The idea came to me while sketching the design concepts for the Milk and Cereal cake, which is typically my starting point with all of my cakes. I originally planned on creating white chocolate brushstrokes to look like little splashes of milk coming up the side of the cake, and when I showed my graphic designer husband, he stared for a second and said, “why don’t you just figure out how to do a big milk splash on top?” I loved the idea, sketched it out, and proceeded to study milk splash photography to figure out how to approach the design.

For the first attempt, I tried wrapping a bowl with saran wrap (face down) and pouring tempered white chocolate over it. After letting it set in the fridge, it would not release. The saran wrap stuck firmly to the bowl and all of the drips of the splash ended up breaking off. Next, I tried to do the same technique on the inside of the bowl so that I could simply lift the saran wrap upward to release the white chocolate. That didn’t work either.

What finally worked was pouring cooled white chocolate over a small balloon. I’d seen a few YouTube videos on how to make bowls out of chocolate this way, and I figured it was the smartest way to get the job done. Here’s how to get the look: 

What You’ll Need

• A few small (5 inch) balloons
• 1 cup (183g) white chocolate chips
• Microwave or double boiler for melting chocolate
• A few small bowls for holding balloons upright
• Cooking spray
• A piping bag
• Palette knife or small metal spatula
• Safety pin
• Frying pan

Step 1: Blow Up Balloons

This part’s the easiest. Blow up your balloons to the circumference you’re wanting and place then into small bowls to keep them upright.

Step 2: Temper And Cool The Chocolate

Place the white chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and reserve ¼ of the chips to use as the “seed”. Microwave the chocolate (without the seed) in 30-second intervals, stirring after each round, until it’s melted and has reached 116 degrees fahrenheit.

When the white chocolate has reached that point, stir in the reserved seed until those chips have melted and the temperature drops to 86 degrees.

Step 3: Create The Milk Splash

Spray a little cooking spray onto the tops of each balloon (helps the chocolate releasing process), then place the melted chocolate into a piping bag and snip off a small opening. Take the balloons, one by one, out of their holder bowls. Use one hand to hold the balloon and the other hand to pipe a milk splash design onto the balloon, covering the top of the balloon (which will be the bottom of the milk splash) and creating drips around the sides to give the splash effect.

When you’re finished piping each milk splash, place the balloon back into the holder bowl. Be careful with this step, since the balloons will become top heavy with the added weight of the white chocolate. Place the balloons into the refrigerator to set for at least 15-20 minutes.

Step 4: Pop The Balloons

Once the white chocolate has fully set, use a palette knife to carefully slide between the balloon and each drip so that the more delicate parts of your milk splash are pre-released. Then use a safety pin or other sharp object to make a small incision in the balloon. You’ll want it to pop slowly so that it doesn’t snap off your chocolate drips.

If you find that the balloon has stuck to the white chocolate in areas, very gently release those parts by hand. The balloon should come away from the white chocolate with a little elbow grease.

Step 5: Shape The Milk Splash

With a frying pan or other type of shallow pan over Medium-Low heat on your stovetop, gently hold the bottom of your milk splash over the heated surface. This will cause the rounded bottom to melt away, leaving you with more of a crown-like topper. This extra step makes the milk splash look more realistic when it’s on the cake.

Be super careful not to melt the chocolate too quickly, and keep the stove setting closer to Low than Medium. Slow and steady wins the race with this one.

If you happen to break any of the drips during the process of creating the milk splash (like I totally did!) you can use the heated pan to melt one end of the drip and “glue” it back where it belongs. The chocolate will bind together and set, and you probably won’t even notice the repair!

Step 6: Assembly

After the milk splash is set, shaped, and ready to go, all you have to do is place it on top of your cake. I filled mine with a little cereal to make it look like I threw cereal onto the top of the cake to cause the milk splash. Feel free to get creative with the way you use yours!

The post White Chocolate Milk Splash Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Ah, milk and cereal. They’re a match made in heaven, and nostalgic as heck. I can remember many a Saturday morning curled up in front of the TV with a bowl of milk and cereal in hand – it was a true staple in my childhood diet. The idea of translating those flavors into a cake didn’t occur to me until a year ago, when a friend of mine was having a cereal-themed birthday party. I thought it was such a fun and playful idea for a cake, and although I didn’t start testing flavors just then, I added it to my list of future cake ideas and the dream was alive.

Fast forward to present day, I found myself wandering the cereal aisle to find the perfect flavors to finally bring my milk and cereal cake dreams to life. I decided on Froot Loops, mainly because they taste good and they’re so pretty, but this recipe can be created with just about any cereal your heart desires (we all have our favorites!). I’ve made it successfully with the wheat pieces in Lucky Charms and I’m sure just about any cereal would be tasty. 

Creating the perfect milk and cereal cake recipe definitely took some trial and error. My first go-round I ended up crushing up Froot Loops by hand and folding them into the cake batter, and while the result was pretty to look at (like rainbow funfetti!) the taste was off because the cereal got super chewy after the baking process. After trying some different approaches and conducting a few blind taste tests, I’ve refined the recipe to make this milk and cereal cake taste just as heavenly as it looks.

The secrets to the taste are: using actual cereal milk in place of regular milk (made by soaking the cereal in whole milk) and also adding finely ground cereal into the cake batter instead of just crushed up cereal pieces. To keep the cake moist and fluffy I’ve also incorporated sour cream and cake flour, which I swear by for all of my vanilla-based cakes.

If you’ve seen this cake on my Instagram, you’ll also see that the design concept really helps sell the premise of the cake. Some credit has to be given to my husband on that, because he totally helped come up with the idea of creating a “milk splash” out of white chocolate for the topper! Side by side, we sketched out the concept art before I took to the kitchen to figure out how to make it happen. Don’t worry, I’ve even created a full tutorial on the white chocolate milk splash in case you want to get the look!

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Milk And Cereal Cake

A moist and fluffy cereal-infused cake with cereal milk buttercream. Pairs perfectly with Saturday morning cartoons!

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Cereal Milk

• 2 Cups whole milk
• 2 Cups Froot Loops (or cereal of your choice)

Milk And Cereal Cake

• 1 Cup finely ground Froot Loops or cereal of your choice (equals about 3 cups of whole cereal)
• 3 3/4 Cups (398g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/8 Cups (254g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 Cups (410g) granulated sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 Cup (112g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups (360ml) cereal milk, room temperature

Cereal Milk Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 4 Tbsp (59ml) cereal milk, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Instructions

Make The Cereal Milk

• Pour the whole milk over cereal and let sit for 15 minutes. Strain out the cereal and reserve the milk to use in the cake and buttercream recipes. 

Make The Milk And Cereal Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F and prepare three 8-inch or four 6-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting a parchment or wax paper circle to the bottom of each pan. 
• In a food processor, grind up Froot Loops (or cereal of your choice) into a fine powder. Keep in mind that 1 cup of finely ground cereal equals about 3 cups of whole cereal. Place into a medium sized bowl and add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter for one minute on high. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and add the sugar. Cream together on high for two minutes, scraping down bowl and paddle once in between. Turn mixer to low and add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl and paddle as necessary. Once all eggs are added, turn the mixer to high and beat for three minutes. 
• Add vanilla and sour cream and continue mixing for one minute. Turn the mixer to low and add all of the dry ingredients at once until just combined, then add the cereal milk all at once. Scrape down the bowl and paddle once more and mix on low for about 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared pans (about ⅔ full). 
• Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes for five minutes before releasing from the pan and continuing to cool on a baking sheet or wire rack for several hours.

Make The Cereal Milk Buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter until fluffy and light (almost white) in color, about 7 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle twice during the process. Add powdered sugar a few cups at a time and beat on medium, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each interval. Add the cereal milk, vanilla, and salt and continue to mix on medium for two minutes.

Assembly

• After torting the cake layers to the desired height, fill and frost them with cereal milk buttercream. Decorate with crushed up cereal and a white chocolate milk splash crown.

Notes

The cake layers can be made ahead, wrapped in plastic, and stored at room temperature for up to two days before frosting. Alternatively, you can wrap the cake layers and store them in the freezer for up to two months before thawing.

The buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and then re-whip with your stand mixer to bring back the original consistency. 

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What’s your favorite cereal? If you substituted it into this recipe I want to know how it turned out! Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear.

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