Tuesday 15 May 2012

Rich Chocolate Cake - Blackforest!

Tried out Crumb Boss's Chocolate Cake recipe for this ultimate chocolatey cake!



Its not the typical type of light sponge that we usually get outside... OMG this one is moist, rich and chocolatey! Thus since the recipe is for 1 3-layer cake, I've made it into 2 cakes, as...firstly, its going to be too tall and I got no box to fit that! Secondly, it'll be a humongous slice of cake to work off later. so, I guess 2-layer will be fine.

So I've filled it with chocolate-mocha fresh cream, moistened with cherry syrup, and dark cherries and topped it off with whipped fresh cream and couverture chocolate "scrapings". Not shavings because I didn't manage to SHAVE the chocolate... GRRR! Didn't want to spend $5.50 on a box of chocolate shavings! So I tried to melt this couverture chocolate and freeze it up into a block and "SHAVE" it... but its so difficult that I gave up and use a scraper instead... and it barely worked. Next time I'm gonna buy the shavings instead. ahaa...

Chocolate Cake (Rich Cake) - Originally from www.Crumbboss.com

Cocoa Powder 1c
AP Flour 1.5 c
Baking Powder 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/4 tsp

Butter 8oz =
Sugar 2c. + 1/4c

Eggs 5ea
Buttermilk 6oz
Vanilla X 1Tbs

**rememebr this is an ALTERNATING CREAMING METHOD…

Cream butter and sugar (with paddle attachment) until light and fluffy, sift dry ingredients, add in eggs to the batter one by one (do not dump everything in together or the mixture will break!), then add in sifted dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk and vanilla. Bake in greased cake tin with bottom lined with baking paper at 180 deg celsius for about 30mins until top springs back to touch/few crumbs adher to cake tester.

However, I think I prefer lighter sponge cake:


Chocolate sponge cake (7")
3 large eggs (abt 180 g)
80g fine/castor sugar 

60g AP Flour (or you can use cake flour and omit corn flour)
10g corn flour
20g cocoa powder

20ml whole Milk
20g Butter (Melt with milk in microwave)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Whisk the eggs and sugar (you can add abt a tsp of sponge gel here but I usually don't), until it reaches ribbon stage. 
2. Melt butter and milk and add in vanilla extract together, sift the flour and cocoa powder together. 
3. Fold in dry ingredients in 2-3 steps lightly, taking care not to deflate batter. Before totally mixed, add in melted butter and milk and fold slightly.
3. Put batter into lined pan, tap the pan to remove air bubbles and bake at 190 degrees for 20-25 mins till middle of cake springs back when pressed. Remove from pan and overturn to cool on rack before removing the paper.
 
Whipped cream for topping and Chocolate-Mocha Whipped Cream For Filling
 
2 cup whipping cream/heavy cream
2 tsp gelatine melt in some water in microwave for abt 15seconds
1 tbsp corn syrup (mix into melted gelatine and stir to combine)
1/4 cup or to taste confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
1 tbsp instant coffee (melted in water)
2 tbsp melted chocolate
 
Stir gelatine and corn syrup mixture. Whip cream with whisk in a clean and cold bowl until foamy (not stiff), add in gelatine mixture and confectioner's sugar, continue whipping until 90% Stiff. Remove, separate half for filling cake and the other half to ice the outside of cake. 
 
Add cooled instant liquid coffee and melted chocolate into one half of the whipped cream and mix thoroughly with whisk/spatula. 
 
Cut cake into 2 or 3 layers, drain some dark cherries and retain the syrup to brush on the cake layers before putting in filling. Put in chocolate-mocha whipped cream and put in dark cherries. Top up with the rest of the whipped cream and then do it the same if you have more layers. Frost the outside of cake with the rest of the whipped cream and decorate with maraschino cherries and chocolate shavings. 

Thursday 10 May 2012

Back in Action.... Well, almost...

After being away for MONTHS... on maternity leave, I'm finally back in action... well, almost! Baking has been my favourite pass time (as if I got any time to pass) or rather HOBBY ever since I lay my hands on my first beloved KitchenAid Mixer back in end-2010... I don't think I'll ever let it go in this lifetime.

Owning a bakery will be my life-long goal and creating confectionery items out of my pure love of this art will never change. Looking up to Crumb Boss to her passion, creativity and big heartness for baking and sharing... I can't say how much I love this art!

Can't wait to discuss and share with everyone what I know and what they would love to find out... passionate fellas out there, add me at chocolatecandyfloss.bakes@gmail.com on Facebook!

ChocolateCandyFloss Bakes - Let's Eat Cake! starts here!

Hello everyone! Stay tuned!