Of the Triple Chocolate Cake

 I'll admit it. After making the basic chocolate cake awhile back, my family's been craving for another round of chocolate cake, and what better time to have chocolate cake than Christmas? For this cake, I used the same recipe I used for the basic chocolate cake, but with the addition of chocolate ganache and chocolate frosting.

I sandwiched chocolate ganache between two layers of dark chocolate cake. Then, spread some of the chocolate frosting and drizzled even more ganache on top. Let me tell you, there was no leftover. The kids who were at the party just gobbled it up. The cake was moist and practically oozed chocolate. It was definitely the star of the dessert table.

Ready for the party!

Chocolate Ganache

9 oz Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped

1 cup Heavy cream

In a double boiler (or a makeshift one), bring the cream to a boil. Add the chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has melted and the resulting ganache is smooth and shiny. (You can add a tablespoon of rum too if you want, but I decided not to)

Chocolate Frosting
(I used a variation of the vanilla frosting I used in my previous cake)
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups icing or confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch f salt
4 tablespoons chocolate ganache

Beat everything together until light and fluffy.

The last slice is for the cook!

Of Egg White Cakes

The Iced Egg White Cake

I made Leche Flan for Christmas, and like the many other times I've made leche flan, I was stuck with the problem of leftover egg whites. I've tried making egg white omelets before but I've found that they're never as good as whole egg omelets. I've also tried making meringues, but I found that I do not have the patience for them. (1 1/2 to 1 3/2 hours to bake? Can't wait that long.)  It was a joy then to discover this recipe for egg white cake. 

It's actually an Estonian Egg White cake, also known to Estonians as Munavalgekook. (At least that's what the recipe says) I got the recipe from a blog called Nami-Nami. The author actually baked the cake in a Bundt pan, which (not surprisingly) I didn't have. With a change in cake pans, a little vanilla extract and a little icing, I was able to make a very edible dense cake.

Ready for the party-goers

Egg White Cake

6 large egg whites

1 1/3 cup (about 250g) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (about 160g) all purpose flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

100g (about 1/2 cup) butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl whisk the egg whites, 2 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla extract until thick, pale and foamy. In another bowl, stir in the flour, corn starch, baking powder and the rest of the sugar. Sift this mixture into the egg white and gently fold them in. Fold in the butter.

Pour into a prepared cake pan, preferably a Bundt pan, but an 8-in cake pan will also do. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (or 360F) for 30-40 minutes. Once done, remember to cool the cake completely before applying any frosting to it.

Vanilla Frosting (from Martha Stewart)

4 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioner's or icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 pinch of salt

Sift the sugar into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Beat everything together until light and fluffy. (how easy is that?)

Chocolate Ganache (for decoration)

I will admit, that when I made this, I did not measure any of the ingredients. Basically, I threw a bar of bittersweet chocolate and some cream into a bowl (preferably metal, but you can also use glass. Do not use plastic!) and then placed the bowl over a simmering pot of water. The set up is similar to what you'd get if you had a double boiler. (If you have one, you should probably use it) Make sure the bowl with your chocolate and cream in it does not touch the surface of the water. Whisk everything together until the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth and shiny mixture.

If you're still not sure, you can use this recipe for ganache from allrecipes.com: Chocolate Ganache.

Assembly

The very first step is to cool the cake. If possible, refrigerate it for at least an hour. Gently spread the frosting onto the cake using a spatula. Finally drizzle the ganache over the cake. 

You can use excess ganache for a lot of things including truffles and flavoring the frosting of my next cake.

Yummy! Being eaten at the party

Of Basic Chocolate Cakes

One of my dad's friends just had a new baby, so my family trooped over to their place to see him. As a "baby-warming" gift, my mom decided that she wanted to give them chocolate cake. A strange choice since the baby can't have cake. Oh well, the mommy does love chocolate cake. Of course, I volunteered to make it. I wanted to try a new recipe, but my mom insisted on me using a recipe she had already tried, and whatever mom says goes. So, I had me a cake recipe, but I didn't have a recipe for frosting. With only a limited amount of butter and only cocoa powder on hand, I knew that I definitely wouldn't be doing a ganache. I did eventually found a perfectly chocolately frosting with the help of ehow.com and some simple experimentation.

Dark Chocolate Cake
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brewed coffee (I actually used 3 teaspoons instant coffee and a cup of water), cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The first step is to preheat the oven to 350F or 175C. Then mix the milk with the vinegar and set aside. In a bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk gently to mix. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs,  vegetable oil, coffee and vanilla extract. Add the milk and vinegar solution. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Finally, pour into two prepared 8-inch cake tins. Bake for 30 minutes. The cake will be springy when touched and an inserted toothpick will come out clean.

This chocolate cake was adapted from an allrecipes.com recipe.

Cocoa Powder Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter. Then add the cocoa powder. Stir. Add the milk and stir until combined. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar. Finally, add the vanilla extract. If you want the frosting to be a bit more liquidy, add more.

Make sure that your cake has cooled completely before frosting it. After frosting the cake, remember to refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes or until the frosting has set a little. Now since this recipe yields two 8-inch cakes, you can either layer the cake one on top of the other with some of the frosting in between or just frost two different cakes. We went with the latter choice since two is better than one!

Of Lemony Birthday Cakes

Oh Lemony goodness, I love you. Ever since I made lemon bars a few weeks ago, I've been thinking about making another lemony dessert. The perfect occasion came up: My birthday. I also found the perfect cake: Lemon Curd Cake. I got the recipe for this cake from BBC.

There are three parts to this cake: The cake, the curd and the icing. 

The cake:

The zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 cup self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

170g butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

To make the cake, mix every thing together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. The divide the batter between two 8-inch pans and bake for about 35 minutes. Like any cake, it's always better to check if the center feel springy when touched. I actually baked mine for a little less than 35 minutes.

The curd:

While waiting for the cake, I decided to start on the curd. The instructions were easy enough to follow, but I still had one problem: I've never had lemon curd before. Which meant that I had no idea how thick was thick enough, and I had totally forgotten to watch videos to figure out how thick was thick enough. Thankfully, it still came out pretty well.

1 lemon, juice and zest

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

60g unsalted butter (Ok, the recipe actually says 2oz which is 56g, but I figured, what harm could 4g more do?)

Place lemon zest and sugar in a bowl. Whisk together the eggs and the lemon juice, and pour over the sugar and zest. Whisk everything together. Cut the butter into little pieces and add to the mixture. Place the bowl over a barely simmering pot of water. If you have a double boiler, you can use that. Stir frequently until thick. 

I was afraid that the curd would curdle on me, but it didn't and I was actually able to leave it on the stove for a few short minutes to check on other things. I think the key to this is just keeping an eye on it and whisking very frequently. I heard that it does curdle, you can simply take it off the heat and whisk until the lumps disappear, then just strain the curd when you're done.

The icing:

This is where I hit a little stumbling block. See, I had decided earlier that I didn't need to buy more confectioner's sugar, mostly because I had decided not to reduce the sugar in this recipe for my dad. Hey, it's my birthday after all. As a compromise, and also so I wouldn't have to keep thinking about his sugar levels, I decided not to make a lot of icing. The recipe calls for:

zest of one lemon

1/2 cup icing or confectioner's sugar

2-3 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix everything together until you get a soft runny consistency. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before using it. 

Since I didn't make enough icing, my cake ended up having a sugary glaze instead of the delicious white icing you see on the BBC website. Oh well. You can also decorate your cake with lemon slices. To add a touch of color, I added strawberries on top.