Christmas Pudding Truffles

With Christmas and New Year over things are starting to settle down and return to the regular routine, with the last few slices of Christmas cake or pudding the lingering reminder of the festivities.

My homemade Christmas pudding was a great success on Christmas day. It had been maturing for a month by the time it was given a final steam, doused in a copious amount of Brandy and set alight. The wispy blue flames looked so pretty dancing around the edge of the pudding. I did try and take a photo of it, but the flames haven’t really shown up. The pudding was very moist and flavoursome. The fruits and Brandy had mingled together nicely to give a deep, rich fruity overtone and the cakey bit was light and moist. I’m definitely going to make it again next year.

Over Christmas a friend had also given us a bought Christmas pudding and rather than eat it simply as a pudding (as we had the homemade one) I was given permission to turn it into truffles…Christmas pudding with Brandy butter chocolate truffles!
To make the truffles, you simply crumble the leftover pudding into a bowl, warm it gently in the microwave to make it soft and gooey and then mix in a little Brandy butter to help stick everything together (regular butter would do if you don’t have any leftover). It was then a matter of rolling them into balls, chilling them and covering with melted dark chocolate or a dusting of cocoa powder and your done. Delicious truffles, that look and taste like you must have been working in the kitchen for hours and yet in reality they are made from a few simple leftovers.

They were very moreish. The chocolate coating cracked with a very satisfying crunch as you bite into it yielding to a soft, fruity, boozy interior. The perfect after dinner treat when you don’t want a full dessert.

Christmas Pudding Truffles
Ingredients
500-600g leftover Christmas pudding
25g Brandy butter (or regular butter with ½ tbsp Brandy)
200g dark chocolate
Cocoa powder for dusting

Method
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and set aside.
Crumble the Christmas pudding between your fingers into a bowl. Add the Brandy butter and place the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, until warmed but not hot.
Mix everything together, until combined.
Take teaspoonfuls of the mixture and squish it gently into balls using the tips of your fingers. Place on the prepared baking tray. Continue until all the mixture is used up.
Place the baking tray in the freezer for an hour to completely chill the pudding truffles (this prevents them from breaking up when you dip them in chocolate).
After an hour, melt the dark chocolate until smooth. Remove the truffles from the freezer and dip each one into the melted chocolate, turning it until well covered. Use two small forks to help you.
Place the chocolate covered truffles back onto the baking tray. Once the chocolate has been used up, roll any remaining balls in cocoa powder.
Leave the chocolate to set at room temperature. Once set, place the truffles in small petit fours cases and serve.
Store any leftover truffles in an airtight container.
Makes around 30 truffles

The Cake Slice December 09: White Chocolate Layer Cake

This month’s cake choice was particularly fitting for this time of year, especially as we had snow this week, a completely white cake. It comprises of three layers of white chocolate enriched cake, filled and topped with a sticky creamy white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

I was not particularly fond of this cake. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with it, I’m just not a lover of white chocolate so this cake was never going to be my ‘to-die-for’ cake from the start. Despite this I can appreciate that it was a very nice cake. The layers were dense yet still moist and fluffy and the frosting was incredibly smooth and creamy. It was very sweet, too sweet for my liking, but I suspect this is largely due to the white chocolate. My first thought on taking my first bite was Milkybar and I had images of the blonde haired Milkybar Kid float round my head which made me smile. It had that same sticky-sweet yet creamy taste and flavour to Milkybar. If you are a fan of white chocolate then this cake is for you as white chocolate makes an appearance in both the cake and the frosting.

I might try making this cake again, but replacing the white chocolate with dark as I think this would produce a lovely cake and would help balance out the sweetness.

As this cake was essentially our groups Christmas cake I set the group the extra optional challenge of decorating it with the theme – Snow. This seemed very fitting considering the cake itself was completely white.

I chose to decorate mine with some snowflakes I cut out of fondant using some very cool make-your-own-snowflake-design cutters that were an early Christmas present (thanks Mum!). I also dusted the top with some edible blue glitter which is something I only recently discovered and I think it adds a frosty nighttime feel as well as adding a little Christmas sparkle.

White Chocolate Layer Cake
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)
For the White Chocolate Cake
300g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
115g white chocolate, finely chopped
110ml boiling water
200g butter, softened
450g caster sugar (I used 300g)
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
225ml buttermilk (see note below)

For the White Chocolate Frosting
175g white chocolate, finely chopped
350g cream cheese, softened
35g butter, softened
¾ tsp vanilla extract
375g icing sugar


Method – White Chocolate Cake
Heat the oven to 180C and grease three 8 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a circle of waxed paper or kitchen parchment and flour the pan.
Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a medium bowl, and stir with a fork to mix them well.
Bring 3 inches of water to an active simmer in the bottom of a double boiler or a saucepan that will accommodate a medium heat proof bowl so that it sits snugly over the water. Melt the white chocolate in the top of the double boiler or in the bowl over the simmering water. Stir often, and then pour in the boiling water and stir to mix well. Remove from the heat.
In a medium bowl, combine the butter and the sugar and beat with a mixed at medium speed to mix them together well. Add the egg yolks, one by one, beating each time to keep the mixture smooth. Add the white chocolate and the vanilla, and stir well to mix.
Add about a third of the flour mixture, and then about half of the buttermilk, beating with a mixer at low speed just long enough after each addition to make the flour or buttermilk disappear. Mix in another third of the flour, remaining buttermilk and then the last of the flour.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites at medium speed until they are foamy and opaque. Continue beating at high speed until they swell into thick, pillowy mounds and hold peaks that are stiff, but not fry. Add one third of the egg white mixture to the bowl of batter, and fold it in gently using a spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and continue to fold with a light touch, until the egg whites are blended in well, with only a few streaks showing.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the centre and are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans.
Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks or folded kitchen towels for about 30 minutes. Turn them out onto the racks and peel off the paper and turn them back the right way up to cool completely.


Method – White Chocolate Frosting
In the top of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl, melt the white chocolate over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often. Remove from the heat once melted and let cool to lukewarm. Transfer the melted white chocolate to a large bowl, and add the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Beat together at medium speed until you have a smooth sauce. Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.


To Assemble
Place one layer, top side down on a cake stand or serving plate and spread it with about a fourth of the icing. Continue stacking and frosting each cake layer in the same way. Cover the sides of the cake with any remaining frosting.
Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Set the cake out about 30 minutes before you want to serve it.
Makes one 8 inch triple layer cake

NOTE: If you can’t find buttermilk, stir 1 tbsp lemon juice into 225ml of milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes before using.

Jordans Country Crisp Appreciation Society Day

Yesterday I was one of a few lucky bloggers to be invited to the first Country Crisp Appreciation Society day run by Jordans Cereals at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London. I was delighted about this as I adore cereal and have been eating Jordans products for many years. For those of you who don’t know, Jordans produce a delicious range of oat based mueslis, cereal bars, porridge oats and Country Crisp clusters. They are based in Biggleswade, in my own hometown of Bedfordshire and use only the finest natural ingredients in their cereals.

Some of the other cereal enthusiast bloggers were:
Kavita of Kavey Eats
Signe of Scandilicious
Mathilde of Mathilde’s Cuisine
The Muesli Lover
Greedy Diva
The Ginger Gourmand
Danny of Food Urchin
Maunika of Cook in a Curry

Jordans Country Crisp cereal has been around for several years, and comprises of clusters of oats and barley baked into various sized clusters. It comes in many varieties depending on what add-ins you have with it. I have always favoured the raisin one which has lovely giant chewy flame raisins mixed in with it. The crisp clusters are hugely popular and the whole Country Crisp range has now got such a fan base that Jordans have just launched a Country Crisp Appreciation Society. People can’t get enough of it and are eating it not only at breakfast but also baking with it and snacking on it straight out the box. As a result they have recently launched a honey variety which is designed with snackers in mind – bigger clusters with no add-ins to pick through, although, it does of course still taste great for breakfast.

After a meet and greet one of the two founders of Jordans, Bill Jordan himself then gave us a talk about the history and philosophy behind Jordans. He was ever so friendly and stayed to answer all our questions as we got down to some baking. Apparently it took 83 different recipes before they achieved the perfect cluster – now that’s dedication! Jordans were also the first to offer freeze fried berries in its cereal and all its oats are grown in the fields near the factory and to conservation standard.
Jordans head of taste, Kirsten, then talked us through a Country Crisp Pear and Chocolate Crumble Cake we would be baking using Jordans Chocolate Country Crisp. We were each given our own work space and ingredients and set about baking. It was a vanilla sponge cake, studded with chocolate chips, topped with a layer of Chocolate Country Crisp, sautéed sliced pears and a final sprinkle of more Country Crisp. The recipe can be found here. It produced a delicious cake and it was interesting to see how everyone’s cake turned out a little differently, even though we had all followed the same recipe. The way the pears had been sliced or the amount of Country Crisp topping made each one unique.

While our cakes were baking Kirsten talked us through the secrets to making new Country Crisp recipes. There are 3 different cluster bases, Vanilla, Nutty and Honey from which to add and create new products. Getting the clusters just right took a lot of research. Customers told Jordans they liked the big clusters but then complained that it was too much to chew if the pack only contained big clusters. Too many small clusters meant they weren’t clustery enough. Jordans have found that a mix of small, medium and large clusters is most successful. To do this they sort and grade the clusters after oven baking them to ensure every box is perfect. Even the add ins have proved problematic as high water content fruits like peaches proved too bland and the cut or shape of a nut dramatically changes the texture and mouthfeel of the cereal. It’s Kirsten’s job to taste and help develop the recipes – how fantastic a job does that sound!

We then got the opportunity to get creative and mix our own Country Crisp cereal using the oaty crisp clusters as a base and a fantastic array of add-in ingredients. I chose pecans, hazelnuts, giant flame raisins, pumpkin and sesame seeds, natural apple and apricot pieces and flaked coconut. I then went back and added a handful of dark chocolate curls – being curls they just melted in the mouth, and even sprinkled in a generous amount of cinnamon for an extra warming Christmassy scent. I was so excited by this as I absolutely adore cinnamon with nuts and chocolate, plus its meant to be very good for controlling blood pressure. Once our cereals were mixed we were then presented with our very own personalized country crisp cereal box complete with our picture and a short character description! How cool is that!!

I had a bowlful of the cereal this morning and it was divine. Nutty with crisp oaty clusters, chewy raisins, creamy coconut and the warming scent and flavour of cinnamon. If you live in the Bedfordshire area and fancy creating your own cereal mix then you can visit their shop in Biggleswade to stock up on all the raw ingredients they use in their own cereals or simply just pick up one of their ready made mixes from the shelves. I have visited the shop many times (it also sells a great assortment of herbs, spices and other gifty things) and found out yesterday that the lovely lady who runs it is actually Bill Jordans Mum!

It was a fantastic morning and we left with a bag full of our lovely goodies – pear chocolate crisp cake, personalized cereal and box and a couple of boxes of the Country Crisp cereal. Thank you so much to everyone at Jordans and Wild Card for arranging the day and it was great to meet so many cereal enthusiasts.

Bite Size Fruitcakes & Chocolate Truffle Squares for Afternoon Tea

As promised, here are the recipes for the other sweet treats I made for the afternoon tea party I had recently to accompany the macarons I made for this months Daring Bakers challenge. There was a selected of savoury sandwiches (including cucumber sandwiches with the crusts removed!), along with some of my favourite buttermilk scones served with clotted cream, jam and fruit, some bite size fruitcakes topped with marzipan flowers and some honeyed chocolate truffles served on tuile biscuit squares.

It made quite a spread and when rounded off with cups of freshly made tea and enjoyed in the company of friends and family it made for a most enjoyable afternoon. I do think it’s a shame that the tradition of afternoon tea has almost disappeared from our daily lives, but I for one vow to try and enjoy them at every possible occasion.

Bite Size Fruitcakes
You can’t have a traditional afternoon tea without the presence of fruitcake. As I was aiming for elegant food, I decided to experiment with baking the fruitcake mix in cannelé moulds in order to make them bite size. This worked a treat and when topped with a little marzipan flower I think they turned out rather dainty. You could eat a couple while still leaving room to sample other things and baking them individually meant they cooked very evenly and stayed wonderfully moist.

This is a scaled down version of my favourite fruitcake recipe. However, don’t feel you have to stick to it religiously. If you run out of one or more of the fruits, dried cranberries, peaches, pears, prunes or dates also work well. If you don’t want to use brandy then you could use a spiced fruit tea or apple juice instead.

Bite Size Fruitcakes
Fruit Mix
60g raisins
60g sultanas
60g currants
25g dried apricots
35g glace cherries
Zest of ½ lemon
Zest of ½ orange
1 tbsp brandy

Cake Mix
75g plain flour
½ tsp mixed spice
15g ground almonds
55g soft brown sugar
55g butter
2 tsp black treacle
1 egg
Zest of ½ lemon
Fruit mix (above)

Method – Fruit Mix
Weight out the raisins, currants and sultanas into a bowl. Sort through the fruit a handful at a time, removing any stalks still attached to the fruit (these won’t be nice to crunch on).Cut the apricots and cherries into small pieces and same size as the raisins. Grate over the zest of the orange and lemon.Drizzle over the brandy, give everything a stir and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for at least 4hours or preferably overnight to allow the fruit to absorb the brandy and plump up.

Cake Mix
Have two cannelé trays (around 35 moulds) ready to hand (you could also use mini muffin trays). Preheat the oven to 140C.Measure the lemon rind, flour, mixed spice, ground almonds, sugar, butter, treacle and egg into a very large bowl and mix together until smooth. (It will be quite stiff)Add the soaked fruits and mix everything together using a spatula, making sure the fruit is evenly distributed.Spoon the mixture into the cannelé moulds using a teaspoon. Fill almost to the top and press down gently to ensure no large air pockets remain trapped at the base.Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are starting to come away from the sides of the pan and a small skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.Allow the cake to cool in the moulds for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to cool.
Top with small marzipan flowers or discs if desired.
They keep well for a week in an airtight container. (They can be kept longer than this as fruitcake keeps for a long time but due to their small size they can start to dry out after a week).
Makes 35 bite size fruitcakes

Honeyed Chocolate Truffle Squares on Tuile Biscuits
I had to include something rich and chocolaty for the chocoholics in my family and these little truffle squares were ideal. You can flavour the chocolate truffle any way you wish but I decided to use a little blossom honey to add a floral note and a touch of sweetness. Adding a small amount of liqueur, the zest of an orange or some strong espresso would also be good. As the truffles were being served with the rest of the afternoon tea treats, I decided to make some small tuile squares on which to serve them. This made them easier to pick up and eat, as the truffles can turn slightly soft if they are left out for more than half an hour and I didn’t want people getting chocolate over their fingers – not ideal for an elegant tea party!

If you don’t want to make the tuile biscuits, dusting the truffle squares in cocoa powder will make them the perfect petit fours to serve with coffee after a dinner party.

Chocolate Truffles
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
100ml double cream
1 level tbsp blossom/runny honey

Method
Heat the cream and honey in a small saucepan or microwave until hot, but do not allow to boil.
Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the cream. Stir gently until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a small 15cm square shallow tray or container, which has been fully lined with clingfilm.
Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating for 2 hours.
Once chilled, remove the chocolate truffle sheet from the tray with the help of the clingfilm. Use a long sharp knife to cut the truffle into 1cm squares. Clean your knife with a sheet of kitchen roll between each cut to get neat squares.
Chill the squares until required.
To assemble, place each truffle square on top of a tuile square and serve immediately.

Tuiles
(Recipe from the Daring Bakers January challenge)
Ingredients

30g softened butter

30g sifted icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 egg white

33g plain flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Gradually add the egg white, white continuing to beat.
Add the flour, a teaspoon at a time until you get a smooth batter/paste. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut out a small square from card to act as a stencil, making sure its about 1cm larger than your chocolate truffle squares. Place the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula or small knife to spread over a thin layer of the paste before carefully removing the stencil. Leave some room in between your shapes.
Bake for about 4-5 minutes until crisp and golden. Watch them carefully as they can burn quite easily.
Meanwhile, prepare the next batch of tuile paste squares on a new piece of baking paper, ready to bake once the first batch is cooked (this saves time).
When the tuiles are baked, lift the baking paper off the baking sheet and replace with the next batch of tuile paste squares and bake as before.
Continue until you have enough squares.
They will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.

Swirled Pumpkin & Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

Autumn has well and truly arrived. The leaves have turned wonderful shades of russet red and golden amber, the daylight in dwindling and there is a distinct chill in the air. Autumn also marks the start of some of my favourite foods – squashes and root vegetables. Probably the most famous squash around this time is the pumpkin. When you say ‘pumpkin’ most people instantly think of the large orange pumpkins that are sold in supermarkets and destined to be turned into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. However, there is an almost numerous variety of pumpkins and squashes available, in a whole assortment of weird and wonderful shapes and colours so do try and hunt out some different ones.

Thanks to my obsession with food, when I recently heard the word ‘pumpkin’ I instantly thought of all the tasty baked pumpkin goodies I have recently seen appearing on blogs worldwide. One of the most popular choices this year seems to be pumpkin swirl chocolate brownies, as presented here by Liz, Joe and Esi. I decided it was high time I experimented with a sweet baked pumpkin treat myself (something which is not that common here in the UK) and loved the idea of combining it with chocolate. I have had a chocolate self saucing pudding recipe on my ‘to bake’ list for some time and decided to try and incorporate the two. This gooey looking pudding is the result!

I made my own pumpkin puree by cutting a pumpkin into chunks and then steaming it until tender and mashing it with a potato masher. This particular self saucing pudding is a little different to others I have tried, as it doesn’t contain any butter, only a little oil and no egg in the chocolate batter, so along with the added pumpkin puree you don’t need to feel too guilty eating it – just don’t look too closely at the sugar content. I added spices and a little cayenne to the pumpkin batter which added to the overall flavour but was not an obvious flavour. You mix the two batters separately and then swirl them together. I love how striking the two contrasting colours were, it was almost a shame to cover the surface with the sauce ingredients and flood it with water, but the resulting glossy chocolaty sauce was worth it.

Most self saucing puddings result in the sauce seeping to the bottom of the dish with the cakey batter on top. This did happen with my pudding but not all the sauce made it to the bottom. I think this was probably because the pumpkin made my batter heavier than a standard batter, resulting in a quirky bumpy pudding with pools of glossy sauce still flooding the surface, not quite what I planned but no less delicious.

I was thrilled when I took my first spoonful of the pudding to find the pudding underneath still nicely marbled pumpkin and chocolate and surrounded by plenty of the thick glossy chocolate sauce. This is not a light and fluffy pudding but if you like sticky, fudgy, stick-to-your-ribs type puddings then this is the one for you! Its definitely a comfort food and best eaten straight away, as the pudding starts to soak up the sauce if left until cold. This makes it go rather stodgy, but still oddly comforting. Some sauce does reappear if gently heated in the microwave. So although not one of the prettiest puddings I’ve made, it was certainly very tasty.

On a different note, you will notice that from now on I will be adding a watermark to my photos. This is because the lovely Elise from Simply Recipes alerted me to the fact that there is some guy completely ripping off/plagiarising my blog posts, blurb, recipes, photos, the lot!! I hope that he will cease to use my work once the photos come with a watermark – this is not ideal but I hope it will stop him! He’s doing it to other people too so be vigilant and look out for your friends!

Swirled Pumpkin & Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding
For the pumpkin batter
120g self raising flour
¼ tsp cayenne or chilli powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g mashed cooked pumpkin
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon

For the chocolate batter
150g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
100g caster sugar
160ml milk
1 tbsp neutral oil

For the sauce
70g light soft brown sugar
20g cocoa powder
1 tbsp cornflour
400ml boiling water

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and have a deep 9inch/23cm baking dish to hand.
To make the pumpkin batter simple add all the ingredients into a medium bowl and beat everything together, using an electric mixer, until all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
In another clean bowl, add all the ingredients for the chocolate batter and beat until smooth. (Both batters will be quite soft).
Spoon large dollops of the pumpkin and chocolate batters into the baking dish, alternating each variety with every spoonful. Use a skewer or small knife to swirl the batters together to create a marbled effect.
To make the sauce, mix the brown sugar, cornflour and cocoa powder together in a small bowl. Scatter the sugar-cocoa mixture evenly over the surface of the pudding batter.
Boil the kettle and pour the 400ml of boiling water over the surface of the sugar-cocoa mix.
Carefully transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. The batter should start to rise up above the surface of the liquid as it thickens and seeps below to form a sauce. The batter protruding from the sauce should feel firm and springy to the touch when ready. (Some of the sauce will remain on the surface)
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Best eaten straight away, as the pudding absorbs most of the sauce if left until cold. (This makes it go rather stodgy, but oddly comforting.)
Serves 8

The Cake Slice Septembers 09: Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

This months Cake Slice cake is quite poignant as it marks the end of an era – the end of our year of baking from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes. Yes! I can hardly believe it but it has in fact been a whole year since the groups creation and we have baked and eaten our way through 12 delicious cakes from this book, meaning next month we will be baking from a brand new cookbook. We choose our cakes each month by voting, so as you can imagine all eyes were glued to the poll to see which cake would be selected as our last cake. This month there was one clear winner, a chocolate cake. It seems few people can resist the lure of a good chocolate cake and September’s cake choice was not only a chocolate cake, but a Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake that contains the surprise ingredient of mayonnaise!! Yes mayonnaise! It is used in place of butter or oil in the cake and results in a very moist and tender crumb.

The cake not only consists of three layers but also contains three hits of chocolate. One, is the gooey chocolate cake itself, two, is a generous layer of fudgy sour cream chocolate icing and three, is a creamy white chocolate mousse filling that is revealed on slicing, a great contrast to the dark cake and icing.

Wow this cake was amazing. As sponge contains mayonnaise and a fair quantity of strong coffee it makes the cake incredibly moist, with an intense chocolate flavour. I think the coffee helped enhance the rich smoky chocolate flavour and cake the cake its deep rich colour without obviously tasting of coffee. My siblings hate coffee and yet happily devoured the cake without detecting the coffee. The thick layer of icing was lovely and fudgy, while the creamy white chocolate mousse filling was wonderfully light and fluffy in contrast. This cake is definitely one for the chocoholics and one I am sure I’ll be making again.

This was the perfect indulgent cake for our last cake baked from the Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes book. You’ll have to wait until next month to see the first cake we bake from our newly selected cookbook! If you are a fellow cake baking fanatic and would like to become a member of our group for the upcoming year please email me at: (appleandspice [AT] hotmail.co.uk) and put ‘Cake Slice Member’ in the subject box. Places are limited so first come first served.

In the meantime don’t forget to check out the blogroll to see everyone else’s cakes.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake
(Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake
270g plain flour
65g unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
65g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
225ml milk
280ml hot, strongly brewed coffee
2 eggs
225g mayonnaise
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
500g sugar (I only used 300g and it was perfectly sweet)

White chocolate mousse (below)
Sour cream chocolate icing (below)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the base of each pan with parchment.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the hot coffee and milk over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth and leave to cool slightly.
In a mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mocha liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth and well blended. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans. (It’s a runny mix and I found using a ladle helped divide it equally between the pans).
Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before un-molding onto a wire rack and carefully peeling off the paper. Leave to cool completely.


White Chocolate Mousse
115g white chocolate, chopped
225ml heavy cream
1 egg white
1 tbsp sugar

Method
Melt the white chocolate with 60ml cream in a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and let the white chocolate cream cool to room temperature.
When it has cooled, beat the remaining 165ml cream until stiff peaks form. In a clean bowl whip the egg white with the sugar until fairly stiff peaks form.
Fold the beaten egg white into the white chocolate cream. Then fold in the whipped cream until blended. Be sure not to over mix.


Sour Cream Chocolate Icing
340g dark chocolate, chopped
100g unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
60ml whole milk room temperature
110ml sour cream, at room temperature

Method
Melt the chocolate with the butter and golden syrup in a double boiler over barley simmering water. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in the milk and sour cream. Leave to cool until it becomes the thickness of mayonnaise, but be sure to use while still soft.


To Assemble
Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half the white chocolate mousse, leaving a 1cm margin around the edge. Repeat with the second layer and the remaining mousse. Set the third layer on top and spread half the sour cream chocolate icing over the cake, allowing some to run down the sides. Use the remaining icing to cover the cake, smoothing it down the sides.
Decorate with a few white chocolate buttons or as desired. Refrigerate if not eaten within two hours.
Makes an 9inch triple layer cake

Melting Middle Chocolate Fondants

These puddings are the ultimate chocoholics chocolate pudding indulgence. A just baked, moist dark chocolate sponge that releases a hot, oozing, intense chocolate sauce centre when cut. A cloud of hot melted chocolate aroma hangs in the air, faintly mingled with the scent of toasted hazelnuts thanks to the addition of some hazelnut liqueur. It’s enough to make anyone swoon.

These are very indulgent puddings and would be perfect for an elegant dinner party or a special occasion. The gooey middle receiving cries of delight as it is released. In my case, there were some leftover egg yolks sitting in the fridge – good enough reason for me!
I have tried making these puddings before and have had trouble releasing them from their moulds without them collapsing or piercing the side of the sponge and so loosing some of the gooey centre. However, I think I have solved the problem by coating the inside of each mould with a little cocoa powder, which seemed to help release the fondants from the moulds very easily. I was so happy I went dancing round the kitchen. They don’t contain much flour, and although I haven’t tried it, I suspect this could easily be replaced with ground almonds to make the puddings gluten free.

Melting Middle Chocolate Fondants
(Recipe adapted from Delia Smith)
Ingredients
200g dark chocolate 70% cocoa
200g butter
4 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
110g caster sugar
60g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
20g extra butter and 4 tsp cocoa powder for dusting

Method
Break the chocolate into small pieces and cut the butter into cubes. Place them in a glass bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water and leave to melt gradually. Do not let the water touch the base of the bowl. Once fully melted remove from the heat, stir in the Frangelico and set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, melt the extra butter and use to generously grease the insides of 8 mini pudding/dariole moulds. Add ½ teaspoon of cocoa powder into each buttered mould and use your finger to spread it around the inside (it will form a thin paste). This will help it release cleanly from the mould once baked.
In a clean bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla together until the mixture has turned pale, thick and tripled in volume. It should leave a ribbon trail on the surface for a few seconds when the beaters are lifted out of the mix. This may take 5-8 minutes.
Pour the melted chocolate mixture around the outside edge of the whisked egg mixture. Use a large flexible spatula or metal spoon to gently fold the chocolate into the egg mix. Turn the bowl as you fold to try and keep as much air in the mix as possible.
Sift the flour over the surface of the mix and fold in as before until no flour streaks remain.
Divide the mix evenly between the pudding moulds, filling almost to the very top.
Place the puddings on a baking tray, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but preferably 4 or more hours until required.
When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 200C or 180C fan. Place the pudding in the oven for 12 minutes only. They should rise a little out of their moulds a bit like mini soufflés and the tops should look flat and cooked.
Remove the puddings from the oven and leave to stand for 1 minute. Then use a small round bladed knife to release the puddings from the top edge of the mould, but there should be no need to run the knife all the way down inside.
Wear rubber gloves to give you a good drip and turn out the puddings onto a plate.
Serve and eat immediately. Take a spoonful and watch the delicious melting chocolate centre ooze out. Serve with cream if desired.
Makes/serves 8

Note: The puddings can also be frozen in their un-baked stage. When required, they should be baked for 14 minutes from frozen.

On another note, today is the start of National Cupcake Week here in the UK. Run from 14th – 19th September, National Cupcake Week is a fantastic week long extravaganza being organised by British Baker to celebrate the joys of cupcakes. Local shops and bakeries have been encouraged to participate in some way and everyone is encouraged to eat, buy or bake at least one cupcake this week. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Daring Bakers Challenge August 09: Dobos Torte

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Dobos Torte is a five layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin caramel covered cake wedges. (Some tortes may have as many as 12 layers, but 5-6 is quite standard.) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, allowing everyone to use it freely.

In simplest terms Dobos Torte is five layers of whisked sponge, layered and covered with an enriched chocolate buttercream and topped with a sixth caramel topped cake layer, that has been cut into triangles and arranged in a fan design. It is this caramel fan which makes a Dobos Torte so unique and instantly recognisable.

Making the Dobos Torte was quite time consuming due to all the individual components, but it was also very enjoyable. I loved all the different techniques involved and seeing it all come together. I had also never made a poured caramel quite like this one before so the recipe was also a wonderful challenge. A recipe truly worthy of its Daring Bakers status.

The cake layers were very light and soft with a slight stickiness that reminded me of angel food cake. The hardest part was finding work surface space for them all to cool down on. Thankfully I did have three cooling racks on which to place them, all lined in a row. The chocolate buttercream took a little work but produced a gorgeous silky smooth and indulgent cream. I added some Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) to mine and it really took it to the next level, complementing the chocolate flavour so well.

My caramel layer went without a hitch, but you really must keep an eye on it while its boiling away. It stayed a clear sugar mixture for ages and then all of a sudden – whoosh – it became an amber caramel, so don’t ignore it! Once the caramel had set firm, I had fun slicing the excess off the edges. The crack and slice as the shards scattered everywhere, including the floor, was rather satisfying.

The finished cake tasted fabulous. Creamy chocolate and hazelnut cream, soft and squishy layers of sponge and finishing sweet crunch of caramel, just divine. My family and I ate most of it in one afternoon. I found the caramel topping a little hard to eat on the first day, but after a night in the fridge it had softened slightly, allowing you to take a forkful much more easily.

Thanks Angela and Lorraine for such a fantastic challenge choice! Click here to see a list of fellow Daring Bakers and their Tortes.

Dobos Torte
Sponge Cake Layers
6 eggs
160g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
15g cornflour
Pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream
4 eggs
200g caster sugar
110g dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp Frangelico (hazelnut liquor – my adaption)

Caramel Topping
200g caster sugar
180ml water
40ml lemon juice

Decoration
50g finely chopped hazelnuts (optional)
12-13 whole peeled hazelnuts

For the Sponge Layers
Position the oven racks into the top third of the oven and preheat to 200C.
Cut out six strips of greaseproof paper to fit a baking tray and draw a 9inch/22.5cm circle on each one. Turn the greaseproof paper over, so the drawn line is not going to come into contact with the food. Lay one sheet ready on a baking tray.
Separate the egg yolks and whites into two large bowls. Whisk the egg whites until foamy and then slowly add half the icing sugar (80g) beating well until a thick and shiny meringue is formed.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the vanilla and the other half of the icing sugar (80g) until thick, pale in colour and ribbons form when you lift the beaters above the batter. This should take about 3 minutes.
Add a third of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture and fold together gently using a metal spoon or a spatula. Then lightly fold in the remaining meringue.
Sift over the flour and cornflour in two batches, folding in gently, as before, until no flour streaks remain.
Spoon one-sixth of the batter onto one of the prepared greaseproof papers, spreading it out to fill the circle you drew on earlier. (I found 2 heaped tablespoons of batter was the right amount).
Place the circle of batter into the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Prepare the next cake circle on a second baking tray while the first one bakes.
After 5 minutes the cake should be puffy and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, leaving it attached to its base paper.
Place the second cake circle in the oven and prepare the third one in similar fashion. Continue until you have 6 baked cake circles.

For the Chocolate Buttercream
Half fill a saucepan with water and allow to come to a boil. Break the chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl (not a plastic one as its going over the heat) until it has tripled in volume, turned pale, thick and creamy, around 3-5 minutes.
Place the bowl over the top of the boiling water in the saucepan, but don’t allow the bowl to touch the water. Continue to whisk for 3 minutes until the mixture has warmed and is starting to thicken.
Add the chocolate to the mix and whisk until melted and well combined. It should be shiny and sticky at this stage.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Once cool, beat the mixture and add the Frangelico if using. Continue mixing and add the soft butter in small chunks. It should start to stiffen, turn paler and become more creamy. Chill until required.

For the Caramel Top Layer
Use a shape serrated knife and the base of an 8inch/20cm cake tin to cut out rounds from your six cooled cake layers. Select the best one to be your top caramel covered layer and set the rest aside.
Cut your chosen top layer into 12 triangle portions and place on a baking tray lined with a well greased sheet of greaseproof paper or silicon mat. Reform the triangles to their original circle shape.
Oil a small metal knife or spatula and have it to hand.
Heat the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small saucepan. Stir until the sugar has dissolved before bringing to a boil. Do not stir, but watch over it from now it. It will gradually turn a light brown before suddenly turning into an amber caramel colour. Immediately remove from the heat and carefully pour the hot caramel over the surface of the cut cake layer. Use the oiled knife to help you spread it out to the edges, but be quick as it starts to set after 20seconds.
Leave to cool and set hard before peeling off the paper, transferring to a chopping board and re-cutting the cake into its precut triangles. Use a long sharp knife and try to make each cut in one quick movement to prevent and layer from shattering where you don’t want it to. Slice the excess caramel off the outside too.

To Assemble the Cake
Place one of your five remaining the cake layers onto a serving plate and spread over 2 tablespoons of the chocolate buttercream. Repeat with the remaining cake layers.
After the final cake layer, use most of the remaining buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons for decoration.
Put the remaining buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe 12 swirls around the edge of the cake and place one of the whole hazelnuts on top.
Place one of the caramel topped cake triangles at a slant, half resting on top of the hazelnut, with the point facing inwards. Repeat with the other triangles to create a fan design.
Press the chopped hazelnuts onto the outside of the cake if desired.
Makes one 8inch/20cm 5 layer cake. Serves 12