Ube & Coconut Birthday Cake with Mini Cupcakes

Steps

▶ Tap a timecode to jump to roughly that moment in the video.

1. 1
   Finely shred the coconut using a food processor, then toast it in a pan until fragrant and golden.
   ▶ ≈1:10
2. 2
   Beat eggs with sugar, salt, and freshly grated tonka beans until creamy and pale, about 3–4 minutes with an electric mixer.
   ▶ ≈1:17
3. 3
   Stir in the buttermilk and sunflower oil until just combined.
   ▶ ≈1:29
4. 4
   Fold in the flour, baking powder, and toasted coconut until evenly distributed.
   ▶ ≈1:36
5. 5
   Divide the batter evenly between two springform pans, slightly pull up the edges for even baking, and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C (top and bottom heat).
   ▶ ≈1:49
6. 6
   Mix ube powder with hot water, stirring until a smooth paste forms, and allow to cool slightly.
   ▶ ≈3:42
7. 7
   Bring heavy cream to a boil, remove from heat, add white chocolate, let sit a few minutes, then stir until smooth.
   ▶ ≈3:09
8. 8
   Stir the cooled ube paste into the ganache until evenly colored and combined.
   ▶ ≈4:40
9. 9
   Fold in additional cream to the ganache to help it cool faster; cover and refrigerate for several hours or preferably overnight.
   ▶ ≈5:45
10. 10
    Extract the fatty part of the coconut milk, add sugar and vanilla extract, then simmer over medium heat until it reduces to a rich, caramelized coconut cream consistency.
    ▶ ≈2:27
11. 11
    Add frozen blueberries to a pot with lime zest, lime juice, and sugar; whisk cornstarch with water until smooth, add it, and simmer until thickened.
    ▶ ≈7:36
12. 12
    Combine quark, heavy cream, and San-apart, then whip with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overmix.
    ▶ ≈16:49
13. 13
    Gently fold the cooled coconut cream into the quark cream mixture to maintain a light and fluffy texture.
    ▶ ≈16:28
14. 14
    Place the first cake layer in a cake ring, alternate layers of cake slices with blueberry filling, using a palette knife to smooth each layer even.
    ▶ ≈19:53
15. 15
    Distribute the quark cream evenly between all cake layers; secure with the cake ring and refrigerate overnight to set and firm up.
    ▶ ≈21:12
16. 16
    The next day, remove the cake from the refrigerator and carefully release it from the cake ring; slice the assembled cake into uniform layers if needed.
    ▶ ≈18:54
17. 17
    Remove the chilled ube white chocolate ganache from the refrigerator and spread an even layer over the exterior of the cake using a palette knife.
    ▶ ≈23:58
18. 18
    Decorate the top of the cake with sugar pearls and dust with ube powder as desired; refrigerate until ready to serve.
    ▶ ≈36:07
19. 19
    Prepare mini cupcake batter: combine buttermilk and oil, add eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, sugar, baking powder, and turmeric for color.
    ▶ ≈9:57
20. 20
    Portion the batter evenly into mini cupcake cups using a cupcake scoop, and place one frozen blueberry in the center of each cup.
    ▶ ≈10:52
21. 21
    Bake the mini cupcakes in a preheated oven until fully baked, checking for doneness accordingly.
    ▶ ≈11:20
22. 22
    Prepare lemon-quark frosting: combine lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, cornstarch, and buttermilk; heat until it reaches a pudding-like consistency, then cool and fold into quark and cream mixture.
    ▶ ≈12:58
23. 23
    On the second day, using piping bags with nozzles, create two-tone frosting on the cooled mini cupcakes by piping the ube ganache and lemon-quark cream in a decorative pattern.
    ▶ ≈31:56
24. 24
    Top each decorated mini cupcake with colorful sprinkles or sugar pearls for the final touch.
    ▶ ≈34:25