Dreamy creamy cake.

Happy Mother's Day! Unlike last year's Mother's Day, I decided to make my mom a cake instead of buying one from a shop. I'm not always comfortable going out to public places so I thought it'd be better if I just stayed at home and bake something homemade for her. Besides, baking a cake is fun!

Well, almost baking a cake. My aunt gave us 3 boxes of cake mix, one of them being a white cake mix so I decided to just use that for my base instead of whipping up one from scratch. Turns one, it was the best move I made because the other 2 components needed to be made from scratch and using the boxed cake mix definitely lessened the work and the stress.

Crema de fruta is my favorite cake in Goldilocks and I've always wanted to make my version of it. Since today's a special day, I thought it as perfect timing to make one. My version is a bit heavier and richer and oh so yummy.

This cake was a bit more laborious (plus the unexpected dilemmas along the way!) to make than usual but honestly, it was very rewarding at the end. So much cake! So much work! So much yumminess!

Hope you all have a great day with your moms and hug them extra tight today!

Enjoy!

CREMA DE FRUTA

(custard and gelatin adapted from KawalingPinoy.com)

Yield: 1 8x12" pan + 1 750ml rectangle container

Cake:

1 box of white cake mix (I used 461g box of Betty Crocker White mix)

1 1/4 cups milk

1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 egg whites + 1 egg

Custard:

2 1/4 cups evaporated milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3 egg yolks

3 tablespoons (46 grams) butter, room temp

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fruit & Gelatin:

1 can (796ml) fruit cocktail, drained and juice reserved (choose a can of fruit cocktail with colorful fruits for a more colorful cake!)

1 1/2 c reserved fruit cocktail juice

1/4 c water

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1-2 tablespoons clear & unflavored gelatin powder

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 8x12" rectangular pan with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a bowl, combine milk, egg yolk, and melted butter. Stir until combined.

3. In another bowl, whisk three egg whites until it forms soft peaks.

4. In the milk bowl, add in the cake mix powder and beat until combined.

5. With a spatula, fold the beaten egg whites onto the batter. Cut and fold until there are no more visible traces of egg whites in the batter.

6. Transfer batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7. Let the cake cool in a rack.

8. When fully cooled, transfer cake into a glass pan. The glass pan I used was the same measurement as my baking pan but the issue was the height of the glass pan: it was quite shallow and almost had no more room for the custard and gelatin. So, with the help of mom, we cut the cake lengthwise and transferred each section sideways into the glass pan, cutting the height in half. Skip this step if you have a deeper pan.

Custard:

1. In a pan, combine milk, flour, sugar. In low-medium heat, stir until sugar and flour are fully dissolved. Continue stirring until custard has a thick but spreadable consistency.

2. Turn heat to low and add in egg yolks, vanilla, and butter. Stir, making sure everything is well combined. 

Optional: strain the custard to have a smoother, lump-free consistency.

3. Let the custard cool a little before pouring on top of the cooled cake. Continue to cool.

4. Once cooled, top with drained fruit cocktail. 

Gelatin:

1. Combine fruit cocktail juice, water and sugar in a pan in low-medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves fully.

2. Add in gelatin powder and stir. While hot, carefully pour gelatin on top of the custard and fruits, making sure everything's well-coated with gelatin. Let everything set and cool before refrigerating for 6-12 hours or overnight.