Chocolate covered Birthdays... {Recipe}

Growing up, I remember always having chocolate cake for my birthday.  It was the one day in the year that I got to decide what kind of cake I wanted, and as far as I remember, it always had to be CHOCOLATE.  (Yes I am a chocoholic and am proud of it!)  It was always store bought cake from a delicious bakery near where we lived, and even when we moved, mum would go down to get that Chocolate Etoile cake for me.  What was there not to love about light spongy layers of chocolate cake smothered in rich, creamy chocolate mousse.  Ah yes, those were the days.

When I started cake decorating a few years ago, I decided that I would start making my own cakes, as well as my hubby's.  (He gets a chocolate cake every year too!)  This gave me the opportunity to experiment with different recipes (always chocolate!) and dress my cakes up the way I wanted.  Funnily enough, I love my cakes simple.  Just pure, decadent chocolate cake is what I want. 

This year, I decided, after much research, that I would use Julie le Clerc's recipe for her Valrhona chocolate pearl cake for my birthday cake.  This cake happens to be gluten free as well, so even better!  And oh boy oh boy, I think it is one of the best, most decadent chocolate cakes I have ever had!  Plus, on your birthday the calories don't count, right?

Since there is no flour in the cake, the bulk of it is almond meal, and you get that slightly nutty taste together with the chocolate, which I love. The cake is then smothered in dark chocolate ganache and covered in crunchy chocolate pearls.  Yuummmyyyy!!!   Julie le Clerc's recipe is available in her book, Favourite Cakes, available at Amazon.  (See website link on the right).

Another chocolate cake that I love by Kim Evans of Little and Friday.  She owns a couple of cafes here in Auckland and her chocolate cake is a must try for anyone who visits.  It is also available in her book, Treats from Little and Friday.  Try covering it in ganache and coconut as that how she makes her lamingtons.  Delish!

The third chocolate cake I love is this mud cake.  I found the recipe online and have used it several times to make my husband's cakes as I find it carves well and holds it shape for the 3D cakes I make for him.  If you have not tried mud cakes before, this is definitely one to try and it is rich and chocolatey, and it goes very well with the ganache.  Best of all you can put away your cake mixer, everything can be done by hand.  Always use the best quality chocolate you can afford because it does make a difference!  I have tweaked the recipe slightly.  (see changes in brackets below)

Recipe for Chocolate Mud Cake    (Recipe from www.exclusivelyfood.com.au)

250g chocolate (125g dark chocolate and 125g milk chocolate)

250g butter (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the butter)

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules/powder

188ml (3/4 cup) water

325g (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) plain flour  (I changed it to 285g)

30g (1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

550g (2 1/2 cups) caster sugar (I changed it to 500g)

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons (40ml) oil (any mild-flavoured oil) (I used canola oil)

1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (not fan-forced).  Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.
2. Place chocolate, butter, coffee and water in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. When chocolate and butter have melted, remove mixture from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl.
4. Add the caster sugar to the bowl with the flour mixture, and mix well with a whisk.
5. In another bowl, whisk eggs, oil, vanilla and buttermilk until well combined.
6. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.
7. Now add the chocolate mixture to the egg and flour mixture in a three batches, stirring until combined after each addition.
8. Pour mixture into your cake pan and bake for about 1 hr 30 min or until a skewer in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool in pan before removing.  Make and spread the ganache over the cake.

Recipe for Chocolate ganache

250g chocolate (equal mix of dark and milk), chopped

125ml cream

1. Heat the cream in a pot til scalding.  Take off heat.
2. Add chopped chocolate and whisk till smooth and creamy.   
3. Set aside to cool until ready to use or use warm to pour over cake.

What is your favourite kind of birthday cake? 

Dark Chocolate Brownie {Recipe}

If you like dark chocolate like I do, then you will really enjoy making these brownies.   They are decadent and moist and will definitely hit the spot!  They are also very quick and easy to make - another bonus!  I made them for a last minute dinner invitation and they went down a treat served warm with some cold vanilla icecream.  Yummy!

Here is the recipe for all you dark chocolate lovers:

Dark Chocolate Brownie Recipe

250g butter
150g dark chocolate (I used 72% cocoa - yes 72! but you can use whatever you prefer)
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar (packed firmly)
3/4 cup all purpose flour (sifted)
1/4 cup self raising flour (sifted)
Handful of dark chocolate chips - more dark chocolate, why not? :) (optional)
Handful of chopped, toasted walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.  Line a square pan with baking paper, slightly greased.  (I used a 20cm square pan.)
2. Place butter and chocolate in a bowl and place over a pot of hot water.  Stir until melted.  Leave aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar til light and fluffy.  Add the chocolate mixture.  Mix to combine.
4. Add both flours and fold into the mixture.  If using chocolate chips or walnuts, add them in as well.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to touch.  Allow to cool completely in the pan.
6. Cut into slices. Serve slightly warmed with cold vanilla icecream.

Enjoy! :)

Choco-banana-nut cupcakes {Recipe}

Chocolate banana walnut cupcakes!  What a mouthful!  And oh so yummy too! :)
I love banana cake and bread but had never tried making either so when I had some bananas left over, I thought it was time to try something new.  I got the main recipe from epicurious but tweaked it a bit as I did not have cinnamon and reduced the sugar as I did not want it so sweet.  I also changed the quantity of nuts and chocolate, and you can add more if you want, depending on how much you like them in your cake.


Recipe for Choco-banana-nut cupcakes

2  1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 stick (about 113g) butter, softened  (I use the salted kind but you can use unsalted butter and add ½ tsp salt)

1/2 cup sugar (more if you want it sweeter)

2 eggs

1  1/4 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup  bittersweet chocolate chips (or as much as you want. I used Ghirardelli brand, 60% cacao, you can use semi-sweet chocolate too if you like)

1/2 cup walnuts (or more if you like it more nutty), toasted, cooled and chopped coarsely

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Sift together flour, soda and salt (if using).
3. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs until blended. 
4. Beat in bananas, yogurt and vanilla.  (Mixture will look curdled, don’t worry!)
5. Fold in flour, chocolate chips and nuts.
6. Put into cupcake liners and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Let the cupcakes cool a little before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely.

This recipe made 24 cupcakes as I filled the liners halfway with batter but I think, next time, I would fill them up to almost full as they did not rise much.  Let me know how it goes if you try it.

Happy baking! :)

Marbled cupcakes

 
I decided to do a little baking for a friend who was moving overseas.  And I thought I'd try something a little different - marbled chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.  All you need is a chocolate batter and a vanilla batter.  Then spoon equal amounts of both batters into the cupcake liners and swirl the batter with a toothpick before baking.  Or you can skip the swirl and end up with a two-toned cupcake.  Just as fun!  Add some icing on the top in a lovely swirl and you have some pretty decent and yummy looking cupcakes!  I used a Wilton 1C tip for this swirl (simply because I had just bought it and wanted to try it out) or you can use the usual Wilton 1M or even a 2D for slight variation.

I used the same tip to make a rosette as shown above.  Simply start your icing in the middle of the cupcake and then press and move outwards clockwise.  Stop icing once you've made a round.

Here's what it looks like on the inside.  In this case I didn't swirl the batter so I ended up with a two-toned cupcake.

Pretty cool eh?  And you get the best of both flavours too! Yum!

Happy baking!  :)