Pinata Cake!
Such a super fun concept! You bake a cake and then make a big chocolate shell to sit over the top, you decorate this and then when ready to serve you hit it with a pinata stick or in our case a meat mallet and smash through to the cake underneath!
I decided to make one for Valentine's day. It wasn't quite how I pictured but it tasted so good! I used a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and on top I added chocolate dipped strawberries. I had plans for chocolate shards but my bowl was too short.
Method
I'm not going to tell you how to make your cake, let's assume you have already made one or just bought one because who can be bothered sometimes?!
Find a bowl that will cover your cake and decorations. Cover this in cling wrap, twice and make sure there are no gaps. Smooth it down and put aside. Cover a large plate in cling wrap, it is important that the plate is bigger than your bowl as this will catch the drips.
I used one bag of white chocolate melts and it wasn't enough, my shell was too thin and I ended up having to make it three times, each time on a smaller bowl. I needed two bags or about 800gm. I melted the chocolate in the microwave, stiring at 30 second intervals.
Once your chocolate has melted place the bowl upside down on the covered plate. Pour some of the chocolate on the top of your bowl and use a spatula to guide it down the sides. Continue doing this until the whole bowl is covered. If it is quite warm you might like to pop it in the fridge for a few minutes between adding chocolate so it doesn't just slide off onto the plate.
Leave it to set in the fridge, once set you can jiggle it off the bowl. This can be very stressful, it is an ideal time to scream at everyone to leave you alone and stay out of the kitchen. I wish I had a walk in fridge to do this part but I don't so I just had to keep everything crossed.
Carefully peel out any clingwrap that got stuck. If you have an uneven edge place a large frying pan on medium heat. Once warm place your chocolate shell in the pan until the chocolate melts, leaving an even edge.
Put aside to cool, put any decorations on your cake, I used chocolate dipped strawberries. Place the chocolate shell over the top of your cake and melt a little more chocolate, this is to attach your decorations. You can decorate it however you like, I went with meringues but they exploded quite spectacularly when hit with the meat mallet, you might like to use something a little smaller like Smarties or freckles!
ENJOY! It is very fun to hit the cake to break up the shell, I chose flavours that complimented my cake but I was just trying to be fancy, chocolate really goes with everything.
Tips
Do not do everything late one night after being unwell, the cake will not look like how you imagined and you will be disappointed
Especially don't bake the cake the same day you are making the chocolate shell, this causes undue stress
It's ok to buy the cake, no judgement here!
Make sure you have a bowl that is big enough to cover your cake and any toppers before you get started
You need more chocolate than you think you do
Cling wrap the outside of the bowl before you cover it in chocolate
Ensure the chocolate has completely set before removing it from the bowl
Do not decorate it as much as I did, I am still finding meringue dust in my kitchen
