Daring Bakers February 2009 Challenge: Chocolate Valentino

When I saw this months challenge was a chocolate valentine I was highly curious as to what it was as it conjured up images of exploding chocolate volcanoes in my head. It turns out to be a rich, moist and wickedly chocolaty flourless chocolate cake – thankfully involving no volcanoes or explosions of any kind. (Yes I initially misread the title as a chocolate volcano!) It involves just 3 simple ingredients, chocolate, butter and eggs. No flour, no ground nuts and more surprisingly no added sugar! Yes that’s right, the only sweetness in this cake comes from the chocolate, so depending on how bitter or sweet you like your desserts determines on what type of chocolate you should use. Whatever cocoa percentage of chocolate you use, it should be good quality, as the chocolate really is the main flavour and ingredient of this cake – in involves a LOT of chocolate. I usually like my chocolate dark and intense, but the fact the recipe involved no added sugar left me feeling a little daunted, so I decided to go for a nice middle of the range 55% cocoa content, which I feel turned out just right.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

This month not content with just a chocolate cake to contend with but we were also given the choice of two vanilla ice creams to make to accompany the cake. I decided to go with Dharm’s ice cream recipe, as it used an egg yolk custard base and I had plenty of yolks left over from my latest Cake Slice challenge. I also flavoured my ice cream with Amaretto which added an interesting note as it melted on your tongue and I think it always pairs well with chocolate. I couldn’t resist dipping a spoon into the custard base before I tucked it away in the freezer, so creamy and comforting.

I decided to also make a simple warm chocolate sauce to drizzle over the slices of cake when serving, which I think made the dessert complete. The cake puffed up and cracked in the oven but slowly relaxed into a flat surface while cooling. It was moist and very dense, but not heavy. Despite its appearance, it actually had quite a light mouthfeel, similar to a just cooked brownie. The deep, slightly bitter chocolate flavour was really intense, which as a dark chocolate lover I adored, but it may have been a bit too bitter for some people, but I suppose you could always add mostly milk chocolate for a sweeter taste. I wonder if white chocolate would work? It’s definitely more of an after dinner dessert rather than an afternoon tea cake. I kept the cake on the counter but moved it to the fridge on the second day and after that it became more like a giant fudgy truffle – I think it would be great cut into little squares and served with coffee like this.

Thanks Wendy and Dharm for a tasty chocolate challenge. Click to view their creations along with the other Daring Bakers Cakes.

Flourless Chocolate Valentino

(Recipe from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan)

Ingredients
455g semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (around 55%)

145g unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

Method

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often. Remove from the heat once melted.

2. While the chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Grease an 8inch/20cm deep springform cake tin and line with a parchment circle. Preheat the oven to 190C.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks until thick and slightly pale.

6. Stir the egg yolks into the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in a third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and gently fold in the remaining two-thirds until no white remains. Do not over mix or the batter will deflate.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 60C, or until the top of the cake looks like it has a thin sugary crust and a soft interior, similar to a brownie. A cake tester will appear wet.

9. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.


Dharm's Ice Cream Recipe - Classic Vanilla Ice Cream

(Recipe from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis)Ingredients

1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with 1tsp vanilla extract)

300ml Semi Skimmed Milk.

4 large egg yolks

75g caster sugar

1 tsp corn flour

300ml Double Cream
(I added 1 tbsp Amaretto)

Method

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuseLift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. Set the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.

2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy.
3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time.

4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it into a clean bowl and stir in the Amaretto. Allow it to cool before refrigerating.

5a. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container. Freeze for 6 hours, beating the mix every 2 hours to ensure a smooth and creamy texture or else the ice cream may be icy and coarse. Freeze until firm enough to scoop.

5b. For Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream (not whisked) into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker).

Simple Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients
100ml double cream
60g dark chocolate
2 tsp runny honey

Method
Heat the cream until small bubbles begin to appear. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate and honey until smooth.
Serve warm.

Two Summer Strawberry Recipes

Last week we needed around 8 punnets of strawberries for a kitchen trial but due to a bit of a communication mix up we ended up with two lots of 8 punnets, meaning we had plenty left over and I got to bring 4 x 400g punnets home with me on Friday. What a hardship working can be.

I happily munched my way through a few of them but knew I definitely had to make something with them too. I decided upon strawberry jam and strawberry ice cream. I delegated 1 punnet plus 100g to the ice cream and the rest to the jam.

Sunny Strawberry Jam

This produced a really flavoursome, summery and vibrantly red strawberry jam. In order for jam to ‘set’ it requires pectin which occurs naturally in fruits with certain fruits containing more than others. Strawberries contain very little pectin and so the addition of the lemon juice is essential to help the jam ‘set’ as it is an excellent source of pectin. It also helps to lift the flavour of jam but without imparting any obvious lemony flavour. Special preserving sugar containing pectin or pectin substitutes can also be used.

The jam also contains some lovely great chunks of strawberry that really gave an extra texture and flavour boost upon eating. It’s also not too sweet, containing less sugar than some other recipes, which I like, but feel free to add more to your taste. I tried this spread onto a freshly baked crusty white bread roll and it was heavenly, a real taste of summer. It would also be wonderful spread on freshly baked scones with cream for afternoon tea, spread on your morning toast, used as a filling for cakes and biscuits or baked into jam tarts. The choice is yours. Either way, the end result I feel is far superior to anything you can buy from the supermarket and you have the added option of adding your own flavour additions to the jam during production. E.g. vanilla, mint, black pepper, chocolate or anything else that takes your fancy.

Ingredients
1.1kg strawberries
4 tbsp water
400g golden granulated sugar
1 lemon

Method
Place three 425ml jam jars and their lids into the oven the turn on to 100C to sterilise the jars.
Twist the leafy tops off the strawberries and make sure any remaining green stalk is removed.
Place the strawberries into a large sauce pan along with the juice from the lemon and 4 tbsp water, or enough to just over the base of the pan to prevent the strawberries from initially burning.
Turn onto quite a high heat and allow to simmer and boil until the strawberries have begun to release a lot of their juice and turn mushy.
Using a potato masher, gently squash and brake up the particularly large strawberries. Don’t turn it into a puree though, you still want some nice chunks left.
Then add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Place a clean saucer into the fridge to go cold.
Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to reduce and thicken slightly, stirring occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to the base of the pan.
Remove the cold saucer from the fridge and drizzle on a small pool of the jam mixture and return to the fridge for 1-2 minutes.
Remove the saucer from the fridge again and using your index finger push the little puddle of jam away from you. If the surface ripples then the jam is ready. If not, then continue to boil for a little longer before repeating the test. The more obvious the ripple effect, the firmer or more ‘set’ your jam will be. I like my jar still fairly soft and so I removed it from the heat after the first few ripples appeared.
Remove the jars from the oven and carefully divide the jam mixture between them (It will be extremely hot). I find a small ladle works best for this. Make sure they are well filled.
Then using oven or rubber gloves, tightly screw on the lids and leave the jars to cool before storing in a cool place until opened. Once opened they should then be stored in the fridge.
Makes 3 large jars.

Strawberry Ice cream
This ice cream is very light and summery. The large quantity of pureed strawberries not only add a strong strawberry flavour but also turn the ice cream a wonderful shade of deep pink. It also contains some chopped strawberries that are added at the last minutes producing little jewels of fresh strawberry flecked throughout the ice cream. If using bought fresh custard then the whole ice cream can be prepared and ready to eat in under an hour. The honey adds a nice subtle sweetness and helps keep the ice cream slightly softer upon freezing.

Ingredients
400g strawberries
100g extra strawberries
1 tbsp runny honey
500ml fresh custard – bought or home made.

Method
Either make or buy 500ml of fresh custard and chill until thoroughly cold in the fridge.
Remove the green leafy tops from all the strawberries and puree 400g’s worth using a hand blender or food processor.
Stir the strawberry puree and honey into the custard, it will turn a wonderful shade of pink, and chill again until ready to use.
Prepare your ice cream machine as per manufacturer’s instructions, pour in the ice cream mix and churn until starting to go thick and creamy.
Meanwhile finely chop the remaining 100g of strawberries.
When the ice cream is thickened add the chopped strawberries and along to mix in thoroughly.
Transfer the ice cream to a freezer proof container and freeze until required.
If the ice cream if left in the freezer for more than a few hours, remember to remove from the freezer and allowing to soften for around 20-30minutes before serving.
Makes 1 litre ice cream.