Chocolate Ganache Cake

Chocolate Ganache Cake 

In the past few months every time I sit down to write a post I inevitably end up questioning myself if its worth it to blog than do something else. The last time I sat down I was in one of the most beautiful towns that I have ever been in my life. A quaint little University town in the Western Cape of South Africa but then I looked out the glass window and I wanted to take a long walk and I did exactly that.

Frankly speaking in a world where photograph trumps everything else in the world of blogging at times I feel a bit discouraged to blog. Truth is I cook and bake. I cannot feign interest in photography plus honestly I enjoy the part where I plan, shop , cook and serve. 

Freshly brewed coffee, long walks , a well made pastry and by that I mean a filling of fresh cream (not the non dairy nonsene) have always been sources of constant joy for me and recently a pack of Dunhill or Marlboro makes my day with some strong coffee. 

Ideally when I am happy and cook a dish I mostly forget to click pictures but in Kolkata there is hardly anything else to do than work, read and click pictures of the dishes which I make. Long walks are out of the question what with the terrible heat, overpopulated streets and the high level of pollution. There are no mountains to drive off to and the orange red autumn leaves make me miss Stellenbosch pretty bad. 

Then I remembered this chocolate cake and a promise made to myself and I cheered up a bit. Frankly its one of my favourite chocolate cakes. A pure chocolaty cake for which I follow Larousse's recipe along with some ganache makes it the chocolate cake of my dreams 

To begin with you need a 7 to 8  inch round pan no more no less 

For the cake :-

3 eggs 

125gm caster sugar 

125gm all purpose flour 

150gm dark chocolate (I use 70% dark) 

4 tbsp milk 

125gm butter at room temperature 

For the ganache :-

100gm dark chocolate 

200ml double cream or single cream (In India you dont get double dairy cream so I usually use the one we get with 25% fat) 

Preheat the oven to 180C for 10 minutes. 

Grease and dust your pan with flour. 

Separate the eggs. Heat the milk and chopped chocolate together to form a smooth mixture. Take the yolks and the sugar in a steel bowl and use the bain marie method to gentle heat the yolks and sugar but make sure you dont scramble the eggs all the while whipping them vigorously. It will become pale , light and fluffy. 

Whip the softened butter and chocolate and quickly add the yolk sugar mixture and fold in the flour. Pour it in your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes to 40 minutes.
Depending on the oven it can even take you upto 60 minutes. So take the cake out at 40 minutes and do the toothpick test. If the toothpick comes out clean you are done else it needs to bake a bit more but keep a sharp eye on the oven so that you dont over-bake the cake. 

Let the cake cool down overnight. 

Using the bain marie method heat the cream, add chopped chocolate and whip till fluffy . Cut the cake horizontally and fill it some of the ganache and then top the cake with the rest of the ganache and serve with coffee. 

Chocolate Indulgent Cake

Chocolate Indulgent Cake 

I shall be honest. Lately I have come to find chocolate cake to be highly overused mostly because most good Indian bakeries mostly keep two to three variants of cakes , one with a lot of fresh cream and then there are 3 to 4 variants of chocolate cake.

To be fair while one can never get tired of a good slice of chocolate cake it can be tiring at times. While growing up I would see my aunt bake chocolate cakes which were the typical buttercakes which meant it was butter based and used a bit of cocoa powder for that taste of chocolate which somehow did not really click.

To be fair the ones you get at good bakeries are quite honestly very delicious but then again once you start baking at home and expand your knowledge you realize that you can actually customize a chocolate cake as per your liking.

What is 'my perfect chocolate cake' will perhaps not be your's. Anyway I have tried a good 6 variants of the good old butter based chocolate cakes. I am not even going into the sponges . So it turns out this cake is one of my favourites mostly because it is moist and light enough to stand out on its own with your cup of tea  and with a dollop of whipped cream it can be turned into a fabulous dinner time dessert. In my experience when one uses icing it is best to stick to sponge cakes because a butter based cake is quite heavy on its own and layers of buttercream or ganache makes it too rich an indulgent but then again there are those times when you simply just need some indulgence. And this cake happens to be one of them. Hence I named it the Chocolate Indulgent Cake.

I had already shared the recipe for the main cake in one of my earlier posts. Use the recipe for the cake and leave out the recipe for icing given there  So here is the link: My Perfect Chocolate Cake. Let it cool down and slice in half. Cut the top of the cake to level it out.

For the icing try this ganache , its rich , chocolaty and when fluffed up and used with the cake it becomes a pure sinful indulgence

Recipe adapted from Larousse Gastronomique

150ml fresh cream
225gm finely chopped chocolate (70% dark)
1 tbsp sugar syrup

Use the bain marie method to heat up the cream and add the chocolate and stir till you get a smooth creamy mixture and then keep whipping till it fluffs up. use this as a filling and then cover the cake and let it set at room temperature for an hour and then serve it up.

Important tip :-

A cake is meant to be eaten as fresh as possible so it is a good idea to finish it off within 2 days of it being baked. try not to refrigerate the cake but in case you do refrigerate it make sure you take it out 1 hour prior to serving. The cake if served straight from the refrigerator will be hard as lard. It needs to be soft hence it needs to come to room temperature.

Chocolate Cake (Felicity Cloake)

Chocolate Cake (Felicity Cloake) 

Over the years I have baked many a chocolate cake yet I still kept searching for one which would have the perfect fluffy soft texture and then one day I realized I should search for Felicity Cloake's version of the perfect chocolate cake. Here let me say that I firmly believe that there cannot be one perfect chocolate cake for everyone. Some like it fudge like, some like it extra airy but for me ah for that read along my friends. 

The lady in question, Ms Cloake  tries out different recipes by many a maestro and gives you the pros and cons of each recipe and finally shares the recipe for one which she deems is perfect for her taste buds. She says this cake is 'Not a torte, not a mousse, but a cake which actually tastes of chocolate: fluffy and light enough to eat at tea time, rich enough to serve with a dollop of creme fraiche for dessert'

Now there is a particular reason why I trust this lady. I tried her perfect recipe for Mousse au Chocolat and I must say there is no looking back for me. It was just perfect,  rich yet light and delicious and so quite naturally I knew this description of the chocolate cake would not fail me.

 I tried a simple frosting of tempered chocolate in-between and some chocolate to cover the cake. I would not go as far as to say it is perfect but it is pretty good.

Recipe adapted from Felicity Cloake

The cups used hold 250ml of liquid

50gm dark chocolate
50gm chocolate chips
250gm of all purpose flour (1.5 cups)
250gm of Brown sugar (3/4th cup)
250gm of Unsalted Butter
250ml of milk
100gm of cocoa powder (3/4th)
2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Extra flour and butter to prepare pan

For the frosting

100gm dark chocolate tempered properly to create a silky melted chocolate

Prepare your two cake tins ( 8inch) by buttering it and then dusting it with flour. (An 8 inch pan would do)

Start by sifting the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder .

Now Cream your butter and sugar till its fluffy and add the eggs one by one and the salt and whisk till its a creamy fluffy affair.

Preheat the oven to 180C at this point . Slowly fold in the sifted dried ingredients and then add the melted chocolate and fold it in . Add the milk bit by bit and fold that in as well. Finally add the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter in two equal halves and pour the batter into the cake pans and tap the pan and then wet your hands and lightly smoothen the top and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes to 35 minutes .

Once baked insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean its done.

Let the cake cool down in the pan for 15 minutes and then run a palate knife around the edges and invert it on a rack and cool it.

Only when the cake is completely cool can you now move on to frosting.

Simply temper the chocolate over a double boiler and cut the cake in half and spread the chocolate. Sandwich the cake together cover the cake with chocolate and serve it as it is for tea or add a dollop of whipped cream and make it a delicious dessert.

Important tips :-

1. Once you are down with adding the whisk you must not use the whisk because the crumb of a cake largely depends on the technique of folding in the dry ingredients else you end up with a dense cake. The idea is to not knock off any air bubbles even though the cake is batter based and so it uses baking powder.  
2. Once you have poured the batter in wet your hands and smoothen the top and which leads to an even top baked cake. Do not firmly press your hands on the batter just gently press it. 
3. Always allow the cake to completely cool down before slicing it to apply frosting else your cake will break. 
4. In case you use a bigger cake tin you must increase the amount of batter. If you double the recipe use a 9 inch cake pan. 
5. In case you use salted butter then leave out the extra salt 

Chocolate Buttercream Sponge Cake

Chocolate Buttercream  Sponge Cake

Edited :-

You must be wondering what this edited bit is. Well this is my gratitude to a lovely lady who is a wonderful teacher. When it comes to baking and cooking in general I cautiously take advice because taste is very subjective so the only way to take another passionate baker's advice is to trust the person and see his reasoning. I am honestly scared of using syrups because it makes my cakes too sweet and I don't care too much for that intense sweet taste but then when a very seasoned baker advised me to soak the cake in syrup I knew I must do it. By this time exactly half my cake was devoured by friends and family who thankfully liked it. In fact the friend even asked for more . So I took my cake out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature then put a strip of butterpaper on the cake and brushed the sponges with syrup. Now I used the syrup sparingly yet because the sponge was well made it soaked it up very well. Then I refrigerated it for the cake to set and had  a sliver and even though it was a bit sweet than I would have preferred I would recommend the soaking with syrup because it gives the sponge a delightful flavour. I am have mentioned the steps required to soak the sponge in the recipe so please do use it. Of course I doubled the amount of syrup for the whole cake :) Hope you enjoy this sinful indulgence. before I move on to my experience with the cake here is a sneak peak into this talented lady's facebook page Sinfully Your's  and she takes regular cooking classes in our very own city of Dreams, Mumbai . Contact her for a great learning experience. 

I bake for various reasons. Sometimes I bake because I like the idea of having a moist cake to accompany my tea . Usually these cakes are butterbased moist and delightfully fluffy yet rich enough which does not need any frosting and then there are other times for celebration such as meeting one of my closest friends after a long time.

Such special occasions call for a special frosted cake. Funnily both of us love butter based frosting less cakes but I never leave such opportunities to make a nicely frosted cake and usually frosting for me means a silky smooth buttercream.

So lets move on top the cake

I have already shared the recipe for the fluffy sponge cake for which the technique is as important as the ingredients used.

Here is the recipe for the foam sponge cake

Once you have baked the cake let it cool down completely before slicing it. You need to make four rings.

Now for the buttercream and ganache :-

For the buttery chocolaty buttercream

300gm butter softened at room temperature
150gm dark chocolate chopped well
200gm to 300gm icing sugar
2 to 3 tbsp cocoa powder
A few tbsp of milk to loosen the frosting

For the syrup :-

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the ganache

65gm dark chocolate
90ml to 100ml cream

You should ideally soak the cake with the syrup a day ahead of frosting.  Once the cake cools down completely just soak each ring with about Half a tbsp to 1 tbsp with the syrup and then refrigerate.

The next day simply whip the butter to a smooth fluffy consistency add the sugar bit by bit and keep tasting . Now temper the chocolate by chopping it on a clean water-free surface and melting it on a double boiler and then let it cool down and slowly add this to the fluffed up buttercream beating it constantly so that the fluffiness is not hampered. Keep whisking and add the cocoa powder till you have a beautiful fluffy buttercream frosting.

Now spread a thick layer of buttercream on one cake ring and let ti get set in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and do this with all the rings till you reach the final one then give a single coat to the entire cake and let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Now make the ganache by warming up the cream and pouring it over the chopped chocolate and stirring ti till you get a smooth consistency. Let it cool down for 5 minutes and give the cake a coat with the ganache and then decorate if desired.

Let this set in the refrigerator. Decorate with some buttercream and enjoy with friend sand family.

Tip :-

This cake is a buttercream lover's delight so use thick layers so that you use up most of the buttercream leaving about 1 cup for decoration.

Coffee Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Coffee Chocolate Chiffon Cake 

Sometimes one has crazy needs. Lets take my last 1 month. I was overworked and tired and somehow craved chocolates at all hours. So after a simple chocolate gateau I wanted to make a cake with whatever ingredients there was at home and as it turns out it meant, I had coffee, chocolate, refined oil and flour. And I challenged myself to make a cake where I do not go out to buy any new ingredient.

Now I did read about this one cake where you use oil instead of butter and it is neither a batter cake nor a foam cake but somewhere in-between. So with a holiday to enjoy, 10 hours of work this is what was in store.

Now to be honest after having made it I would not really recommend this with my whole heart because I would rather recommend a foam cake but then again this can be made as a good option for layered cakes.

So here is what I made , a coffee chiffon layered cake with ganache frosting

Recipe adapted from SmittenKitchen

Serves 6

1/4th cup oil
6 eggs separated
6 tbsp strongly brewed coffee
170gm all purpose flour sifted
200gm castor sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Lemon juice

For the coffee syrup

1 cup of strongly brewed coffee
1 cup sugar

For the ganache

125gm chocolate
200ml cream

Prepare a 6 inch to 7 inch baking pan by buttering it and using flour all over the buttered pan.

Start by sifting the all purpose flour and baking powder together. Now separate the eggs and beat the egg whites after adding the lemon juice till it forms stiff peaks.

Preheat oven to 180 C. Now sift the flour and baking powder for a second time and whisk the egg yolks with sugar till you form a ribbon like consistency and add the coffee and beat well and then slowly add the oil and fold in the flour. lastly fold in the egg whites and bake at preheated oven at 180 C for 20 minutes to 30 minutes.

Once baked let the cakes cool down completely. While the cake is cooling down make your coffee syrup by boiling the coffee and sugar till it forms a thin syrup. Let it cool down completely. For the ganache simply chop the chocolate as finely as possible and then heat the cream on a double boiler and then add chopped chocolate and mix well till it forms a silky smooth consistency.

 Once the cake has cooled down completely cut them in half so that you have flour tyres. Now use a brush to soak each tyre of cake with coffee syrup and be generous with the syrup. Spread the ganache and then use it to cover the entire cake.

Enjoy it after chilling it well.

Tips

1. The Lemon juice added to egg whites makes sure that the stiff peaks do not collapse once you have whisked the egg whites to stiff peaks 
2. Once you have heated the cream on double boiler and added the chopped chocolates keep stirring and if you find a few lumps put the bowl on the double boiler and it will yield the smooth consistency you are looking for, 

Simple Chocolate gateau

Simple Chocolate Gateau 

To be fair,  I love exploring new desserts and as a result some very basic ones are pushed in the little closet of my mind and unfortunately they remain there and are not used in reality. So when one of my friends asked me for a simple recipe for a cake which she wants to bake for her mother on her mother's birthday the most simple cake which came to my mind was the good old chocolate cake with buttercream filling  and a ganache frosting. To be fair most people who have baked foam cakes would know that a foam cake which air leavened and uses little flour and fat is the lightest base for a gateau or what is commonly known as a layered cake but foam cakes take a lot of practice and well in India most of the cakes we get at bakeries are not foam cakes but are still very light and airy because they use oil instead of butter which is quite obvious because if one carefully smells the cakes they would find that it doesn't have that special aroma which butter incorporates but the problem with baking a British chocolate sponge cake is that though it is basic it tends to be more packed than what we get outside and a reader had once pointed out that though she loved the cake which she had baked using my recipe for sponge cake she missed that light texture. Well that was a year ago , so this time what I did was use a simple trick to make the cake airy fluffy yet with the buttery smell. All one needs to do is separate the eggs and use some extra egg whites and voila you have airy spongy light cake , which is well less airy than a foam cake but tastes quite nice. I adapted Mary Berry's recipe for the cake base altering the recipe with my separation of eggs and addition of egg whites, used a basic buttercream recipe and ganache recipe .

So here goes the recipe

Serves 4 to 5

For the base :-

175gm of all purpose flour (1.5 cups ) cups which hold 250ml of liquid
50gm cocoa powder (Half a cup of cocoa powder) the cups which hold 250ml of liquid
100gm butter
4 eggs separated
4 egg whites
1 scant tsp baking powder
200gm castor sugar (2 cups)

For the buttercream filling :-

62gm good quality dark chocolate
100gm of butter
25ml cream
25ml milk
125gm of icing sugar (you can increase the amount of icing sugar as per your taste)

For the ganache

175ml of cream
100gm of dark chocolate chopped well

Start by first preparing your baking pans ( 6 inch to 7 inch) by greasing them  with butter and dusting it with flour. If you are doing this for the first time refer to the videos on youtube which show you how to prepare cake pans. Sift your cocoa powder. You need two baking pans of size 6 inch

Now start by sifting the flour with the baking powder. This helps in making the  cake airy and light.
Whip your egg whites to a firm peak. You are using a total of 8 egg whites.
Now preheat the oven to 180 C and quickly cream your butter with a wooden spoon,  that is mix the sugar and butter well with the wooden spoon till the sugar is well incorporated and now use a whisk to fluff it up. Add the yolks one by one and keep whisking. Once done sift your flour and baking powder which has already been sifted once again and fold it in with the wooden spoon. Add the cocoa powder and fold that in then fold in the egg whites.
Bake the cake at preheated oven for 30 minutes if using a convection oven and 20 minutes for regular OTG.  Once baked insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean your cake has been baked else bake for another 5 minutes or so. let it cool on the pan for 5 minutes to 10 minutes and then run a sharp knife under hot water and run ti along the edge and take invert the cake on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Once the cake has cooled down completely cream your butter and icing sugar and melt the chocolate over a double boiler and once its cool enough add it with your creamed butter. And keep whisking well till its fluffy and light and add the milk and cream and fluff it up again.

For the ganache simply chop the chocolate and leave it in a big bowl , heat the cream over a double boiler and pour the cream over the chocolates and mix well. If you find lumps put the entire bowl over a double boiler till everything melts into a smooth silky texture

To assemble the cake you must remember that the cake must be allowed to cool completely before you proceed. So once it has cooled down completely . I usually proceed. I usually leave it to cool down for 2 hours or more. Now First cut the cakes in two and apply a generous amount of buttercream on the middle layers and put it in the refrigerator to firm up for about 15 minutes and then assemble them by placing them on top of one another and apply a base coat of buttercream and put it back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Now generously apply the ganache and put it back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and now simple cut the cake and serve .

Important tips : -

1. The butter for both the cake base and butter-cream filling must be at room temperature completely softened 
2. Once you have whisked your butter and yolks you must not use the whisk else you will knock down the bubbles and your cake will be dense , so after you have whisked the yolks you must use the wooden spoon to fold in the flour and then the egg whites 
3. In case you do not have two pans or your oven is small cream the butter and add yolks and then use half of this and use half of the flour and half of the cocoa powder and half the egg whites and bake , let it rest cool down and then leave it to cool on a wire rack, clean your pan grease it , dust it with flour and then fold the remaining flour and cocoa powder with the remaining creamed butter and egg yolk mixture and the egg whites bake again but you must never prepare the entire cake batter and leave half of it because then the cake becomes dense and horrible . 
4. When making the butter cream keep tasting it to check whether all the sugar has been incorporated. 

French Buttercream

French Buttercream 

Its silky, creamy , smooth and one of the best frosting ever 

After refrigeration 

Before refrigeration 

Now here is the only fact that makes any sense when it comes to frosting, it is hugely subjective. So while some like it fluffy , some like it rich and so if you are the kind who loves frosting with whipped cream you might or might not like Buttercream frosting since it is rich, creamy yet fluffy and melts in the mouth but when your base is butter you cannot but have a rice silky taste to it. I for one am crazy for butter cream and after much trial and errors found my favourite Buttercream recipe. You see there are a number of ways to make buttercream, you can use the most simple format of butter and sugar alone which is way too heavy for my taste, then there is the meringue based one which is very light and airy and needs you to whip your egg whites separately but I for one am simply in love with French buttercream, silky, smooth, fluffy which vanishes in the mouth it is a pure sinful delight. Of course I am yet to try the custard based buttercream but well with the huge success of this French sensuous buttercream I for one have the highest respect for French cuisine. This is egg based, more precisely yolk based but as far as the smell is concerned with the whipping that goes in I for one have never found it smelly, besides if you have had egg based mousse you are good to go. Now living in a tropical country means it is hot and humid the entire year round and so I use a little bit of double dairy cream. Besides, since I use a non electrical hand held whisk I have found that this addition of cream results in that homogeneous silky buttercream else it is not homogeneous (all from experience)

So what you need is :-

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4th cup water
350 gm butter
120 gm double dairy cream whipped to soft peaks

Whipped cream 

Whip your cream and keep it in the refrigerator. Now prepare your syrup before you begin work and let it cool for a few minutes while you whip your egg yolks to a stage where it is pale and fluffy and then slowly incorporate the syrup bit by bit. You have to be super fast with the whisking else the eggs will scramble  from the heat.  What you shall first have when you have whipped all that syrup with the yolks is a foamy mixture , well you do need a lot of strength (of course if you are using an electric whisk I wouldn't be able to help and it would take you less time and not require too much skill but I for one am with the French when it comes to cooking and like it hand held old fashioned )

Before the addition of syrup 

Whip this till it reaches the stage of whipped cream and then add the butter bit by bit for a homogeneous butter cream once you have incorporated all of this slowly fold in the whipped cream . If you are adding any flavours do it now.  When making caramel flavoured buttercream you have to be extra careful since caramel has a very high temperature which can inevitably result in scrambled yolks. For that make a caramel sauce and incorporate that. If making coffee flavoured butte cream simply make 6 tablespoonful of strongly brewed coffee and whip with the butte cream .                      

Emulsion of egg yolks and sugar syrup 

                                                                                                            
Let it sit in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before using since ours is a tropical country but no more than 5 else it will become stiff  whip and use . With experience I have gained a valuable tip of using frosting in a tropical weather. Apply your first layer on the let it sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before applying the second cake base and then the frosting but do not let it sit for too long else it will before stiff and you shall not be able to make the base sit properly on the previous layer of buttercream.

Sample of frosting
(caramel frosting) 

Sample of Chocolate buttercream 

Sample of frosting caramel frosting

Dundee Cake

Dundee Cake

With love from Scotland Dundee Cake 

So its the time of the year when parents suddenly become Santa Claus and children who are still gullible think that Santa travels all the way from his snow land on his sledge drawn by Rudolf to climb down the chimneys and leave the presents. parents threaten children the rest of the year with ,"If you do not behave yourself Santa will not bring any presents for you". Looking back at the Christmases what I most vividly remember is the Christmas holidays being my favourite holiday from school due to the long vacation and the treats and well when I was young my mother would tell me how Jesus was born on the 25th of December and a little devil was born exactly one month later. Not caring that I was being refereed to as the little devil I would listen to her stories wide eyed because it was only when she was telling me stories that my mother was not disciplining me or coming back from office to say, "Did you while away your time again"

Christmas for me never meant big parties with lots of people because my "quiet and peace loving" parents would pack up and decide on a place "Far Away from the madding crowd" at any little possibility. And every Christmas we would go to the hill stations which during the 90s and early 2000s would be all calm and quiet because most tourists would avoid cold places during the cold season in India but both my mountaineer parents loved it and soon I realized my heart belongs to the mountains especially the eastern Himalayan range though my parents would mostly head to the Western Himalayas for the expeditions and treks but when it came to our annual trips we mostly stuck to  the mountains which lies yonder in the northern part of West Bengal.

Our trips were usually predictable. What was a definitive inclusion was walking the entire day and yes I was bullied into walking with my own backpack and realizing how much I enjoy it today. Another essential part of our trips were a somewhat heavy breakfast, lunch carried in our backpacks which usually consisted of bread,chocolates, fruits, crisps , biscuits snacking on steaming soups and momos (a dumpling ) etc and a dinner of chicken curry.

The most exciting day of the trips for me would be of course Christmas day when Santa would pay me a visit  which was the highlight of the day. What I loathed were those rich dry fruit cakes which were a must inclusion for Christmas Day's lunch and snacking. Oh no matter how earnestly I would pray on Christmas eve that Santa get us a nice creamy chocolate cake it was always those fruit laden cakes staring me in my eyes the next day.

Over the years the timing of the trips have been freely moved thanks to my completion of education and the excessive crowds in the hills during the holidays these days. India sure has grown its resistance to cold and well of course then there is global warming. So we usually chose a time when its all quiet on the mountain front.

Well anyways coming back to cakes as I grew up despite my dislike for fruit cakes I would religiously go to the age old Flurry's (a heritage bakery of Calcutta) for their rich fruit cakes and then one Christmas I saw something which interested me, a round cake with almonds in circular patterns all over the cake. Turned out to be the Dundee cake . I bought one and was well finally this was something which made me very very very happy. With its crumbly texture and almond laden top it was what my taste buds needed.

Then I realized that what made me dislike the fruti cakes were the inclusion of cashew nuts and sweetened pumpkins something which probably takes place in India alone. Anyways so this year I decided on the Dundee cake, presenting Scotland's very own fruit cake, not very rich , needs no soaking and with a kiss of whiskey. What makes it unique is the inclusion of marmalade.

Interestingly Dundee has a very nice little story attached to it. Legend has it that Mary Queen of Scots disliked cherries and so a fruit cake was made in her honour which included a lot of almonds and there is also another legend of her having introduced marmalade to Scotland but then legends are legends. What is definitive is that Keiller's started producing marmalade in huge massive quantities which is an important ingredients for Dundee cake and as per them they were the ones who produced Dundee cake in masses and invented it. Well I do not know who invented this cake but yes this is one of the best fruit cakes I have had. Laden with figs, apricots, raisins, sultanas , currants and almonds this one is fully laden yet its crumbly light texture is simply delicious, the marmalade and orange peel gives it that perfect touch of citrus aroma and flavour.

I followed Dan Lepard's recipe and am ever grateful to him for giving some extremely valuable tips. I did look around and gather some other  useful tips which ended in the perfect crumbly rich wonderful cake.

So what you need is

175gm of unsalted butter
175gm of brown sugar
250gm of all purpose flour
baking powder (Now here is the thing about baking powders, it does vary as per country, so while using do read the label please, mine asked me to use 2tsp for every 450gm and so I used my eyes and it was somewhat well say a little more than 1 tsp but you should really read your label because excessive baking powder leads to a funny zinc like bitter taste and too little will make your cake not fluff up 0
180gm of soft de-seeded apricots chopped in little pieces
75gm of chopped dried figs
100gm of sultanas
75gm of currants de-stemmed completely
75gm of raisins
150gm of glazed cherries pitted and halved and dried
80gm of almond flour (What I did was simply blanch them and dry them and toast them and grind them but please do not grind them since nuts have oil and if you grind for too long you end up with a lumpy greasy mass)
25ml of warm water
1 tbsp grated orange zest
2 tbsp marmalade
3 eggs (I did use the big sized ones and the country eggs not the poultry ones for maximum taste and flavour)
100gm of blanched and halved almonds
2 tbsp whiskey

Start by lining your baking tin ( 6 inch to 7 inch) . Now most people will advice you to not grease the pan post using the parchment paper but that is essential to make sure that the greasing and dusting is done to easily peel off the parchment paper once done with baking. i am sure it will not be a hilarious story to tell when your guests end up with a little paper for extra taste :)

It is always useful to get things done from before so I did chop my apricots, figs , cherries etc the previous night of baking . On the B-day (baking day) grease your tin if using a nonstick tin and then place the parchment paper and then grease and dust. It is always helpful if you do this ahead of time.

First sift your flour and baking powder together . Now start by first creaming your butter with sugar. Here is something interesting that blew my mind. I usually use a hand held non electronic whisk and today for some reason i went even more old school and started the process of softening the butter with the back of a massive spoon and believe me the result of fluffiness was simply amazing. I went on to cream my butter and sugar with my whisk. It was something that just disappeared in my mouth , it was lighter than air :P I added my marmalade and orange zest and then 75gm of your sifted flour and whisk and then add the eggs one by one and keep whisking and now you are done with the whisk . Now is your time to preheat your oven to a 140 C , then use a spatula to fold in the flour and lastly the dry fruits. At this point you need all your strength, there is a reason why some women who bake have no jiggy wiggies hangign out from those arms :P

 The mixture will feel very rich and tight. Add 20ml warm water and mix well with spatula. Fold it in your prepared baking tin. Now here is a very useful tip. Wet your hands and smooth the top so that you need up with a even topped cake. So you think you should arrange your almonds now , no all in good time my loves all in good time.

Place a flat dish with raised sides filled with boiled water in the middle of the oven, use a rack and place the cake in the middle and bake for 50 minutes. This placing of water beneath the rack makes sure that you keep your cake moist since like most fruit cakes this requires at least 2 hours 50 minutes of baking. Now is your time to carefully take out the cake and quickly arrange your almonds in circular patterns. i did preheat it again at 140 C and it took a few minutes and then baked it for another 2 hours. If your skewer comes out perfectly clean you are done. Use a toothpick , no big skewer please to make little holes and feed the cake your whiskey.

Enjoy this crumbly yet rich cake with your afternoon tea.

I proudly am entering this with Kolkata food Blogger's Baking palooza 2013

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Triple Gateau Au Chocolat

Triple Gateau Au Chocolat 

 My dear friends were coming over and I had been planning my menu for over 3 weeks. I was excited like a child , giddy with joy and anticipation and trying to read up as many recipes as possible. You see I had a bit of confusion, should it be the Dobostorte rich, dark, with a caramel layer, the elegant Opera Cake or the ever Classic Triple Gateau Au Chocolat.

Playing tic tac toe I suddenly decided Gateau au Chocolat it would be. I searched high and low for the perfect recipe and boldly tried out my own with amalgamation of two different recipes for the chocolate cake base. It was french yolk based utterly silky and sensuous chocolate buttercream frosting and of course a ganache layer to top it all. In this season of strawberries I but naturally used those plump , juicy, sweet and sour berries because not only are they the sensation of the season , they cut down on the sweetness of the cake and works wonderfully well inside one's mouth. Imagine fluffy, soft, moist , firm yet light cake with a creamy buttery lighter than mousse frosting topped with dark , bitter yet delightful chocolate ganache giving it the perfect vintage coat for this winter. Triple for the triple indulgence - chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache :)

So here comes the cake, ta tah ta tah:

For the base

6 eggs
300gm all purpose flour
Baking powder (3 tsp)
4 to 6 tablespoonful of Sour Cream (I made homemade substitute of sour cream with heavy cream and buttermilk and allowed them to ferment for 24 hours before usage)
300gm of castor sugar
200 to 220 gm of butter
130gm of cocoa powder

For the chocolate butter cream frosting

6 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4th cup water
200 to 300gm of tempered dark chocolate
250gm unsalted butter
200gm double cream

For the ganache

300gm dark chocolate
20gm butter
60gm double cream

I usually always start by baking the base a day ahead of serving because it not only lessens the pressure of the kitchen on the D-Day but helps in holding the frosting better. I also bake it in two batches and bake the cake batter twice by dividing the ingredients. Preheat ovent o 180 C and Start by sifting the baking powder and flour together and then moving on to creaming your butter with the sugar and when it is properly creamed add the eggs one by one mixing thoroughly. Fold your flour baking powder mixture but soft it once again before folding it because that helps in creating a light fluffy texture of the cake. Add your cocoa powder but sift it while adding it and then fold it . here you will find the mixture very thick and so add the sour cream. Fold gently because over mixing will cause the cake not to rise perfectly. bake at 180C for 47 minutes to 50 minutes. I use a convection oven and so my timing is more than what an OTG would require so lessen the time to 40 minutes in case of using OTG. Check if cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean you are done. Wrap in plastic leaving one side open and work on the frosting the next day.

Here are some tips :

1. Do not ever open the door even by mistake during the baking
2. After the toothpick insert let it rest in the oven for 10 minutes 
3. Let the cake cool down completely before trying to de-mould it else some of it remains stuck to the baking pan. 

Before frosting the cake. First cut the cakes to make four pieces the next morning. 

For the butter cream frosting 

Make the butter-cream using the French butter-cream method with the given amount of ingredients in thsi recipe 

Prepare ganache 

Temper chocolate on double boiler , take care not to seize the chocolate add cream and butter and mix really well. Now while it is in the liquid state use a spatula to gently spread all over the cake. decorate with strawberries and serve. Your guests will definitely remember this cake. 

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Caramel Cake

Caramel Cake 

Caramel , caramel oh my love Caramel 

My dear cousin brother A's birthday is coming up and I just had to bake a cake. What else does a sister do?  So come Thursday and I was torn between Gateau au Chocolat and Butterscotch cake with a caramelized frosting. Swayed this way and that way and finally settled for the Butterscotch since I had made quite a bit of chocolates a few days ago.

The end result was a rich creamy , buttery goodness for the taste buds and spun sugar for the eyes , a brother who gobbled up a little less than half of the cake and a very happy cook.

The recipe is simple:

For the cake one needs

225gm of all purpose flour
225gm of unsalted butter
100gm of castor sugar
125gm of brown sugar
Half a heaped dessertspoonful of baking powder. Now here is a tricky business with baking powder. Here in Calcutta I use Wiekfield's baking powder which clearly states that one should use 2 tsp for every 450gm so adjusted accordingly.
5 eggs (I used 5 since the sizes in India differs from the ones in many other countries.)
4 tablespoonful of cream

For the icing :

250gm of whipped cream (Amul worked fine with its 25% fat)
300gm of butter
Caramel made from 500gm sugar
5 egg yolks

For decoration
Moist praline

Start a day ahead with your cake. Divide the ingredients and start with half of the ingredients for the cake. Cream the butter, add the eggs one by one. Sift flour and baking powder and then further soft it in bit by bit. Add cream and make a smooth heavy batter.

Preheat oven to 180 C and bake for 40 minutes. I use convection which requires extra time . When using OTG lessen the time to 30 minutes or till skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Make the batter again and bake away. Store at room temperature overnight in a plastic wrap whcih ensures that the cake does not loose moisture.

The next day begin with first softening the butter at room temperature and then making the caramel. Remember that caramel is a tricky affair and is a demanding item and needs your full attention like a little child. One moment you take your eyes off it and the next moment you have burnt caramel. once it reaches a nice dark brown colour quickly add cream and make a caramel sauce. Let it cool down.

Use the French butter-cream method but with the given amount of ingredients for frosting in this recipe.

Now begin by first using a knife which has been held under hot water and wiped down to make two layers of the two cakes. Then first put a thin coat of icing and refrigerate for 10 minutes . This helps in holding the frosting better. Then frost away and use piping to decorate things.

Make your moist praline with caramelized sugar and almonds and a wee bit water and make little balls to decorate.

For spun sugar it is not possible to write down and explain things. You tube has many helpful videos.

Important tip :

The size of the cake pan used was 6 inch to 7 inch

Madeira Cake

Back to the basics of cakes , 

The Tribute to Madeira 

 Everybody is baking these days. Sugar butter flour everywhere. With so much of baking I am sure each homes is filled with a fragrance which is delightful. Not only are people baking but they are creating artistic cakes. So artistic that it amazes everyone.

Now I will completely express my personal views. It is the truth and absolute truth but is  nonetheless just my personal view . Let me begin with a rhetoric question. Why this fuss over cakes in the shape of shoes, cakes in the shape of bags and any object found on the surface of this wide wide wide world. While the work makes me have the greatest of respect for artists who spend hours creating them there is some mixed feeling. This excessive demand for over the top decorations is destroying our taste buds through and through. It is as if we actually are eating with our eyes. Have our taste buds become so challenged that we cannot appreciate so many cakes in this world? I stirred the hornet's nest on a particular social media and clearly there were two groups, a) the ones who make such cakes and b) the majority who eat them. Now here is my question. Try searching a little bit and you shall find billions of unexplored desserts . Are they not delectable enough? Some argued for unnatural decorations with the metaphor of dressing up for parties. Why do the cakes not dress beautifully and classically and why need they put on layers and layers of make up is what I wonder. As with cosmetics the look you create is completely in your hands. You can look au natural and glamorous and a true classic or slap on enough make up for you to look well artificially nice. Of course beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder  but how is a cake in the shape of say a house or worse shoe more desirable than a Dobostorte , Sachertorte or a beautifully made butter cream frosting baffles me. Anyways moving on,

Well so I have challenged myself to explore research and find out about desserts from around the world and try making them one by one. That would be enough for a whole lifetime.

For my first dessert I picked up the most basic of cakes, the tea time accompaniments of course. The great Madeira cake from Great Britain with a light yet firm texture , the perfect accompaniment to tea . Why Britain you ask? Well, I am from Calcutta , believe me there is the connection .

Anyways everyone is baking but how are they baking. Why do we undervalue the basics of cake making so much , why should nonprofessionals use electronic whisks without first learning the old fashioned hand held whisk is beyond me. Well I'm amazed at how strongly opinionated I am but nevertheless I shall try and give as many tips as i can for making cakes right from scratch.

Here is what you need for a Madeira cake. I followed James martin's recipe and the result was a beautifully light firm perfect cake . The lemony taste was truly the "icing of this cake".

200gm of flour
175gm of unsalted butter
175gm of sugar
3 medium eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoon of milk (adjust as per the batter) I ran out of milk but had a bowl of cream and used cream :)
Less than half a teaspoonful of baking powder. Practicing would make you realize exactly how much to be put it.
Candied lemon peels for decorations

Begin with the candied lemon peel a day ahead. Peel the lemon and then slice them real thin.

Wash them well and blanch then at least thrice. It is very important to blanch them thrice to remove all unwanted bitterness. Spread out and dry till bone dried. 

Begin with 3 tablespoonful of water and 4 tablespoonful of castor sugar. Bring to a slow boil making sure it does not burn and add the dried peels. Cook them and well when working with sugar you cannot juggle other things. Let it get reduced to the point where each strand is coated well and then dry for 2 hours and spread out each peel. 

When you start with a cake there are some rules which be followed thoroughly if you want your cake to be perfect 

Before beginning sift your flour well with less than half a teaspoonful of baking power. Remember that too much baking powder renders your cake bitter and too less prevents the cake from rising. 

These are :

1. Begin with creaming the butter. It is especially important that you cream fresh , as fresh as you can get in the market fresh unsalted butter. Do not use a bowl too big or too small. You can use a whisk or a big spoon though I personally have never tried the spoon method. 
2. Slowly add your sugar bit by bit mixing real well , if sifted it would be fluffy to an extend which makes you cry in joy. While creaming butter you arms will pain and if you make cakes quite often there isn't a chance that you ever are stuck with chicken wings. Of course the other hand needs some extra exercise for making up. 
3. Now preheat you oven to 180C 
4. When properly creamed the butter should be of a fluffy creamed consistency without any visible grains of sugar. It should be a delight to even look at it. Add your eggs 1 by 1 and keep whisking for a smoothness which is a delight to watch . Now slowly add your sifted flour through a sieve. This twice sifting of flour makes the cake airy and light. Your final consistency should be such that it fall after a long time from a spoon. 
5. Fold in the lemon zest with a spatula . You should never whisk the lemon zest or over-mix cake batter. That disturbs the baking as well. 
6. Fold it in your already buttered and floured cake pan and bake for 1 hour. even though Mr.martin suggest 40 minutes the problem is with an  Indian kitchen the conviction oven is the only option and baking temperature not only varies from oven to oven but form brand to brand as well. So I suggest to first bake it for 45 minutes and insert a toothpick in the center to check whether it  is done and if not then add another 10 minutes. You shouldn't even open the oven door by mistake before the 45 minutes else your cake will fall faster before you can even close your eyes. 

While it is baked observe the cake and you know it is going to be perfect if :

• The bubbles on the surface are not too big
• The middle does not puff up too soon before 30 minutes. 
• It slowly and steadily rises 

Once the toothpick is clean let it rest in the oven till the fan works itself and only after that do you get to take it out and cool the cake on the wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Do anything else and your cake will crumble. 

Once cool decorate with candied lemon peels and serve with a cup of Darjeeling tea or any tea of your preference. I am no chef but these basic points make everything possible 

Important tip :

Use a 6 inch to 7 inch cake pan