This post we travel to a feline kingdom where nothing is what it seems, and it's one of the first Ghibli movies I watched. The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し) was released in 2002 and astute viewers might recognise The Baron from another Ghibli movie, Whisper of the Heart. I've decided to make two things from this movie: the cake that Muta eats in the palace and the fish crackers that Haru eats then gives to the stray cat!
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| Fishy fishy fishy fish |
(source) They're little fish!! So much fish! |
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No, it's not the cake with the fish on top although I kind of wish it was
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| Perfect for summer strawberry season! |
In a movie that's centered around cats, it's only to be expected that there's a lot of fish! To be more accurate, the cake should probably contain dark fleshed fish like tuna or something, and the pink cream should probably be salmon mousse but that's approaching Heston-esque levels of experimentation and I'm not quite ready to make that jump yet. So I decided: strawberry shortcake. There's two types of strawberry shortcake that I know of; one uses buttery shortbread whilst the other uses chiffon-soft spongecake. Following the screenshot, I went with the sponge version. The recipe is pretty simple and the only problem I found was that the sponge was a bit dry, but I think that could be fixed by brushing it with syrup like a genoise. Keep in mind that the eggs and sugar need to be beaten until thick and creamy and pale because the volume of the sponge comes from the amount of air being beaten in. (science disclaimer: information from Wikipedia; and in the distance you can hear the screams of horrified tutors, lecturers and teachers)
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| Super simple |
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| Eggs and sugar into a bowl then... |
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| It gets quite creamy and pale after ~5 mins or so of beating |
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| See those drips? That's a 'ribbon' |
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| No need to bang it on the table to get rid of the air |
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| It expands a lot so make sure your pan's big enough! |
The filling's what I'm going to call 'time-sensitive' because I decided to stabilise the cream with gelatin and the first time I did it, I left the cream standing too long and it solidified completely and I couldn't spread it at all. This prompted a quick run to the store to grab more cream, so you'll have to work quickly but if you're not going to stabilise it then there's no need to worry! By stabilising the cream with gelatin, it makes it easier to transport, especially in hot weather. It also prevents the cream from 'weeping' where the cream separates and water leaks out. To make the filling pink, I used some red food colouring and stirred in strawberry jam for extra flavour.
To assemble the cake I used the screenshot as a guide, so first cut the sponge into two even halves. I was lazy and eyeballed it, but you can get better results by using the toothpick method I covered in my Gateau Opera post! After you've done that, spread the bottom half with half of the pink cream and layer the sliced strawberries on top (you may have to push them into the cream slightly). Next, cover the strawberries with the rest of the pink cream and even out the top so it's flat, then transfer the other half on top. Spread that half with the remaining cream and decorate with the hulled strawberries. Easy pie!
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| By this time, the filling had already started to set! |
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| I made the mistake of putting the strawberries on BEFORE I cut the sides square, whoops. |
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| The gelatin makes the filling almost pudding like. |
With the crackers, at first I thought of using store bought crackers like Dixie Drumsticks because they're kind of shaped like fish but, once again I made my life more difficult and made my own. The crackers, or rather savoury shortbread, should probably be fish flavoured, but fish crackers are something very different to me (they're like prawn crackers except they taste like fish) so I went with a recipe I've followed before for cheese cookies!
Also please, please, please do not feed these crackers to your pets, they're not meant for animal consumption even if they are shaped like adorable fish. I tried to find a fish shaped cookie cutter which you'd think would be easy enough, but no one sells them. I went to four different stores and turned out empty handed, and the online search produced cookie cutters that weren't the exact shape I wanted. I think you can make your own cookie cutters using a soft drink can, but, once again, I was lazy so I used a small knife to cut the shapes. The eyes were made using the thicker end of a chopstick (round, not the disposable flat ones) and I made the gills with the thinner end by making a kind of curved indent. If you're having trouble rolling the dough out, then I suggest sticking it in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes just to firm it up. I also put them back into the fridge after I did the detailing for about 5 minutes just to make sure that when I baked them, I wouldn't lose all my hard work.
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| Buttery and cheesy |
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| Don't roll it too flat or you might have trouble getting them onto the baking tray! |
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| Freehand cutting awwwh yeeaaaaah but no seriously, if you have trouble, make a template out of paper and cut around that for a more uniform appearance |
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As you can see...not as uniform as I thought they were
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