Wedding anniversary cake

Another Black Forest Cake

Birthday cake

Chocolate cake with chocolate Mousse

Modelling chocolate recipe:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

directions
Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a pan of hot but not boiling water. Stir the chocolate with a wooden spoon until smooth, then stir in the corn syrup; the chocolate will stiffen almost immediately. Stir until completely combined. Transfer the chocolate to a sturdy plastic bag and refrigerate until firm.
Work the Modeling Chocolate with your hands until pliable. Hand-shape the Modeling Chocolate into flowers, braids or ropes. Or pat it into a disk and roll it out to the desired thickness by hand or in a manual pasta machine and use it to make ribbons or for cutting out shapes.

Cooks notes: Recipe from Colette peters. Easy to shape with a rolling pin. Melts pretty fast.

Test Kitchen : A tale of two Mousses

Mousses are rich delicious melt in the mouth confections. I naively set out to find the perfect mousse recipe for a chocolate and strawberry mousse. A quick google search showed mousses of two types, with gelatin (See Le Tartine Gourmandes example)and mousses with eggs.

Traditionally mousses, more specifically chocolate mousses are made with egg yolks. The egg yolks impart a dense and creamy quality to the mousse. Fruit mousses on the other hand have gelatin in addition to the egg yolks.

I also tested a chocolate mousse recipe with just gelatin and no egg yolks, Have to say it lacked the smoothness of an egg yolk mousse. But for vegans and those who donot plain like egg yolks it is a compromise of sorts.

Ive included below two recipes,- both by Jacques Pepin in The Art of Cooking Vol 1- one for a chocolate mousse and another for a red currant mousse which i adapted to make a strawberry mousse. Im still looking for that perfect recipe for fruit puree mousses.


Chocolate Gourmand(mousse) by Jacques Pepin
1 cup heavy cream
6 oz bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate
1/3 cup milk
2 egg yolks
2 tsp dark rum
1 egg white
2 tb granulated sugar

Topping
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp confectioners sugar

Garnish
Candied Violets

Method
In a mixing bowl, whip the 1 cup cream until lightly firm( donot overbeat) Meanwhile place the 6 oz chocolate with the 1/3 cup milk in a saucepan and place over medium heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is warm and smooth. Add the 2 egg yolks to the chocolate with the 2 tsp rum and mix. The chocolate will thicken lightly. In another bowl, beat the egg white until firm, then add the 2tb granulated sugar and keep beating until firm and smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the beaten egg white and stir with a whisk just enough to incorporate. Add the whipped cream and fold in gently just until mixed.

Pour the mixture into an attractive serving bowl and refrigerate for approximately 1 hour. When the top starts to harden cover with plastic so the chocolate doesnt pick up tastes . Referrigerate until firm.

Make whipped cream from the topping ingredients. Decorate with candied violets.

Currant Filling ( Currant Mousse) by Jacques Pepin

11/2 lb fresh red currants ( about 2 cups puree)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold water
2 envelopes gelatin
4 tb water
3 egg whites
2 tb sugar

Puree the currants. Place the 4 egg yolks in a mixer fitted with a whisk beater. Put the 1/2 cup sugar with the 1/4 cup cold water in a saucepan and stir just enough to dissolve the sugar. Place on the stove, bring to a boil, and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes,, until the mixture will spin a thread( about 230 degrees F on a candy thermometer). Pour the hot syrup into the yolks slowly while beating at a low speed. Increase to high and continue beating on medium to high for 10 minutes.

The mixture should be thick and creamy. Meanwhile combine the 2 envelopes of gelatin with the 4 tb of cold water and let set until the gelatin absorbs the water. Melt the softened gelatin over low heat and when the gelatin is well melted add it to the 2 cups of red currant puree , mixing it well with a whisk. Now combine that currant gelatin puree with the egg yolk sugar mixture , mixing it with a whisk.

Beat the 3 egg whites until stiff, add the 2 tb of sugar, and beat again for about 30 seconds to incorporate the sugar into the whites. Spoon about one fourth to one third of the egg whites into the red currant mixture and mix with a whisk. Using a rubber spatula gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the red currant puree.

Devils Food Layered Chocolate Cake

Ive been away from the blog a couple of months now,welcoming the pitter patter of little feet in my life! Every moment since has been a joy and needless to say really hectic. When every moment in life is a celebration, you need cake.

Heres a quick recipe that i baked up for my little ones 3 month birthday( I know, a little- okay a lot over the top).

The Devils Food Layer Cake

To make one 9 inch cake

10 tbsp butter
11/2 cups sugar
3 eggs yolks separated from whites, whites stiffly beaten
2/3 cup cocoa powder dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Recipe adapted from my favorite cake cook book, Cakes.

Cream together the butter and the sugar. Beat the egg yolks well and stir them into the creamed mixture. Dissolve the soda in the buttermilk. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then add the flour to the creamed mixture alternately with the dissolved cocoa and the buttermilk mixture. Add the vanilla extract. Fold in the egg whites. Divide the batter evenly between two buttered and floured layer cake pans. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 30 to 5 minutes or until the top of the cake is springy to the touch. When the cake is cool, proceed to frosting.

For the frosting you can do as I did , use simple butter cream for the moldings and rich butter cream on the cake.The recipes for the butter creams follow.

Simple Butter Cream(Chocolate)
to make about 2 cups butter cream
9 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
41/2 cups confectioners sugar
6 tbsp light cream
11/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 oz unsweetened chocolate morsels( I used ghirardelli)

Beat the butter until it is fluffly. Gradually beat the sugar into the butter, alternately with the cream, until the sugar is absorbed. Beat in the vanilla extract. To flavor with chocolate, melt the chocolate morsels in a double boiler, cool slightly and fold it into the prepared butter cream. The butter cream should be of spreading consistency. If it is too thin beat in a little more sugar, if it is too thick , beat in a little cream.

Rich Butter Cream ( Chocolate)
to make 2 cups butter cream

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
5 egg yolks beaten
1/2 lb butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla extract

3oz chocolate
Stir the water and sugar together in a saucepan set over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the liquid comes to a boil. Let this syrup boil without stirring until its temperature reaches 217 - 220 F on a candy thermometer. If you donot have a candy thermometer you can eyeball it by putting the hot syrup in a bowl of cold water and checking to see if small threads form. Remove syrup from the heat. Whisking vigorously, or using a electric beater, pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks and continue to beat until the mixture is cool, light and fluffly. Donot forget to beat vigorously or you will end up with scrambled eggs! Cream the butter until it is very soft, then beat the butter and the vanilla extract into the yolk mixture until the mixture is shiny and firm enough to spread.

some tips: I have found that it is best if you have two or three sets of beater blades, cooled in the freezer and waiting so you can work without having to wash, and more importantly without warming your beater blades. Always use a drop or two of lime juice with your egg whites.

Bon Appetit!

Black Forest Cake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seian/3867454/in/set-201582/
I made this black forest cake today from recipe posted at the link above. It took me about an hour and a half . I referigerated it for a couple of hours before cutting and smoothing the edges. Oh and two touches not in the recipe- I added a touch of lime juice while beating the eggs for extra stiffness and i used cake flour not all purpose. thanks for a wonderfully easy recipe!!