Welcome to episode 1 of BENTO THIS! I am so excited to be sharing with you my brand-new series where we make desserts in a to-go box. We are going to be taking desserts and inspiration from different flavors to textures, colors, etc… and turning them into a dessert you can assemble in a box. This means you can take your bento cake to-go whenever and wherever. When I first made a dessert in a bento box, I realized that it made complex desserts a bit less intimidating and made decorating way less complicated. Since everything is put together in a box at the end, you can focus on each component separately without feeling overwhelmed. As for the task of assembling, things can be cut up to fit and re-organized without any hassle. It simply makes the process very forgiving. And the very last step of decorating the top, since it’s the only surface visible you can make it as simple or complicated as you wish and it will still look delicious! So here is EPISODE 1: “Tiramisu” Bento Box Cake Cake: Dry Ingredients- 120g Plain Flour 200g Caster Sugar 50g Cocoa Powder, sifted 1/3tsp Baking Soda 2/3tsp Baking Powder 1tsp Salt Wet Ingredients- 100ml Water, warm 3tsp Instant Coffee 100ml Milk Juice of 1/2 Lemon 1 Large Egg 40ml Vegetable Oil 1tsp Vanilla Extract Coffee Syrup: (optional but recommended) 20ml Water 20g White Sugar 1tsp Instant Coffee (or equal parts sugar to a shot of brewed espresso) Cream: 70ml Double Cream 2tbsp Powdered Sugar 2tsp Vanilla Extract 200g Mascarpone Cream ~1tbsp Cocoa Powder Steps: 1. Preheat oven to 170°C and line a 7inch cake tin 2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside 3. In a cup, combine water and instant coffee. In another cup, combine milk and lemon juice to make “buttermilk” 4. In a bowl, combine the coffee and buttermilk we just made with egg, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk until homogenous 5. Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined (it should come together quite easily and quickly) 6. Pour the batter into the cake tin, give it a tap to release the air bubble, and spin the tin 7. Bake at 170°C for 25-30min. If a skewer comes out clean, it’s ready. Leave it to cool completely before removing it from the tin 8. Cut the top of the cake off and cut the cake into the size of your bento box (any container). 9. Make the coffee syrup by combining all the ingredients and allowing the sugar to dissolve. Brush a light layer of the syrup onto the cake 10. In a bowl, whip the double cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks 11. In a separate bowl, whip up the mascarpone to loosen it, then add the whipped cream and whip everything together until stiff peaks 12. Spread the cream onto the cake and fill the bento box so there’s a thick layer of cream 13. Dust the top with cocoa powder, and enjoy immediately, or even better, let it set in the fridge for at least 30min then enjoy! #easyrecipes #bakingrecipe #cakerecipe #chocolatecake #calm