Sweet- Cakes - Black Forest Cake

I'm not even gonna try to sell you on this; it's just damn delicious. So chocolaty and moist...I really need to make this again!

Ingredients:
*This will make TWO cakes.

Devil's Food Cake:
470 g sugar
160 g butter (softened)
5 g salt
5 g vanilla extract
320 g pastry flour
90 g cocoa powder
40 g whole milk powder
10 g baking powder
5 g baking soda
320 ml water
250 g (5) whole eggs, room temp

Topping:
1 L whipping cream
500 ml whip topping (sweetened cream)
Brandy (simple) syrup - equal parts sugar and water, melted. Then add cherry brandy for more yum.
500 g cherry pie filling (roughly 10 parts cherries + 3 parts sugar + 1 part cornstarch, boiled then cooled)
chocolate sprinkles & shavings

To Make:

The whole cake will take about 2 hrs to make. First make the devil's food cake by following these instructions. This will take about 1 hour to finish. Once done, place cakes in freezer to cool, and make the frosting.

To do so, first whip the 1 L of whipping cream on high for about 3 minutes, until soft peaks form. Then do the same for the whip topping (if you have it), and when finished combine the two together to get a pretty pro-tasting whipped cream. Put some of it into a piping bag fitted with a star tip, and set aside.

Make the syrup by melting equal portions sugar and water (heating until sugar is dissolved) and then adding cherry brandy to taste - a few tablespoons.

You can use regular canned cherry pie filling, or make your own using the relative portions given above; roughly for 3-4 cups of cherries, add 1 cup of sugar and about 1/4-1/3 cup of cornstarch (it really depends on the taste and texture you're going for.) Boil these for a bit to get that jelly texture, and then cool down.

Finally, you can make your own chocolate shavings by running a straight-edged knife over the top of a block of chocolate, making sure you add even pressure throughout as you push from yourself outwards. Collect the shavings with your knife (try not to touch them very much as they'll very easily melt from your hand temperature).

Check on the cake after about 30 minutes. If it feels cool to the touch take out and cut the cake into 3 layers (first cut the top off right at the "seam" formed from the baking pan. You do this by running your knife all the way around the edge first, and then going straight through.) The top layer you can set aside because it's likely domed. Cut the rest of the cake into 2 equal portions though (or 3 if it's tall enough for it, you want each layer to be about 1 inch thick), and lay them each out in front of you.

Take the bottom layer and flip it over so the smooth surface is on top. That's gonna be the "face" of your cake. Drizzle the syrup on each layer with a brush, then take the whipped cream piping bag and outline the edge of the bottom layer with whipped cream. Fill the bottom layer with the cherry filling, and add the next level on top. If you have 3 layers in total, then repeat the whipped cream/cherry filling step for the middle layer. Otherwise, it's time to mask your cake!

Have the bowl of whipped cream ready at your side, and if possible use a cake turntable. Dollop out whipped cream to the top and sides of the cake and use a pallet knife to smooth it out (first top, then sides, then top again). Finally you can use chocolate sprinkles (or shavings) to decorate the sides of the cake, and pipe rosettes on top and adorn with cherries and more chocolate shavings.

Make sure to keep the chocolate shavings and whipped cream at a cool temperature when not using them. That's about it though, it's not a very hard recipe to follow, but the outcome is phenomenal!

Sweet - Cakes - Devil's Food Cake

Super moist, rich, chocolaty awesome. This cake is different from most because you add the flour in first with the water, before adding the eggs. It's a damn good chocolate cake, and I highly recommend you try it!

Ingredients:
*This will produce enough batter for 2 cakes

470 g sugar
160 g butter (softened)
5 g salt
5 g vanilla extract
320 g pastry flour
90 g cocoa powder
40 g whole milk powder
10 g baking powder
5 g baking soda
320 ml water
250 g (5) whole eggs, room temp

*sift pastry flour, cocoa powder, milk powder, baking powder and baking soda together
**to make milk from powdered milk you add 3tbsp powder(~40g) to 1 cup water(~220), so can substitute regular milk instead of powder by decreasing the amount of water you add to the recipe.

To Make:

-Make sure all ingredients are room temperature before starting.

-Cream the butter, sugar and salt on medium speed until creamy, about 2-3 mins. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

-Add all of the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and mix on low speed until incorporated, remembering to scrape down sides of bowl occasionally. Slowly add water while mixing. After 1 minute increase to medium speed and mix for about 5 minutes, until the batter gets lighter in color.

-After the 5 minutes, add the eggs one at a time while mixing on medium speed, making sure each is fully incorporated. Once done, mix for one additional minute at high speed.

-Grease 2 round 9-inch cake pans (or 3 7-inch ones) and place parchment paper on bottom. Evenly distribute batter into the pans, and smooth out the top as much as possible so it won't end up lumpy after baking.


To Bake:

-Preheat oven to 350F.

-Bake 30-40 mins. When finished it should bounce back if touched (not sink) and should pull away from the sides of the pan slightly.

-Let cool for 5 mins, then flip cake over onto a cool tray and chill in fridge or freezer until at room temp. When the middle of the cake has chilled sufficiently you're ready to frost to your heart's content!

Sweet - Fruit Flan

This is a great summer dessert, especially for the artsy bakers out there! Dense buttery shell, creamy vanilla topping and fresh fruit galore, decorated to your heart's content! Really - go crazy. 

I like me some strawberries...hehehehe

Ingredients:

Dough - Pate Sucree:

300 g sugar

454 g butter (room temp)

8 g salt

5 g vanilla extract

100 g (2) eggs

875 g pastry flour

5 g baking powder

120 ml milk

Vanilla Pastry Cream:

1 L milk, split into 125 ml and 875 ml portions

100 g sugar

1 vanilla bean

150 g (3) eggs

100 g cornstarch

pinch salt

5 g triple sec extract (optional)

Tart:

apricot glaze

chocolate

fruits of choice - strawberries, kiwis, peaches, mandarines, blueberries...the possibilities are pretty much endless

To Make:

about 30 mins + cooling time

For the sweet dough, please refer to my previous post

Vanilla Pastry Cream - 5-10 mins, then 30+ mins cool-down:

-Set a tray aside (that will fit in your fridge) and cover it with thick plastic (like a bag; something that won't melt). Let plastic hang off edges and have enough to be able to wrap contents of tray fully. Alternatively, have a bowl ready to pour cream into, and enough plastic to cover the top.

-Whisk eggs, then add salt and cornstarch and continue whisking until smooth and liquidy. Add 125 ml milk and whisk to incorporate.

-Rinse a saucepan in cold water, and then boil the remaining 875 ml milk along with sugar, vanilla seeds, and optional triple sec syrup. Rinsing the saucepan helps keep the milk from burning. Watch carefully because milk expands rapidly when boiling.

-Give the egg mixture another whisk to make sure the cornstarch hasn't settled. As soon as the milk begins boiling add the egg mixture and whisk. The mix will get thick rapidly; take off heat after a few seconds, and as soon as you see the first bubble stop whisking and dump the mixture on the prepared tray/bowl else the cream will start burning at the bottom of the pot.

-Cover with the plastic immediately and make sure there aren't many air bubbles (they will cause a film to form over any uncovered area of the cream). Store tray in fridge until cream is cool.

To Bake:

20 minutes + decoration time

-Take out dough and separate into 4 equal pieces. Roll each out to fit whichever size flan pans you're using; mine were 8-inch, and there was enough dough for a 5th afterwards. You want to gently ease the dough into the pan, and ease a bit of extra dough in at the top, then (if you have the traditional flan pans with sharp edges) simply roll over the top with your rolling pan to separate any excess dough. Even out the thickness on the sides, and then use a fork to poke holes into the dough so air can escape during the baking.

-Bake at 400F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350F and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until golden brown. When done take out of oven and let chill (can place in freezer to expedite process)

-Get your fruit ready, and melt chocolate and warm apricot glaze (made from apricot jam - heat and strain to remove lumps. Apple jam also works)

-Take the prepared cream out of the fridge, and place it in a bowl to mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until creamy and lump-free. You can add room-temp butter or whipped cream to make the mixture lighter/fluffier, but it's quite delicious as is :)

-Once everything is ready, take the shells out of the tins, glaze the bottom with the melted chocolate (to prevent the bottom from getting soggy)

and distribute the cream evenly between the flans. Smooth out the tops with a pallet knife

and then decorate however you wish! (Hint: work from the outside in!)

-When you're done brush the tops with the warm apricot glaze - this will help preserve the fruit and also make the tart nice and shiny. You can drizzle nuts on top if you wish, otherwise all that's left to do is cut a slice and enjoy!

Cheers!

Sweet - Pate Sucree - Flan Dough

This is a basic recipe for Flan or Tart dough. It produces a very dense, sweet shell - a similar consistency and taste to shortbread cookies.

Ingredients:

300 g sugar
454 g (4 sticks) butter, softened
8 g salt
5 g vanilla extract
100 g (2) eggs
875 g  pastry flour (sifted)
5 g baking powder
120 ml milk

*all ingredients should be at room temperature before starting!
This recipe makes enough dough for at least FOUR 8-9 inch tarts

To Make:

-Mix butter, sugar, salt and vanilla on medium speed until very creamy - about 10 minutes.

-Once creamy, add eggs one at a time and mix to incorporate, still on medium speed. Scrape sides as necessary.

-Add baking powder to sifted flour, and add mixture to the creamed butter. Mix on low speed just until incorporated, and then switch to medium speed again and add the 120 ml milk while mixing. Continue until smooth; 1 minute or so.

-Scrape dough out onto a flowered surface and work it (minimally) into a round or square shape. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze until you're ready to bake!

*This dough can remain in the freezer for up to 2 months, and in the fridge for about 1 week. Of course, you can always taste it before baking to make sure it's still ok. Finally, as always when working with buttery dough it's best to keep it as cold as possible while handling it.

Happy Bakings!

-

Sweet - Eclairs and Cream Puffs

The picture says it all:

Ingredients:

Choux Paste Dough:
500 ml water
250 g butter
10 g salt
370 g bread flour (sifted)
12 eggs

Whipped Cream:
1 L whipping cream (35%)
80 g sifted icing sugar
5 g vanilla extract

To Make:

Choux Paste - about 15 mins:
-Bring water, butter, and salt to a boil in saucepan on high heat. Watch carefully! You'll know it's done when white foam forms on the top, and most/all butter is melted. Be careful, as soon as foam forms it will quickly expand! This step will take about 2 mins.

-As soon as white foam forms, add the flour and mix vigorously with wooden spoon. It is ready once the mix pulls away from the side of the pot (ie more doughy consistency) and forms a thin white film on the bottom - about 1 min.

-Take off heat and place it in mixing bowl, then mix until cool (if using a stand mixer, place on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes, until you cannot see any steam coming out and the bowl feels comfortable to the touch). This is important so the eggs don't cook when added to the mix; however, you don't want to let it cool completely because the dough will become too firm. If you have a thermometer handy, you can check for the dough to be at 65C, though this isn't strictly required.

-Once you're satisfied it's cooled down enough (no steam is visible), add eggs 2-3 at a time and mix thoroughly until fully incorporated (to prevent lumps). Do this until you've added all 12 eggs. Make sure to scrape down sides if necessary. The final dough should be stiff enough to hold its form but soft enough to pipe; if too stiff can add a bit of milk to soften, but be careful because if too soft cannot stiffen by adding more flour.

-Once done, fit a piping bag with a #6 star tip, and fill with some of the dough. Pipe onto tray covered with parchment paper - rosettes for the cream puffs (large, about 2 inch diameter) and straight ladyfingers for eclairs (about 3 inches long). These forms will expand while baking, so allow 2 inches (about 3 fingers) between each pastry while piping.

With this recipe you should be able to fill about 2-3 trays; about 24 of each type of pastry.

Whipped Cream - about 4 mins:
-Add cream, vanilla and sugar to mixing bowl and mix on med-high speed for about 3-4 mins, until the cream forms soft peaks, but is not too runny or too chunky.

To Bake:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Pipe pastries as stated above. Try and keep the size consistent so they all bake evenly.

Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden (but not too dry), then take out of oven and let cool.

To finish eclairs and cream puffs, cut off the top 3rd of each pastry; inside should be fairly hollow. You can add your choice of extra filling - jam or fresh strawberries, for example - and pipe whipped cream to fill the inside.

For the eclairs, you can top with chocolate fondant (if available) or chocolate ganache. For the fondant, you mix 450g white pourable fondant with 40g chocolate fudge base (paste), and then heat very slightly with 25ml water until it is fluid (careful not to overheat, or it won't be glossy when done).
To pour either chocolate ganache or fondant over the eclair, take the top 1/3rd and hold it over the chocolate bowl, then use the long edge of a spatula to slowly pour a layer of chocolate over the eclair top in a long smooth streak.

For cream puffs can simply sprinkle icing sugar over top, and voila, instant awesomeness in your kitchen!