Chocolate and Almond Cake

This recipe is one I have created recently based on the chocolate brownie recipe from the Hummingbird (see my previous post).

I have reduced the sugar content, used a good quality 90% coco chocolate and have added ground almonds.  I have also baked the cake in an 8-inch round cake tin and increased the baking time to 45 minutes. 

The result is a rich cake very similar to a French “moelleux au chocolat” or a mock flourless chocolate cake.  The quality of the chocolate very much affects the taste of the cake and I would advise on paying the little extra in quality as it makes a big difference.

Ingredients used:

200 g Dark 90% Swiss Chocolate

175 g Unsalted Butter

250 g Caster Sugar

130 g Plain Flour

50g Ground Almonds

3 Eggs

Mrs Beeton’s Easter Simnel Cake

I have hesitated whether or not to add this post, but I want my blog to be open and honest about the process of baking.   And the truth is baking is difficult at times, and mistakes and “failures” are part of the process. 

So this post will explain a couple of mistakes I made in this round of my baking ventures.  

A Simnel cake is a classic English Easter cake.  The recipe I used was from “The Best of Mrs Beeton’s Cakes & Baking.”  Mrs Beeton is a very interesting Victorian author from London and I would highly recommend this wikipedia page for further info.  I have made several cakes from this recipe book and it is a valuable bible of time-tested English classics.  The cake is a kind of fruitcake with ground almonds.  It is baked with a layer of marzipan or almond paste in the middle.  It is also topped with an English tradition of a layer of marzipan/almond paste and royal icing.

I made Mrs Beeton’s Simnel cake for the first time last year and it turned out beautifully.  It is really delicious, especially if you are an almond lover as that taste comes through and gives a beautiful texture to the cake.  From last year’s cake I can also testify that although this is technically a fruitcake, it is not as heavy as a traditional fruitcake and tastes more like a cake with dried fruit in it (if that makes sense) than an alcoholic tinged version. 

So I know for a fact that Mrs Beeton’s recipe is a good one.  However, this Easter it went rather wrong, and I believe there were 2 important reasons for that.  I wanted to publish this post as the reasons in question are perfect examples of what not to do when baking and why it is always so important to follow instructions to the letter – or adapt accordingly.

Reason No 1: Sugar

I used unrefined caster sugar instead of the refined one.  I believe that this affected the taste of both the cake and the almond paste.  Unrefined caster sugar can work in some instances for certain recipes, but in this one it altered the taste too much and did not manage to bring out the sweetness required.  It also did not dissolve properly I believe for the almond paste.  This resulted in a more unrefined almond paste, both in texture and taste.

Reason No 2: The size of the cake tin

Last year I used the stated round cake tin size of 18cm / 7 inch.  As I did not have this size this year I used my own round tin that was larger: 20cm / 8 inch.  I was fooled to think that such a small difference would not be a big deal.  As I used the same baking time as the recipe stated my cake came out not burnt, but almost biscuit-like.  The taste was strange to say the least, and texture was bizarre.  I should have reduced my baking time by the very least.

So there it is: my mistakes are out in the open.  I will attempt to make this cake again in the near future.  Just need to save up some cash for the ingredients… But all in all it was a good learning experience.  I did like my decorations too!           

Ingredients used:

Cake

200 g Plain Flour

½ Tsp Baking Powder

¼ Tsp Salt

150 g Caster Sugar

150 g Unsalted Butter

100 g Glacé Cherries (halved)

150 g Currants

150 g Sultanas

100 g Seedless Raisins

50 g Cut Mixed Peel

50 g Ground Almond

Grated Rind of 1 Lemon

Almond Paste

450 g Ground Almonds

200 g Caster Sugar

200 g Icing Sugar

2 Tsp Lemon Juice

Few Drops of Almond Essence

2 Eggs (beaten)

 

I would like to point out that although delicious the Simnel cake is pricy as it uses a lot of ground almonds, almond paste (that you can easily make from scratch!) and dried fruit.  In addition, this is a time-consuming venture as the total baking time is 2.5 hours.

Classic Brownies Made with Swiss Chocolate

A work event induced me to make these as rumour has it everyone loves chocolate and brownies (pretty much).  The hummingbird recipe’s disclaimer that these classic brownies are known to literally fly off the shelves (selling several trays a day) also turns out to be most probably true as my brownies did not spend much time on their serving plate at work.

This was a very easy recipe to make.  The mixing of ingredients is straightforward and would be very hard to mess up.  I would certainly recommend this to first time bakers.  The trickiest bit is the baking time and finding the right timing.  I would therefore recommend a practice batch first if you are planning to serve these to friends.  I helped my boyfriend make some the week before and we left them for too long in the oven, which resulted in slightly hard edges and not as moist a cake.  You have to take the brownies out literally at the moment you see a skin forming on the top.  The tray will seem very gooey, but the batter will harden when cooling, which is why you should not leave these babies in for too long (at most 30 minutes, depending on your oven of course).

I added some decadence by using good quality dark Swiss chocolate and yes quality ingredients, like chocolate, really do make a difference.  Be warned, these brownies are incredibly addictive!

Ingredients used:

200 g Dark (70%) Swiss Chocolate

175 g Unsalted Butter

325 g Caster Sugar

130 g Plain Flour

3 Eggs

Optional: Icing Sugar to Decorate

Ross’ Birthday Cake

A friend’s birthday this weekend was a perfect occasion for this delish chocolate layer cake with white chocolate cream filling.  Even my little pooch wanted a sniff!  I think it worked a treat.

The recipe is the same as my previous post on 21 February.

Banana Two

I am so excited: this is officially my first very own recipe (I can’t believe it – a penned recipe)!  I had a little craving for banana cake this morning, so ventured on to make the banana loaf from the hummingbird recipe book.  I had loved it when I made it exactly one month ago (see earlier post), but I wanted a slightly stronger banana flavour in the dough, and I also had en “envie” for some walnuts to add some contrast texture and crunch.  For this recipe I also went on to add more spices.  The results are super yummy!  I ABSOLUTELY love this loaf!  A great banana flavor, sublte sweetness and cosy warmth with the spices.  You can see from the photo too how different the loaf looks.  I love the colour combination and the blackness coming out with the bananas and walnuts.  I am a happy baker!

Ingredients used:

270 g Soft Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

300 g Peeled Bananas (mashed)

280 g Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

½ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

¼ Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/8 Teaspoon Ground Allspice

140 g Unsalted Butter (melted)

100 g Crushed Walnuts

Chocolate layer cake with white chocolate cream filling

Shared this cake at MPC today.  My lovely sister who works there brought it over as I have to begin to give my baking endeavours away or I will turn into a plump sponge myself (yes clothes are already beginning to feel tighter)…  It’s a great feeling to have others eat my creations that make them happy!  It makes the process of making the cake even more worthwhile.  I have to say I was quite nervous to bring that cake to the MPC office because I could not taste the cake myself.  I did give my sister specific instructions for honest feedback as I am still learning – so am happy the result went down so well.

I am still exploring various sponge options (a post will be coming soon regarding various “génoises”), but I so wanted to make a layer cake last night that I decided to go with what I knew with a twist.  I essentially made the same cake as my previous post “White Layer Cake with Chocolate Cream Filling” with an inversion: chocolate layer cake (Hummingbird recipe for chocolatecupcakes with white chocolate cream filling (Eric Lanlard recipe with white chocolate instead of dark). 

I used a new stencil of my dog Kaiser for the decoration. I can only confirm the taste of the cream filling (could not damage the cake), which was a really nice subtle white chocolate twinge to a classic whip cream overall flavour.  I suspect the chocolate cake was quite sweet as it was the same recipe as the white one only with added cocoa powder.  Sweet (especially chocolate) with cream is always a winning combination, so I can probably imagine why it went down a treat.

A big thank you to the brave ones who tasted and for the support!

Ingredients used:

Chocolate Cake

300 g Plain Flour

60 g Cocoa Powder

420 g Caster Sugar

4 ½ Teaspoons of Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

120 g Unsalted Butter

360 ml Whole Milk

3 Eggs

¾ Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

White Chocolate Cream

100 ml Single Cream

100 g White Chocolate

600 ml Double Cream

600 ml Double Cream

"Quatre-Quarts"

My mind has gone thinking since making my white layer cake (a Hummingbird vanilla cupcake recipe) with chocolate cream filling (by Eric Lanlard).  I now want to make a similar white cake but with a white chocolate filling.  I was quite tempted to simply throw myself into making the same cake and substitute dark chocolate for white chocolate, but I first wanted to check out other white cake bases. 

Tonight I decided on a classic French Quatre-Quarts (the equivalent to an English pound cake).  The recipe involves weighing a given amount of eggs (cracked) and using the same in weight each of sugar, butter and flour.  It is very close to a sponge in terms of proportions in the ingredients, but the method and chronology of the mixing is different, and this results in quite varying cakes.

The result of tonight’s proceedings came about beating the eggs and sugar together and then beating in the butter melted.  After that the flour was sifted to the mixture and mixed gently.  I have to say it was literally quick and easy.

My cake turned out quite refined but slightly on the heavier side.  It was very satisfying as its own “gâteau.”  If I used it for the base of my layer cake though I am worried it might become a bomb in the stomach.  I am still happy I tried this version out.  It seems to be the base for many loaf cake recipes I realise.  I now have a new approach to mixing ingredients too and outlook.

Onwards next to the classic sponge attempt (and then I shall choose)!

Ingredients used for this cake

3 eggs (weighing 175 g once cracked)

175 g sugar

175 g melted butter

175 g flour