Archive for the 'Chocolate' Category
The ultimate chocolate cake recipe
Like many chocolate addicts I have been looking for the chocolate cake recipe that turns out a cake which is moist, rich and totally fulfilling. I thought I had found it after years of searching through cookery books, on the web and doing a little work myself on my various cake recipes.
Reading the introduction to this “best in the world” “wonderfully moist cake” I became really excited … and then quickly came down to earth with a Big Bang (one of my favourite TV shows by the way). It started with “take a half packet of chocolate cake mix”, that´s me gone.
I do appreciate when I don´t have the time to make a cake that some cake mixes are OK, but they are not the best cakes in the world. I am told that for them to be moist and keep longer they use Tapioca Flour as it absorbs more moisture.
The most disappointing cakes I have eaten have been in restaurants where they boast of a master chef whose speciality is baking … bland, sometimes sad, tasting of anything but the ingredients that are supposed to be in there, really just boring and horrible. The best cakes I have had were made by my Father in Law who was a “master baker” and a friend at the Coal Board who made the most beautiful light and tasty cakes, she was neither chef nor master baker, just a home cook like myself, and last but not least, my daughter.
For me … IMHO … cake making and baking in general is part of getting all the ingredients together, mixing, baking, adding icing/frosting/ganache topping if you must, and eating said cake. All steps give me lots of pleasure, just seeing something you have worked on take shape. I just love baking, though I cannot do it at the moment as here in Spain many houses do not have ovens. I like a simple cake without adornment with a quenelle of cream, rich thick creamy cream not single or whipping cream. I eat so little of it that the occasional treat can include Cornish or Devon Clotted Cream, but I digress …
The search for my untimate chocolate cake continues …
American Mississippi Mud Cake
Many years ago (have you noticed most of the food I love was found many years ago!), I was treated to a lovely dessert, ie Mississippi Mud Pie in a pub run by a young chef in Normanton near Wakefield. It wasn´t until I started trying to find a recipe to make this treat at home that I realised it was the personal recipe of this excellent chef. I cannot find anything like it on the web or in cookery books. It didn´t have ice cream in, and it had a pastry base, chocolate cake (rather rich) and a creamy concoction on the top! That is as much as I can remember, my main memory is the taste … minty the first time and coffee the second time I ate it.
Lightly butter and line an 8 inch cake tin
Set oven to 170 degrees Celsius
250 grams of butter, cut up
150 grams of (Lindt) dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids), chopped
440 grams golden caster sugar
250 ml of hot water
2 tbsp strong espresso coffee
80 ml of coffee flavoured liqueur
225 grams plain flour
35 grams self raising flour
225 grams good quality dark cocoa powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Place the butter, chocolate, caster sugar, water and coffee into a saucepan
Put over a low (ie gentle) heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the chocolate melts
At this point add the coffee liqueur
Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl
Leave to cool for 15 minutes
Sieve the flour and cocoa together, then whisk into the mixture
When combined, add the eggs and beat in until thoroughly combined
Spoon the batter into the cake tin
Put into the centre of a preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes … or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean
If the top of the cake starts to brown too quickly, cover the cake with a sheet of greaseproof paper or kitchen foil, then continue baking, remove from oven when done!
Leave in tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and remove lining paper
Ice with coffee icing, or chocolate ganache
Serve with a cup of coffee
Devil’s Food Cake
115 grams unsalted butter
85 grams unsweetened chocolate
400 grams unrefined caster sugar
2 large organic eggs
235 ml water
280 grams plain flour
7 grams bicarbonate of soda
2 grams salt
60 ml full-fat milk
5 ml distilled white vinegar
Lightly butter 1 x 9″ x 13″ cake tin, line the base
Set oven to 175 degrees Celsius
Melt the butter in a small pan with the dark chocolate, set aside to cool slightly
Cream together the sugar and eggs until pale, then add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat well
Add 1 cup of warm (boiled) water, stir until blended. The mixture will be liquid
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt
Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stir to combine, then whisk together the vinegar and milk, stir into the batter
Optional:
225 grams cream cheese, room temperature
65 grams unrefined golden caster sugar
1 large organic egg
1 tsp candied orange peel, finely chopped
Beat the cream cheese until smooth then add the sugar, egg and candied peel, beat well
Pour the cake mixture into cake tin, make indentations around the outside of cake plus one in the centre and drop tablespoons of the cheese mixture into the indentations
Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in the chocolate part comes out clean
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and remove the greaseproof paper, leave to cool completely before sandwiching together with either lightly whipped double cream or frosting
I love Mississippi Mud Pie – when I worked for a nationalised industry the girls went out to dinner together each week (meant to make us into a “team”), don’t know if that actually worked but on one occasion (maybe more) I had the chef’s version of this pie – it was gorgeous. I cannot find a recipe that seems familiar. It had three layers – like a rich thin chocolate cake, a filling and a cream topping but there must have been something else other than cream in the topping as the texture was very very light. I often wonder if it was his own creation. I have had Devil’s food cake on a number of occasions, not recently, and the cake does taste similar to the pie base. I may have a bash when I’m in a baking mood, make two small individual MMP’s with the DFC base. Will have to research filling and toppings to see what I can come up with. Oh – and he did a mint and chocolate one too!
Apricot and White Chocolate Tray Bake
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Lightly butter a 9″ square cake tin, line with greaseproof paper
4 oz butter
6 oz chopped white chocolate
3 large eggs
4-1/2 oz unrefined caster sugar
7 oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
3 oz dried apricots – chopped
Icing sugar
Put the butter and chocolate into a bowl set over barley simmering water
Stir until smooth and glossy then leave to cool slightly
Beat the eggs and sugar into the chocolate mixture
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, then fold into the batter along with the apricots, mix well to combine
Pour into the tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, the centre of the cake may not be completely firm, however, it will set as it cools
Leave in tin until cold, then transfer to a work surface and cut into squares, if liked – dust lightly with icing sugar
After dinner chocolate sweeties
I love dark chocolate, particularly Lindt and Green & Black. Lindt have a lovely orange flavoured chocolate which could be used in place of the white, if you prefer. If you use Lindt thins – just break them up rather than chop.
I am definitely a chocoholic and eat a square most days, usually after dinner.
Tip – you can drop the melted chocolate at the end and add the nuts to the mixture with the chocolate and biscuits.
If you make it yourself, you know what’s in it – no additives (E numbers)
Recipe 1
8 oz wholemeal digestive biscuits
4 oz unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 x 3 oz Lindt dark chocolate – minimum 70% cocoa solids
3 oz good quality white chocolate (or Lindt orange chocolate)
1 oz chopped hazelnuts or almonds
Lightly butter an 8″ square cake tin
Put the biscuits into a strong plastic bag and finely crush with a rolling pin
Chop up the white chocolate
Warm the butter and syrup in a small saucepan set over a gentle heat, remove when the butter has just melted
Melt 3 oz of dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, transfer to the pan and stir
Add the crushed biscuits and chopped chocolate, mix thoroughly to combine
Spoon the mixture into baking tin, spread out evenly using a knife, cover and chill until set
Melt the remaining dark chocolate and pour over the mixture and immediately sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts or almonds
Cut into small squares when cold
Recipe 2
The Choco Thins are nice with coffee after Christmas dinner, you can, if you wish, use other brands of chocolate, but it mustn’t be less than 70% cocoa solids!
Choco Thins:
5 oz Lindt dark chocolate – 70% cocoa solids
1 oz sifted icing sugar
Orange Oil or Peppermint oil – few drops
Line a large tray with a sheet of Clingfilm
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water
When melted, remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the sugar followed by the orange or peppermint oil (to taste) and stir thoroughly but carefully/gently – into the chocolate mixture
Using a coffee or teaspoon, drop a small amount of the mixture on to the Clingfilm
Using the back of the spoon, swirl the chocolate around to make a wafer-thin disc, repeat until all the chocolate mixture has been used then leave to set completely before lifting off the clingfilm using a knife blade
Minty Chocolate Cupcakes
225 grams self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp cocoa powder
225 grams unrefined caster sugar
225 grams unsalted butter
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp mint essence or extract
100 grams Lindt dark chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius
Place 18 paper cases into muffin tins
Sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a large bowl
Beat the butter and sugar together in a separate bowl until light and fluffy
Add eggs – one at a time – beat together
Fold in the flour mixture – gradually – then stir in the mint essence and chocolate, spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a light golden brown and firm to the touch
When cold, ice with the minty chocolate ganache
Minty Chocolate Ganache
8 oz dark chocolate, (70% cocoa solids)
8 oz fl oz double cream
2 sprigs mint, lightly bruised
Put the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of hot water and leave until melted
Pour the cream into a non-stick saucepan, add the sprigs of mint and bring up to simmering point then pour through a sieve over the melted chocolate, rub the mint with the back of a ladle to extract as much flavour as possible then discard the contents of the sieve!
Lighly whisk the chocolate and warmed cream together until smooth and glossy
This can be used to make sweets, as a sauce over ice cream or as a minty frosting for chocolate cup cakes. If you want a thinner sauce use single cream
Simple Chocolate Mousse
200 grams dark chocolate – minimum 70% cocoa solids
3 large eggs, separated
250 ml double cream
35 grams unrefined caster sugar
Place the chocolate into a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, leave until just melted
Allow it to cool for a couple of minutes then stir in the egg yolks and put to one side
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add the sugar – a little at a time – whisking as it is added – the mixture should be stiff and glossy
Gently stir a large spoonful of egg white into the mixture until combined, then gently fold in the remainder until just combined
Be very gentle but work quickly to retain the volume
Pour into the ramekins and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours
Saucy chocolate and coffee pudding
This is a lovely self saucing pudding and just might be the one that makes me break my healthy eating plan, but I doubt it. As I’ve said previously, looking through my extensive book of recipes has become the new eating. Trouble is … I can’t have any so why do I do this to myself, it’s torture as I’m definitely a chocoholic. On the down side, being fat or obese makes you more vulnerable to some cancers, and that has to be a good way of keeping me under control. Could this be the one for Christmas instead of boring old Christmas pud, what do you think? Or the Orange Cheesecake, though I do fancy changing the flavoured Schnapps (peach or orange or whatever) for that Whisky liqueur from Edinburgh – Glayva Whisky liqueur (something like Drambuie just a subtle difference in flavourings)
I would like to say I loved British puds – they’re the best (and they are) but this one is French. We have an equivalent somewhere, doesn’t Nigella do a self saucing chocolate pudding that’s absolute heaven on a plate? Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll go for the saucy lime pudding – just too many recipes and not enough puddings allowed to try them all
Sponge:
3.75 oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Small – pinch of salt
2 oz unsalted butter
1 oz Lindt 99% cocoa solids dark chocolate, chopped into pieces
1 cup unrefined caster sugar
3 fl oz whole milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)
Topping:
1 cup extra strong espresso coffee or 2 tbsp coffee powder dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water
7 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
5 tbsp unrefined caster sugar
2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
Decoration: Whipped cream (soft peak stage)
Preheat oven to 350F
Butter a 8″ square baking tin
Pour the hot water over the coffee and stir to combine, leave to cool
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a small bowl and set aside
Put the chopped chocolate, butter and one cup of sugar into a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, melt gently, stir occasionally
Remove from the heat then add the flour mixture to the melted ingredients and stir to combine
Stir in the milk and vanilla extract
Pour into the prepared baking tin
To prepare the topping, mix the soft brown sugar, sugar and cocoa together in a bowl, sprinkle over the top of the pudding then drizzle the cooled coffee evenly over the surface of the cake
Place in the centre of a preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the sponge puffs up and sets on top
To serve – spoon the pudding with some of the sauce onto dessert bowls or plates and serve with lightly whipped cream
I just like ordinary single cream poured over the top of the sponge or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, goes very well with the coffee sauce.
Rich Chocolate Sauce
4 oz Lindt dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids, chopped
3/4 oz unsalted butter
2 fl oz golden syrup, warmed
2 fl oz single or whipping cream
Slowly melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, ensuring the bowl does not touch the water
When the chocolate has melted, immediately remove from the heat and stir in the golden syrup and cream
Stir well and serve drizzled over vanilla ice cream
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