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Dessert

Surprise Cakes

A cake hollowed and filled with custard, fruit, and cake crumbs, then iced and decorated.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Surprise Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cake

  1. Cut the top of the cake about 1 inch deep.

  2. Cut the inside of the cake all around, leaving ½ inch on the sides and about 2 inches at the bottom.

  3. Scoop out the cut cake and crumble it finely.

Make the filling

  1. Make a thick, nicely flavored custard.

  2. Add the cake crumbs to the custard and mix well.

  3. Chop the crystallized fruits and mix them in.

  4. Fill the hollowed cake with the mixture and replace the lid, securing it firmly.

Decorate and serve

  1. Ice the cake with chocolate icing and decorate with pale green coconut.

  2. When serving, cut through the cake and use a spoon for the inside mixture.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Custard
Forms a thick, moist, flavorful filling that holds the cake crumbs and fruit together.
Cake crumbs
Absorb custard and give the filling body and a soft, spoonable texture.
Crystallized fruits
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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