stir well untill all chocolate has melted.
Let it cool down and get thicker, stirring every now and then, this might take some time.

Personally, I hate angelfood cake…a nice rich chocolate cake would be my choice but whatever floats your boat! Also, torting the cake layers makes an unbelievably rich cake! Cut the anglecake in two or three layers, spread your favorite filling on the bottom and put the two pieces together again.

Leave the cake on your plate or serving board, as it’s messy to spread the sides.

Break the kitkats into 2 pieces. (Cutting the candy bars apart might be the best method on this?)

Have a look at the chocolate mixture, if it’s as thick as custard pudding, you can use it to spread the sides of the cake with it.
You can use the back of a knife to do that, or if you have one of those fancy spatula’s that would work even better.

Once you’ve spread the sides of the cake with the chocolate mixture, you can stick the kitkat’s on.This can be very tricky, as the kitkat’s won’t stick on properly yet, so they might fall over every now and then.

You could try to have them lean against the cake a little, once the whole cake is covered with kitkat’s, you tie the ribbon around it and pul them all nice and tight against the cake.

You can now pour the rest of the chocolate on top of the cake, do keep in mind that if it’s still too runny, it will run in between the kitkat’s, make sure it’s not too runny still!

Next you put the piggies into there bath and let it all cool down in the fridge.

After an hour you can transfer your cake onto a nice plate and serve it to your guests or family. Enjoy! (This part will work because the chocolate has cooled and firmed up. Just run your spatula under the cake, pop it up and move to the plate!)

Even if you don’t want to mess with the piggies, you could put strawberries in the middle of the cake all piled up high! OR…Reece’s Peanut Butter cups…the individaul ones. OR…chocolate malt balls OR bonbons OR M&Ms!!!!!!!!!!! Mud ducks would work too. Or make white chocolate ganache, tint blue for water and add ducks, frogs, fish…KIDS!!! In other words, use your imagination!!