Apr 13 2013

Chocolate Ganache Cake (a birthday cake)

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Gretski

Hello everyone!

It was my mums birthday on the 21st of March and I was on a field trip with my school. I promised to make mum a cake when I got back and so I did. The original plan was to make an Earl Grey cake! Yum! But, in the end, we decided to stick to something we knew, just like this melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake.

(I know that the date I am posting this is very late, the 21st of March seems a long way away at the moment but it takes me a long time and a lot of concentration to write a blog post + recipe. Sorry mum!)

I got this recipe a few weeks ago after trying the cake twice! It consists of a moist, chocolate-y cake covered with a smooth, thick ganache! A match made in chocolate heaven!

To start whip up 4 egg whites with a tiny bit of salt and put that in a separate bowl. Make sure that the bowl you whisk the egg whites in is clean, free of fat or anything else.

Then, in that same bowl that you whisked the egg whites in, add egg yolks, icing sugar, flour and baking powder. They will start off looking very yellow and grainy with all the sugar….

…but then it will double in volume, become pale, very thick and glossy, nearly like a meringue?!

Next comes the best part, the chocolate!!!!! Melt some butter and chocolate over a low heat, please don’t burn the chocolate, and then set aside to cool a slight bit! Then put your mixer on a slow speed and drizzle the chocolate in.

Finally fold in the egg whites and put everything into a lined baking pan, bake and while the cake is still warm drizzle some milk over the cake.

To make the chocolate ganache heat up some heavy cream and pour over some chopped chocolate (yes again, chocolate). Pour this concoction over the cooled cake and put in the fridge for 24 hours. The next day cut the cake and serve.

When I made the cake we didn’t have heavy cream so I found a substitute on the Internet. On the pictures the ganache looks really runny and that is only because I didn’t use real heavy cream. The taste was still really good but the ganache was watery…

This recipe makes a wonderfully moist and decadent cake. The chocolate ganache sets up nice and firm while the cake layer is amazingly chocolatey!

……………..

Chocolate ganache cake:

Serves: 8 (generously)

Ingredients:

for the cake:

4 eggs, separated

100g icing sugar

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

150g chocolate

150g unsalted butter

10ml cold milk

for the ganache:

500ml heavy cream (please use the real stuff ((not a substitute)))

200g chocolate

Method:

First preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Line or butter and flour a baking pan.

Start by whipping the egg with a pinch of salt until they reach thick, stable peaks. Transfer into another bowl.

Next beat the egg yolks and icing sugar until pale and doubled in volume. Add the flour and baking powder and set aside.

In a pan, over medium heat, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring once in a while. Stir this mixture into the egg and flour mixture slowly, making sure to mix constantly to prevent making scrambled chocolate eggs.

Beat in a third of your egg whites into the chocolate batter. You don’t have to worry about keeping the air in at this point. We are just trying to lighten up the batter. Once they are mixed in add the remaining egg white making sure to keep all the air in. Do this slowly as this will help lift the cake while it is baking.

Gently pour the batter into your prepared tins. Smooth the top and lightly tap the pan on your counter to get rid of air bubbles. Then put the pan in the oven and bake for about 15 – 20 minutes.

While your cake is baking make the ganache:

Heat your cream and remove it from the heat just as small bubbles form at the sides of the pan.

Pour the hot cream over some chocolate you chopped into a bowl and leave them for just a minute. When the chocolate is melted slowly stir the chocolate into a smooth, glossy ganache. Leave this to cool at room temperature.

Once your cake is baked and you have checked that it is done, prick it with a fork and drizzle it with the cold milk. This will keep the cake super moist. Then leave the cake to cool completely.

Once all your components are cool, pour the ganache over your cake and place in the fridge to set overnight.

The next day, cut the cake, serve it with or without some whipped cream (or ice cream) and enjoy!!!

Till next time,

Greta

Mar 31 2013

Happy Easter!!!

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Gretski

Happy Easter everyone! I hope that your day was filled with friends, family and yummy food! I had lots of fun today; as well as helping mum make lunch (which was, by the way, really good), I filled yet another batch of cream puffs and finished making lemon filled macarons! I am sort of angry at myself, I haven’t posted a recipe in about 3 months! So I have made a decision, I PROMISE to post once a week, every weekend. :)

Happy Easter (again) and see you soon!!!!

Greta

Jan 3 2013

Cream Puffs Recipe + Pastry Cream Recipe

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Gretski

Hey there everybody! I hope that you had a lovely Christmas full of joy and happiness!

I just recovered from all that Christmas baking and I persuaded my parents to let me make Cream Puffs; the light, airy choux buns with a creamy vanilla pastry cream filling that melts in your mouth!

Every time that subject of Cream Puffs comes up, my Dad tells us the sad story of how his Mum (my Grandma) tried to make Cream Puffs over and over again but they would always turn out miniscule! Thankfully my Cream Puffs turned out nice, puffed up and hollow! This recipe is for all those people whose Cream Puffs could be worked on; it is really easy if the steps are properly explained!

Cream Puffs

Dessert, Sweet, Cream, Choux pastry, Icing sugar, Oven

Cooks in 15 minutes prep time + 45 minutes bake time Serves Makes about 18 Choux Buns

Ingredients

1 cup or 130 grams all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 114 grams of butter
1 cup or 240 ml of water
4 large eggs

Directions

First preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
Then sift your dry ingredients together and set aside for later.
Place the butter and water in a pan over medium heat and bring to a boil making sure that the butter is completely melted before the water boils.
After that remove the pan from the heat and add the flour mixture, all at once, and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
Put the pan back on the heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball.
Put the dough into your stand mixers bowl, or use a hand mixer, and beat on low speed to cool the dough down.
Once the dough is cooled start adding the eggs (the dough will look curdled and disgusting but it will eventually come together in a smooth thick paste.
Use a spoon (or an ice cream scoop) to make about 18 small mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them slightly as the buns will expand quite a lot.
Then gently brush the tops of the dough with a lightly beaten egg.
Bake the buns (one sheet at a time) for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees C and continue to bake the choux pastry for another 30 to 35 minutes or until the shells are a nice amber color and, when split, are almost dry inside.
Finally let the buns cool completely!

Print Recipe | Print Ingredients Only

This is the recipe for only the choux buns. Now, different people fill their choux pastry buns with whipped cream, ice cream and sometimes cheese sauce (?) but I chose to fill mine with pastry cream!

Pastry Cream

Dessert, French, Vanilla, Sugar, Cream, Milk, Corn starch, Egg yolks, Pastry cream, Cream puffs

Serves Fills 18 Cream Puffs