Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa Inspired Cake | Erica Robbin
Nintendo inspiration, and it's the most moist and fluffy cake I have ever made in a high humidity, low elevation environment.
I loved playing video games growing up and still love them as an adult. My family and I recently played some old NES games and it brought back so much childhood nostalgia for me.
So here is a cake inspired by the Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa Nintendo game. This game was originally introduced by Konami, in Japan, in 1988.
Upa, the baby, is the prince of a magical kingdom and in the line of brave fighters. One day, though, he broke an urn containing the spirit of Zai, an incredibly evil goatish demon who takes the life force of the kingdom’s adults and kidnaps all the babies – except for Upa, who is given a magical rattle by a fairy who was trapped in the urn along with Zai. In order to save his kingdom, Upa crawls into action…
Credit: ericarobbin.com
Ingredients
- BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA INSPIRED CAKE:
- 2 sticks (113 grams/4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- No-taste red and lemon yellow food coloring gel (without color it will remain a yellow cake)
- 1/2 pound strawberries
- 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar or granulated sugar with a teaspoon of cornstarch
- 16 oz (1 pt/473 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 3-6 tablespoon granulated sugar (to taste)
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 pound strawberries, a couple cut into flat chunks to help support the whipped cream layer and remaining sliced thin to garnish outside of whipped cream layer and top of cake
- 1 19.5 oz (552 grams) jar mandarin oranges (reserve and reduce the juice as an optional simple syrup for added orange flavor)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- Leaf green food coloring gel
- 2-4 teaspoons milk
STRAWBERRY GLACÉ:
HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM:
WHIPPED CREAM LAYER AND TOP GARNISH:
BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA CAKE SUGAR BORDER:
Directions
- BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA INSPIRED CAKE:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 C).
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Mix in vanilla.
- Lightly beat the 3 egg yolks and slowly mix in until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder, then add the orange zest.
- Add the following into the batter, mixing well in between: Alternate between adding flour mixture (1/3 at a time) and buttermilk (1/2 at a time), starting and ending with the flour mixture.
- In a separate bowl whip the 3 egg whites and salt until stiff peaks.
- Mix 1/3 of egg whites and desired food coloring into batter, then fold in remaining 2/3.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 C).
- Bake cakes in greased or parchment lined baking pans (I used 8×8 inch, square) until lightly golden and cake springs back when touched.
- Cool cakes on rack for 10 minutes.
- Before inverting out of pan, release edges with a knife.
- Ensure layers are completely cool before assembling.
- Puree together strawberries and sugar.
- Cook over medium-high heat until thickened.
- Whip all ingredients together until light and fluffy.
- Knead together powdered sugar, butter, and milk until soft dough.
- Layer various cake colors as shown, using optional reduced mandarin orange simple syrup, then alternating with glacé.
- For whipped cream layer, I used the flat chunk strawberries for support and added sliced strawberries and mandarin oranges to the sides.
- Cut sugar border design for bottom of cake.
- Top with a fluffy cloud of whipped cream and thinly sliced strawberries.
STRAWBERRY GLACÉ:
HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM:
BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA CAKE SUGAR BORDER:
BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA CAKE ASSEMBLY:
I have been experimenting with recipes that work well in high humidity (100%) and at low elevations (less than 1,000 feet above sea level). I am amazed at how this cake turned out. The crumb is even, the cake actually rose nicely, and the texture is soft, bouncy, and moist, similar to Japanese cheesecake. This recipe is definitely a keeper for these types of conditions. Simple syrup is optional, I used a reduction of the mandarin orange juice to incorporate more the of the orange flavor.
*Please note that this recipe will be best for high humidity and low elevations. For me to achieve this particularly tall, layered cake as inspired by the video game, I doubled the recipe.
