V8 Cake

July 25th, 2010

Yes, that’s right. I decided to make Adriano Zumbo’s V8 cake. Not a car cake as might be thought by the name, but a gorgeous cake composed of eight different layers of vanilla. Vanilla crème chantilly, toasted vanilla brulee, vanilla water gel, vanilla glaze, vanilla ganache, vanilla macaron, vanilla dacquoise, vanilla chiffon cake, vanilla almond crunch… hmmm.. that’s 9 layers… oh well.

After the pressure test episode on MasterChef, I had loads of people coming up and asking whether I would be making the cake – with all of them hoping to get a chance to try it.

I haven’t made anything from this series of MasterChef, even though there was one other dish that looked very gorgeous and tasty. So, I decided to make this cake (unfortunately not using all the beans used here, and substituting vanilla essence for some – as they are quite expensive). I also didn’t use any of the titanium dioxide in the glaze or chocolate. I know this would have made a gorgeous colour, but it would have been difficult to get a hold of, and I thought that 12.5g was a little large for the cake. The cake still looked gorgeous, without the brilliant white look.

I am glad tonight’s episode is the last MasterChef, as hopefully I can get a bit of my time back – I haven’t been visiting people blogs, getting enough sleep, blogging as much as I’d like and experimenting with some of my own creations.

My notes on making this cake:
I didn’t use all the vanilla beans, due to expense. I used half the number here + vanilla essence.
I made my own almond praline paste – not sure if it’s what it’s supposed to be like, the recipe is at the bottom of this page.
I made my own miroir glaze – this recipe is also at the end – it makes more than required (about 1/3 extra).
I didn’t use Titanium dioxide – the cake still looked gorgeous.
I made my own 20cm acetate box – cutting out a 20cm x 20cm square + 4 20cm x 9cm recatangles (although these were too large and could have been 20cm x 7cm). Sticky tape the rectangles to each side of the square, then sticky tape together. Use cardboard for supports on the bottom and each end.)
You can use projector sheets or sheets that cover the front of a book for acetate in this recipe.
I thought the ganache was a bit more difficult to get smooth than more traditional ganaches (pouring hot cream over the chocolate). Although with lots of pressure from the food processor – it came together in the end. I would suggest cutting it up finely to begin with, otherwise cream goes everywhere. This also made around 1/3 too much I think.
In place of the 1.5g gellanin the vanilla water gel, I used 2 sheets gold gelatine (4-5g) to get a jelly layer.
I used All Bran wheat flakes instead of the pailette feuillitine, but only 20g of it.
There was way too much vanilla syrup. I would suggest doing 1/4 of the recipe or less.
There was too much brown sugar crumble – this could have been cut by half.
There could have been a bit more vanilla creme chantilly made, as this was a little short for me… Make 1/4-1/2 more.

Enjoy!! If you decide to make it 🙂

V8 Cake

Recipe by Adriano Zumbo on MasterChef Australia 2010 (series 2)
see my notes above

2 vanilla beans
100g blanched almonds
Sugar spheres, to serve

Vanilla crème chantilly
4g gold strength gelatine leaves
590g thickened cream
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
175g caster sugar
24g cold water

Toasted vanilla brulee

3 egg yolks
50g dark brown sugar
250g thickened cream
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla water gel
250g water
38g caster sugar
1.5g gellan
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

Vanilla glaze
9.5g gelatine leaves
60g cold water
40g glucose liquid
35g water
250g caster sugar
400g thickened cream
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
150g miroir glaze (specialty cold-application patisserie glaze)
7.5g titanium dioxide (white colourant, powdered)

Vanilla ganache
300g white couverture chocolate
185g thickened cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
95g unsalted butter, softened

Brown sugar crumble
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
50g dark brown sugar
50g almond meal
¼ scraped vanilla bean

Vanilla macaron
53g egg whites
50g pure icing sugar
150g TPT (equal parts sifted almond meal and sifted pure icing sugar)
½ scraped vanilla bean

Vanilla dacquoise
60g egg whites
43g caster sugar
65g almond meal
40g pure icing sugar, sifted
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
½ tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla chiffon cake

17.5g plain flour
1 roasted and finely ground vanilla bean
1.25 (21g) egg yolks
5g dark brown sugar
17.5g water
15g canola oil
45g egg whites
22.5g caster sugar
2.5g rice flour

Vanilla almond crunch

45g milk couverture chocolate
90g almond praline paste
90g pure almond paste
18g unsalted butter
45g brown sugar crumble
45g pailette feuillitine (crunchy wheat flakes)
18g toasted diced almonds
1 roasted and finely ground vanilla bean
2g sea salt
¼ scraped vanilla bean

Vanilla syrup
125g caster sugar
250g water
½ vanilla bean, split
1 tsp vanilla extract

White chocolate flower and tiles
500g white couverture chocolate, grated or finely chopped
5g titanium dioxide

Please note – you will need precision scales. The vanilla crème chantilly, vanilla glaze, brown sugar crumble, and vanilla syrup can all be made ahead of time.

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.

2. To make the roasted vanilla beans, place 2 vanilla beans in oven until burnt and charcoal in texture. Grind to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Cover and set aside.

3. To make the pure almond paste, place 100g blanched almonds on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until deep golden. Grind to a coarse paste. Cover and set aside.

4. To make the vanilla crème chantilly, cut gelatine into small squares, soak in the cold water. Place cream, vanilla and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to 70-80°C, and then stir through the gelatine and water mixture until dissolved. Place in a container, cover the surface with cling wrap and place in the fridge.

5. For the toasted vanilla brulee, mix yolks and sugar in a bowl by hand with a whisk until just combined. Add cream and vanilla bean to a small saucepan and bring to the boil, pour a little over the eggs while stirring, then add the remaining liquid including vanilla bean. Puree with a hand blender until smooth and pour into a shallow baking tray about 25 x 38cm. Place into the oven and cook until just set, about 10 minutes, then increase oven to 200°C and bake until it forms a golden brown crust, about 5 minutes. It should look slightly split when removed from the oven. Scrape mixture into a thermomix, blender, or small food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Set aside in a small bowl, covering the surface of the brulee with cling wrap so it doesn’t form a skin. Reduce oven temperature to 160°C.

6. To make the vanilla water gel, place a lined 18cm square cake tin in the fridge to chill. Boil all ingredients in saucepan whilst whisking until dissolved and mixture starts to thicken. To test if set, drop about a teaspoon of liquid into a metal bowl, it should thicken slightly. It will thicken on cooling. To speed up cooling, pour into a metal bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. Pour into chilled cake tin and place in the freezer until solid, about 30 minutes. Remove from mould and keep gel in freezer.

7. For the vanilla glaze, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until softened. Drain, squeezing out any excess water. Boil glucose, water and sugar until 165°C, brushing around the sides of the saucepan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water as you go. Do not allow caramel to take on any colour. In another saucepan, bring cream and vanilla seeds to boil and then add to the sugar syrup. Mix through, then allow to cool to 70°C and add softened gelatine, stirring well. Add miroir glaze and titanium dioxide and blend well. Strain, then freeze until set. Reheat to 35°C when glazing the cake.

8. For the vanilla ganache, place all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth and creamy. Cover closely with cling wrap and set aside until needed.

9. To make the brown sugar crumble, place all ingredients in an electric mixer and beat mix until dough forms. ‘Grate’ through a cooling rack with a lined baking tray sitting underneath to catch the crumble then bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until golden.

10. To make the vanilla macaron, draw an 18cm square on a piece of baking paper placed on a baking tray. Using an electric mixer or hand beaters, whisk egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form then slowly add pure icing sugar, checking it has dissolved in between additions until you have stiff glossy peaks. Stir through TPT with vanilla seeds. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe into the pencilled frame using a continuous snaking motion to fill the entire square. Let a skin form and then bake for 10 minutes at 160°C until golden. Remove from oven, slide baking paper off tray and place on kitchen bench. Increase oven temperature to 180°C.

11. To make the vanilla dacquoise, draw an 18cm square on a piece of baking paper placed on a baking tray. In an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form then slowly add caster sugar, beating until you have stiff glossy peaks. Mix almond meal with icing sugar, vanilla seeds and extract, gently fold through egg whites. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe into the pencilled frame using a continuous snaking motion to fill the entire square. Dust with icing sugar, let sit 2 minutes then dust again. Bake at 180°C 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven, slide baking paper off tray and place on kitchen bench. Reduce oven temperature to 160°C.

12. To make the vanilla chiffon cake, draw an 18cm square on a piece of baking paper placed on a baking tray. Mix flour, roasted vanilla bean powder, egg yolks, brown sugar, water and oil in a bowl until combined. Whisk egg whites in an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form then slowly add the sugar and rice flour, beating until you have stiff, glossy peaks. Fold the meringue through the batter gently. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe into the pencilled frame using a continuous snaking motion to fill the entire square. Bake in the oven set at 160°C until golden, about 15 minutes.

13. To make the vanilla almond crunch, melt milk chocolate, add almond praline and the pure almond paste and mix well. Melt butter and take to nut brown (noissette) stage. Add crumble and fueilletine flakes and mix through praline mixture, then fold through burnt butter, followed by toasted almonds, crushed vanilla beans, sea salt and scraped vanilla seeds. Smooth a 5mm layer over vanilla dacquoise and set aside.

14. To make the vanilla syrup, bring all ingredients to the boil, then allow to cool.

15. To make the white chocolate tiles and flower, bring 5cm of water in a medium saucepan to the boil, turn off the heat and sit a metal bowl with 300g of the chocolate over the water. Stir until just melted then remove bowl to the bench and add about 100g more chocolate to bring the temperature down. Stir vigorously until the chocolate has melted, if the chocolate does not feel cold to the touch, add the remaining 100g chocolate to bring down the temperature. Add titanium dioxide and mix well. Keep stirring well to remove all lumps. If the chocolate mixture feels cold to the touch, spread a small, thin layer onto a small piece of baking paper. Set aside for about 3-4 minutes, it will start to harden if it is tempered correctly. If the chocolate becomes too thick and the temperature is too low, gently reheat the mixture in the bowl set over the saucepan of steaming water, but it still needs to be cold.

16. When the chocolate is tempered, to make the flower, spread a thin layer, about 2-3mm thick on 2 pieces of acetate (30 x 40cm) using a large palette knife. Once the chocolate has almost set, on one sheet of acetate carefully mark 3 strips lengthways on the strips, about 7-9cm-wide. Mark thin triangles in each strip. These form the flower petals. Place a piece of baking paper over the top, and wrap around a rolling pin or similar cylinder and allow to completely harden.

17. On the other sheet use a ruler to mark out 4 ½ cm squares. Place a piece of baking paper over the top and invert onto a board or clean work surface to completely harden.

18. To assemble the cake, in a 20cm acetate-lined straight-sided cake tin spread a 5-10mm layer of Chantilly crème around base and sides of tin. Chill in freezer until firm. Lay vanilla gel at the base of the tin and smear with a tiny amount of brulee so that macaron layer will stick to the gel. Lay macaron layer over brulee smear. Cover macaron layer with an even 5mm of brulee. Place chiffon cake over brulee layer. Brush chiffon cake with a little vanilla syrup. Spread a 5mm layer of ganache over chiffon cake. Invert the dacquoise/crunch layers so the vanilla almond crunch layer is sandwiched next to the ganache and the dacquoise is facing up. The dacquoise will become the base of the cake.

19. Fill in any gaps with Chantilly cream, then place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes until firm. Place a large piece of cling wrap on the bench and place a cooling rack on top. Remove the cake from the chiller and invert onto the cooling rack. Heat sides of cake tin gently with a blow torch to help release the mould from the cake. Remove any acetate. Smooth top and sides if necessary with a palette knife. Pouring generously and using a palette knife, spread the vanilla glaze evenly over the top and sides, completely covering the surface. Using a large palette knife transfer the cake to a cake stand and place the chocolate tiles around the cake.

20. To assemble the flower spread a small amount of melted tempered chocolate onto a small piece of baking paper and use this as a base to stick the petals, starting in the centre, working outwards to create a flower. Using choco-cool will help ‘fix’ the petals in place and firm up the chocolate base. Place chocolate flower on top of the cake and decorate the top of the cake with a few sugar spheres.

Almond Praline
Recipe by Anita @ Leave Room for Dessert

50g caster sugar
60g blanched slivered almonds

Roast the almonds for 5-10mins at 160°C. Heat the sugar on high, until the sugar starts browning around the outside. Gently stir in the un-melted sugar, until it is all caramelised in colour. Pour over the roasted almonds. Allow to cool, then blend in a food processor. (It won’t go into the same paste texture as the almond paste above).

Miroir Glaze
Recipe by Anita @ Leave Room for Dessert

2 gold gelatine leaves (4g)
220g water
60g caster sugar
30g glucose

Place the gelatine leaves into cold water to soak for 5 minutes. Heat the water, caster sugar and glucose in a small saucepan until it starts to boil. Remove from heat and let it cool to 70°C. Squeeze excess water from gelatine leaves, place in saucepan and stir until dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool slightly before storing in the fridge.

70 Comments

  1. Chris says:

    wow, that looks amazing! I might try your substitutions if i try to make it, it certainly seems more practical than buying the titanium dioxide or gellan

  2. WOW! That’s amazing! Now I want to make it as well! Thanks for the tips

  3. Oh my goodness, what an amazing job you’ve done. I love the way you’ve improvised everything – the end result is stunning. So impressive!

  4. Trissa says:

    You are crazy you know that?!? In a good way of course!

  5. Karen Ng says:

    Amazing!!! I bet it tastes fantasic too =D

  6. Oh my, you are seriously daring and gutsy for trying this! I see all the layers and just want to faint =p So, did the taste live up to your expectations and was the effort worth it all in the end? And would you make it again?

  7. Holly says:

    Wow ! What was the occassion that you made this luxury of a cake for? I think I would have to WALK home after eating a piece of this magnificient cake! Great job !

  8. Jeanne says:

    Oh how gorgeous! I’ve never heard of this cake before but it sounds so delicious! I would be way too intimidated to attempt to make this cake. You did a fantastic job!

  9. cakelaw says:

    Bravo! I was wondering when someone was going to attempt this. I think yours looks lovely – and I would definitely be up for a slice. Love the flower!!

  10. Leah says:

    What an adventure you took making this cake. I was keen to try it out initially then I watched them make it! Your flower is awesome. What was it like to eat and how long did it take considering you weren’t beating a clock and finished it off so nicely?

  11. Tenina says:

    OH honey…the office have decided I must make this cake, you are the queen of duplication and it looks totally beautiful. I am off put by the sheer number of processes. But I may just use your Almond Praline!
    Wonderful….but do I have to??

  12. FFichiban says:

    Wooowww too amazing!! Looks so very good! I could not even imagine attempting this!

  13. Mother-in-law says:

    If it were a piece of music it would be a symphony! If it were a painting, it would hang in great galleries. But it is a cake, it has been eaten and is 10 hours drive away! Congratulations – I’m drooling from afar!

  14. Renee says:

    It’s gorgeous Anita! You did such a wonderful job and the pics are stunning! Thanks for sharing some of it with us 🙂

  15. SK says:

    That looks sensational.
    Great work on the V8 cake.

  16. Oh my gosh! It looks so amazing! I don’t know what to do with all my free time now that masterchef is over, maybe making and eating this cake could solve that.

  17. Barbara says:

    What a gorgeous cake, Anita! You are talking to a vanilla freak too! I love it in ALL forms and the more the better. I couldn’t ask for a more vanillaish (is that a word?) cake…every layer vanilla in some form. I think I may have to set aside an afternoon and make this one! (I guess adding vanilla ice cream to the top would be taking things too far?)

  18. Rosa says:

    Wow, that cake is to die for! You are a very patient and talented baker.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  19. Juliana says:

    Oh my! I don’t think I’ll ever make this cake, but would love to try it…looks so beautiful and full of yummie layers….beautiful presentation. So professionally done!

  20. Anita well done! 😮 I’m so impressed! But then again I knew if anyone could do one of his cakes, you could! 😉

  21. Susan says:

    Wow! Well done! You are one brave person. It looks great… better than most of the contestants on Masterchef!

  22. Five stars for the fantastic effort. It looks divine!

  23. Super-impressive work on the V8 cake! They weren’t joking about the ingredient list, wow.

  24. Mum says:

    Another beautiful cake Anita, not only did it look great but it was also delicious!! It is great that you are able to give everyone such handy tips on improvising various sections. What’s next for me to try?

  25. sunflowers8 says:

    It is not a cake is a “work of ar”t! It will be a pleasure to follow your blog!
    Soon
    Sonia

  26. Beta Gal says:

    You made that?! Wow, that’s amazing. Congratulations, it looks so intricate (and yummy).

  27. that really is amazing, I love your courage to actually try this out, and I still ove the look despite the ultra white outing. by the way, I love you initiative to make a tin when one is not around!!

  28. […] the V8 cake from Masterchef? Someone made it…. V8 Cake WOW!!!!! And the rest of her blog is really cool too! Melinda Reply With Quote […]

  29. Lucy says:

    Fantastic! So glad someone’s made it … I’ll be attempting it next time I have something big to cook for! I found a recipe online for a miroir glaze but yours looks fantastic and shiney. http://webfoodpros.com/discus/messages/60/63.html?969424360

    I order vanilla beans through ebay … SO much cheaper … I make my own vanilla essence and give big handfuls away to other people. I love vanilla beans and use so many now I have a cheap source!

    I was thinking for the feuillitine I might use caramel coated cornflakes or rice bubbles … the rice bubbles would be finer and more like real feuillitine (which is supposed to be crisp crepes) … how did the wheat flakes work out?

    Did it actually taste nice? was it worth the effort? or would a decent vanilla sable and a creme brulee be better?! Your flower turned out really well … beats all the contestants on MasterChef!

  30. Sarah says:

    wow! I cant believe you made it – looks great!

  31. Evoir01 says:

    Saw your reference to this on the MC forum, so had to come and check it out 🙂

    Well done! I hope to make the cake in a month or so for my own birthday, and also will be omitting the titanium oxide as I think it looks lovely (and more natural) without.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Happy baking 😉

  32. elyssa says:

    hi there,

    Never been to this blog before.Googled V8 cake out of curiosity as to
    which aussie food blogger would be brave enough to attempt this.

    CONGRATULATIONS and well done.
    You must be so proud to be able to produce such a piece.

  33. Ohmygoodnessgracious! I am giving you a virtual standing ovation! It did cross my mind for all of 5 secs to try it, but I envisioned more tears than triumph. You have done an outstanding job though! I am in awe!

  34. silvano says:

    congratulations on attempting the v8 cake looks good ,ive just finished eating the last piece of my one, i went all out and got the titanium , the gellan & vanilla beans total cost of whole cake was just shy of $100 but as you know it was worth it in appearance and taste.went through your archives was impressed with a few or your desserts,as thats all i do,noticed you havent done the caramel parfait glace with salted peanut caramel and milk chocolate mousse i would put this up there with the v8 cake.love the white chocolate cones might make them for the kids soon . cheers .silvano

  35. jac says:

    hi Anita, I followed your suggestions and made the V8 cake for my hubby’s birthday on the weekend. thanks heaps for your hints, they really helped, i dont think i could have done it without you!

    I decided to make mine slightly differently – with a raspberry macacroon, and a layer of fresh raspberries between the ganache and crunch. I also used some hazelnuts instead of almonds each time and i didnt have acetate so just used baking paper and that worked fine for me. I think the flavour combo worked out well.

    thanks again.

  36. OMG Anita – you are amazing! You did such a great job on this cake (masterpiece) It did cross my mind about trying it but the list of ingredients put me off!! Well done for giving it a go and succeeding! Bet your friends were lining up at the door to test taste! Thanks for sharing. Cath

  37. […] up insane creations by the ‘Patissier of Pain” Adriano Zumbo without breaking a sweat? These ladies have done it. By no means am I trivialising the work of these fantastic bloggers (this is […]

  38. Anita says:

    Hi All
    Thanks for the lovely comments.
    Just to answer a few questions, It took longer than 4 hours. I had to wash a number of dishes in between different processes (I would love a kitchen like that on MasterChef 🙂 ). I made some at night during the week, then some on Sat afternoon when I assembled it then placed it in the freezer overnight. Finished it off in the morning and then took photos.

    It tasted amazing! Although for the effort, I wouldn’t make it again. But I am glad I tried it – especially making the glaze look alright – even if it fell off the day after…
    Cheers
    Anita

  39. Unbelievable effort for an amazing looking cake! Love what you did with the flower as well.

  40. […] For Dessert, gave good tips and notes on making this cake so I shall not reiterate them here. Click here for her rendition of the V8 […]

  41. Mei Sze says:

    Dear Anita,

    I attempted the V8/V9 (hehe..you’re right) using your very useful hints. The amount of dishes and utensils to wash as you said, was monumental. The cake was absolutely divine but I will give this another go, to improve the look of it, had trouble with even-ning out the vanilla glaze on the sides of the cake and killed half my dacquoise layer whilst transferring it to a serving platter..my heart sank….
    but yes..definitely will try this again…thanks again for your useful hints and tips…
    You can read about my harrowing experience on

    http://www.foodsze.com/2010/08/adriano-zumbos-v8-cake.html

  42. Jayne says:

    Thanks Anita for your tips.
    I made it over the weekend.
    Very tiring with all the dishes! It tasted good, quiet sweet though, so I got many slices out of it. Not sure if I’ll attempt it again but it was definately an experience I’ll always remember 🙂

  43. Tenina says:

    Hey Anita, I finally did this damn thing! (See my current post!!) I opted not to put the whole thing up as all I did was ‘thermomix’ convert it…I did put up a layer I really loved and also put another layer or two on my work blog;
    [URL]http://thermorecipes.blogspot.com/2010/07/vanilla-thriller-and-thermomix.html[URL]
    Inspirational stuff…felt euphoric having completed it! (But yours did look better!!)

  44. Dianne says:

    Thanks for putting all of this up on your blog! The detail is amazing. I will be trying out your substitutions when I get around to making this recipe as they sound like great alternatives. My students keep bugging me about when this will actually be, so perhaps after the spring break when I have time to play for hours…

  45. Nic says:

    Oh. My. God! As soon as I saw this cake I knew I wanted to make it but didnt think I would due to lack of ingredients. I will definitely try it with your substitutes. Bring on the weekend 🙂

  46. Thank you so much for the detailed explanations and pictures. I am very seriously considering attempting this cake for my man’s special birthday and your directions make it seem almost possible.

    I enjoyed looking around your blog. It would make it so much better if you share your opinion on the taste of the deserts as well. Might even help me decide which ones to try.

  47. Huckleberry says:

    Well I’ve never done a blog and I’ve never baked a cake,
    I did however want a piece so I thought i’de learn to bake from the top, after an 11 hour marathon it was finished, i could have saved alot of time by buying already blanched almonds, making the meringue, dacquise and chiffon layers at the same time and some more experience using baking paper may have avoided the problems i had with it sticking to my cooled layers.
    I have heaps of ingredients left over so I will definatly be giving it another go, now i know to use the food processor and mixer i think it will be much easier and quicker.

    The end result was fantastic, I used 1/2AgarAgar instead of Gellan, Anitas recipes for the Glaze and Praline, and I made it round instead of square with the flower in the middle and left over white chocolate flakes scattered on the top to hide the inconsistencies in my glazing efforts.

    Thanks Anita

    I have no idea how to make those little water eggs

  48. betty says:

    wow this is just amazing i had this cake at my birthday and spent forever guessing what the layers were 🙂

  49. Lou says:

    Thanks so much for for the tips on creating this masterpiece! I plan on making it for my mum’s birthday and have been trying to find all the ingredients, but with your suggestions, I won’t need to source miroir glaze or almond praline. Titanium Dioxide powder is scary stuff and I don’t want to risk breathing any of it in, so I’ll be leaving it out too.

    It still looks gorgeous!

  50. Monique says:

    Hi Anita,

    Some friends of mine and I attempted the V8 after having a pretty successful shot at Zumbo’s Masterchef choc mouse cake last year. I found you through google when trying to source almond praline paste in Melbourne. I used your recipe for that and the miroir glaze as well – thanks. They worked well. Your blog was lots of help overall.

    Overall – our V8 turned out well on the inside, but the creme chantilly did not set hard enough to defeat gravity and our presentation was pretty disastrous. Oh well – all in good fun!

    Anyway – the bombe alaska looks great and I might attempt that next!

    Monique

  51. Rachael says:

    Hi Anita

    I made the V8 cake a month or two ago and it didn’t look nearly as good as yours did.

    Congratulations on making such an excellent replica of the original!

    I look forward to following your future creations.

    Rachael

  52. Cay says:

    Thanks so much for the tips, after reading this I’m confident I can successfully make this for my mate’s 21st. Just a few questions, how long does this cake last? And how do i store it? If it’s kept in freezer – minus glaze – will any layers spoil?
    Thanks for any help!!
    And awesome job on the cake, it looks spectacular!

  53. Jake says:

    Great job with the cake, it looks fantastic !
    I’m thinking of giving it a try, but I noticed that the thickened cream is in grams, and usually its in mls.
    Is it just a typo, or?
    If so does anyone know all up how many mls of thickened cream I will require

  54. Anita says:

    Hi Cay
    Unfortunately my cake didn’t last long at all. At work the next day it looked terrible. It had fallen apart and the glaze had fallen off. I would definitely store in the freezer until glazing and serve soon after glazing.

    Hi Jake
    Yes, the cream is in grams – as it’s much easier when you’re weighing things to weigh everything on the scales, rather than change it from g to ml, or measure in a jug. I would say you could probably measure 1 g = 1ml and not have too much trouble. But if you’re weighing everything else, just weigh the cream too 🙂

    Cheers
    Anita

  55. Jake says:

    Thanks heaps, I will defiantly be making this cake soon! 🙂

  56. Ingrid Lee says:

    Awesome- you’ve done a brilliant job and have inspired me to give it a go- love your blog by the way!

  57. Ayan says:

    Wow! Reading ur blog scared me. I wanted to bake this cake as soon as I saw it on TV but thought I’ll never find the recipe, well I didnt look for it lets say. What an amazing step by step instructions. Thank you. with 7months old son at hand, making 12 cupcakes keep me way too busy but I must try and make this cake. I am making my niece’s b’day cake 8 Dec 10. I am now scared to try even one layer of this cake. Oh fear go away and let me get on to make this cake.

    Baking this cake is now on my priority list…

  58. Venus says:

    hi, greetings from HK, would like to borrow this photo of your v8 cake for my story about adriano zumbo. pls contact me for details. Thanks!

  59. I’m attempting this work of art/impossible task next week for my sisters birthday. I have a whole day off two days before and really want to get most of it done then. How do I store this cake? In the freezer? I want to at least leave it in there overnight to fully set, but is 48 hours too long?

  60. wow, it looks too pretty to even eat! The top looks great, and all the photos are great. I hope with lots of deserts people are exercising too!

  61. Gerry says:

    Hi! Thats a really nice cake you did!

    I have tried making this cake but it somewhat turned out not as good. This is because my chantilly cream failed and it was so fluid instead of being a cream. What did I do wrong? Any advise? Thanks!

  62. adriftsoul says:

    We as a group tried this on a friday night after work (what a silly idea!) four hours later our chantilly cream didn’t set at all and neither did the glaze – chantilly still isn’t set and the glaze is now rock solid!

    needless to say our presentation was a disaster as well – tastes wonderful though!

    to break this down we put all the ingredients into excel and then sorted! but should’ve done the instructions in point form too for some of them – particularly the glaze where we used your miroir glaze recipe anita –

    completely agree that there was way too much of some of the layers to fit in the tin! (if they had set that is!)

    does anyone know where a good site for gelatine explanations / conversions is? we had sheet gelatine and powdered but not sure if it was actually gold strength?

    great idea lucy for buying the vanilla beans on ebay – they are just beautiful but hideously expensive – best price I could find retail was $2.50 per bean at executivechef in brisbane or $4 each in woolworths (packs of two).

  63. mark says:

    Hi all, well I made this cake it is a great cake, I found it an easy cake to make but very time consuming to make. It took me 6 hours by myself to weigh ingredients and make each individual element to the cake and I am a chef (ex army). And I still have to glaze the cake yet.

    I made it for my daughters 18th birthday. It is also expensive especially the vanilla beans. I found a company in western Australia where you can buy bulk they actually grow them dry them and sell them at $14 dollars for 14 pods at 18-20cm in length you can even buy more or different sizes.

    The website is http://www.naturalvanilla.com.au/ I will be buying my vanilla beans from them from now on they are ridiculously expensive from the local shops coles and woolworths.

    It just shows how much profit they make from this one product. I paid $8 dollars from woolworths for two small pods. $4 friggin bucks a pod a rip off

    If this place sells them at $1 dollar a pod and still make profit why does coles and woolies sell them so much…..

    Anyway people try this cake it really is delicious well worth my time making it.
    But I would suggest do it with a partner and leave enough time some stuff you can do the day prior.

    Good Luck and enjoy eating MMMmmmmmmm………

  64. Fiona says:

    A big thank you, Anita, for your fabulous instructions and pics. I made the V8 cake for my son’s 19th, after he had been nagging me to do it after the Masterchef episode.

    I’m so glad I found your site as I was bewildered by the recipe, mainly the strange ingredients. My cake resembled yours and tasted fantastic. I also added in a lot of other people’s suggestions, such as using hazelnut meal instead of almond in some of the layers.

    I have to admit that the cake took about 10 hours over two days from start to finish. I had little components all over the kitchen, fridge and freezer with post-it notes on them! I had to label everything carefully as I find the terminology used is very confusing – the names are so similar, and few of them are normal for a home cook.

    Despite the time it takes, it really is something special as far as cakes go. I nearly had a fit when placing it on the table ready for the candles, as my young nephew reached out a hand to swipe off some of the glaze!

  65. Fiona says:

    Oh, just to add a comment to my post above. Be very careful when layering the cake to make sure that there are no air pockets in the first couple of layers (which become the top).

    I had some pockets, and when I added the glaze, the creme chantilly just subsided into the holes – very frightening as the cake looks so beautiful before that.

    I was able to repair the holes with leftover chantilly and it turned out fine, but it would have been easier if I hadn’t had air pockets.

  66. […] step by step guide is offered at the masterchef website for daring amateurs, whilst i found another blog post detailing the baking process. this really looks fun, but to be honest, the realization of just how […]

  67. Kylie says:

    Wow! My hubby and I can’t wait to make this cake. One thing I said to him was it is a shame that there isn’t step by step instructions in Zumbo, Adriano Zumbo’s new cookbook and he found you!

    Your instructions are clear and very helpful with the photos (i am a visual person so this in invaluable)

    I personally agree with the vanilla bean issue and ever since I started making panacotta we got onto Vanilla Bean Paste. It is the BEST! $10 a little pot from most grocery stores. It is vanilla bean extract with the vanilla seeds. There is 65g in a little pot – 1tsp = 1 whole vanilla bean. 1 tsp is 5g so that gives you 13 tsp’s in a pot – or 13 vanilla beans. For $10 I think this is great value! Give it a go! it looks really authentic with the little black vanilla seeds in your dessert.

    And thanks again for this amazing step by step guide for this cake Anita! Well done!

  68. […] Make the Miroir Glaze: (Recipe by Anita @ Leave Room for Dessert):
    2 gold gelatine leaves (4g)
    220g water
    60g caster sugar
    30g […]

  69. Zia says:

    Wow. Simply wow. You inspire me to make attempt.
    Great great work!

  70. Debbie says:

    I was so intimidated by the recipe… but it was per my sons request that I make this for his birthday. I followed your recipe and I had success! It was very challenging, I am a self taught home baker. Thanks for sharing your experience.
    I wanted to add a photo but couldn’t find how to do it.

Leave a Comment