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Posts Tagged ‘easy chocolate cake’

Valrhona Chocolate Cake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on November 23, 2011| 52 Comments »

For the longest time, Valrhona chocolate was out of our reach, price-wise.

It’s still nearly double the Callebaut equivalent, but that didn’t stop Pete from buying me an early Christmas present when we spotted this bulk pack at Chefs’ Warehouse.

The bag contains three kilos of Valrhona Manjari, a dark (64%) origin chocolate from Madagascar.  It has a most unusual colour – the fèves have a slight reddish tinge to them. They’re lighter in colour than most dark chocolate, which made me double check the packaging to see if there was any added milk (there wasn’t).

The flavour is quite distinct, with high acidity and a long aftertaste. It’s not my preferred eating chocolate, but I was pretty sure it would have some exciting culinary uses…

Earlier this year, my dear friend Joanna put me onto this wonderful chocolate cake recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

It’s become a regularly baked treat at our house, partly because of its simplicity, but mostly because it showcases the chocolate, without the overlay of competing flavours.  Needless to say, it’s worth making this cake with the very best chocolate you can get your hands on.

Made with Valrhona Manjari, the cake has a hint of orange that is most appealing. Here’s the amended recipe (our original post is here):

Valrhona Manjari Chocolate Cake

  • 250g (8.8oz) Valrhona Manjari fèves , 64% cacao
  • 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 4 medium free-range eggs, separated
  • 200g/7oz caster sugar
  • 50g (1.75oz) plain (AP) flour
  • 50g (1.75oz) ground almonds

1. Grease a 23cm/9″ springform cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 170C/340F or 160C/320F with fan.

2. In a large pyrex bowl, melt together the chocolate and butter in the microwave using short bursts, being careful not to scorch the chocolate.  Stir until smooth and combined.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar to form a paste, then stir in the melted chocolate and butter.  Carefully fold in the flour and almonds.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.  Stir a large spoonful into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then carefully fold the remaining egg white in, trying to keep as much of the air in the mixture as possible.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, until  just set.  The cake will still be a little wibbly in the middle – resist the urge to bake it until solid.  Allow to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes on a wire rack before opening the springform.

The finished cake is quite flat, velvety and slightly fudgy.  Don’t take that to mean that it’s stodgy in any way – somehow it manages to be both light and fudgy at the same time.  It cuts well at room temperature, and the flavour seems to improve with a day’s rest.

Finding a really good flourless (or nearly flourless) chocolate cake recipe is a little like Goldilocks’ search for the ideal bowl of porridge.  The ingredients are always similar, but the proportions vary slightly from recipe to recipe.  Sometimes the cakes will be overly eggy (which Pete is particularly sensitive to); other times the finished texture will be dense and heavy.

For us, this version is the perfect rendition of the style. It’s a great do-ahead dinner party dessert, particularly when served with a dollop of microwave custard. It’s the cake I’m baking for all our December entertaining, and the one I’ll be putting on the table for Christmas lunch.

As Hugh FW wrote in his introduction to the recipe:

“Everyone should have a little black cake in their
culinary wardrobe and this is mine.”

It’s now mine too, and it’s so easy that it might soon be yours as well!

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River Cottage Everyday Cookbook

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on March 21, 2011| 42 Comments »

Oh Amazon, thou art a wicked temptress!

“Free shipping!” said the email and I, unable to resist a bargain, went cookbook shopping.  It wasn’t really an impulse purchase – I’d had my eye on the latest River Cottage book for quite a while.

I’m a big fan of the series, but when my dear friend Joanna raved about the book, I knew it had to be a winner.

It has a very approachable feel to it, reminiscent of some of the early Jamie Oliver cookbooks – simple, wholesome food which we really could eat every day.

The book arrived less than a week ago and I’ve already made several recipes from it – a good indication that this will be a well-used resource in our kitchen.  Here are a couple of dishes that have gone down particularly well with the tribe!

. . . . .

Tupperware Mexican Chorizo

This is a genius recipe.

The basic idea is to make a seasoned mince, which is left to mature in the fridge, and dipped into periodically to create various meals.  Definitely the sort of thing that appeals to me, although I didn’t have the nerve to store it in the fridge for two weeks as HFW suggests!  My variation is listed below, with the original ingredients in brackets:

  • 750g coarsely minced pork shoulder, preferably free-range
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika (1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika)
  • 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika (2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika)
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder (¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper)
  • 1½ teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 10g /2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • 50ml red wine
  • freshly ground black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and squelch everything together with your hands until evenly combined.  Hugh suggests frying a little of the mix in oil to taste for seasoning – we did this by microwaving a tiny patty for just a few seconds until it was cooked.

The mix starts off quite salty to begin with, but as it matures, the flavours mellow out and integrate.  Remember though that the salt is necessary to preserve the meat, and Hugh suggests covering the mixture and storing it in the fridge for at least 24 hours to begin with, and for up to two weeks in total.

Edit: I asked Lee, who is a food chemist, whether or not he would be happy with keeping the raw chorizo mince for two weeks, and this was his reply:

No, I wouldn’t be happy with it. The only protection is temperature. The salt will not be enough, the spices may have some protective effect but I wouldn’t rely on them. The meat is diced/chopped so plenty of opportunity to get ‘seeded’ with bacteria. The saving grace is that all recipes cook the meat well.

Please use your discretion – I know that on Lee’s advice, I now won’t be keeping the mixture for more than a few days, and I might start making half batches from now on.

Over the course of the next four days, we turned this 750g mixture into…

…mini meatballs, and served them in our roasted tomato passata, tapas-style…

…five plates of Migas, each topped with a freshly laid egg and Picasso sheeps’ cheese…

…and the ultimate meatlover’s pizza!

There was something fabulous about having a container of raw savoury mince in the fridge, waiting to be turned into an instant meal. This is a recipe we’ll be making regularly!

. . . . .

Easy Rich Chocolate Cake

This was the recipe that convinced me to buy the book, after Joanna posted about it on her blog!

  • 250g (8.8oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa – I used Callebaut callets)
  • 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 4 medium free-range eggs, separated
  • 150g (5.3oz) caster (superfine) sugar and 50g (1.75oz) light brown sugar (or use 200g/7oz ordinary caster sugar)
  • 50g (1.75oz) plain (AP) flour
  • 50g (1.75oz) ground almonds

1. Grease a 20cm/8″ springform cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 170C/340F or 160C/320F with fan.

2. In a large pyrex bowl, melt together the chocolate and butter in the microwave using short bursts, being careful not to scorch the chocolate.  Stir until smooth and combined.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar to form a paste, then stir in the melted chocolate and butter.  Carefully fold in the flour and almonds.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.  Stir a large spoonful into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then carefully fold the remaining egg white in with a large spatula or metal spoon, trying to keep as much of the air in the mixture as possible.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes, until  just set.  The original recipe specified a 23cm/9″ tin and 30 minutes baking time, but I found my smaller tin (and therefore taller cake) needed a few more minutes to set.   The cake will still be a little wibbly in the middle – resist the urge to bake it until solid.  Allow to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes on a wire rack before opening the springform.

I’ve made this recipe twice in the last week, and both times it’s been demolished within 24 hours by family and visiting friends.

River Cottage Everyday – definitely a cookbook that suits how we  like to eat, every day!

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Quick Mix Chocolate Fudge Cake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on October 6, 2010| 31 Comments »

This recipe is for my friend Ellen, who took umbrage with my comment that our chocolate slab cake was almost as easy to make as a packet mix (truly it is, El, but maybe not at 11pm).

This cake is even easier, only requires a few ingredients, and is made and iced in the blink of an eye.  It’s not as moreish or luscious as the chocolate slab cake – but a pleasant treat nonetheless.  And it’s perfect for those times when you just need something super quick and easy.

Chocolate Fudge Cake
(adapted from the Australian Womens Weekly’s Cakes and Slices Cookbook)

  • 250g (9oz) dark chocolate, chopped (I used Callebaut 811 54% callets)
  • 125g (½ cup) unsalted butter, chopped
  • 150g (2/3 cup) castor (superfine) sugar
  • 100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
  • 4 large (59g) free range eggs

1. Preheat oven to 190C (375F) or 175C (350F) with fan.

2. Line a 23cm (9″) square tin with parchment paper.  The original instructions called for a 19cm x 29cm lamington tin (7½” x 11½”), but I didn’t have one.  The cake would probably work just as well in a 20cm (8″) square, but it might need a slightly longer baking time.

2. In a large pyrex mixing bowl, melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave, using short 30 second bursts on high and stirring well between each (this could also be done in a double boiler on the stove).   It will only take a minute or two – take care not to scorch or boil the mixture.  Stir well to combine and allow to cool slightly, to ensure  the eggs don’t scramble in the next step.

3. Add the castor sugar, self-raising flour and eggs to the bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low until all the ingredients are combined.  Then raise the mixer speed and beat well for 3 minutes until the batter is smooth and light.

4. Pour and scrape the  batter into the lined pan and bake for 20 – 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out cleanly. The original recipe specified 30 minutes, but in my fan forced oven, this cake was ready in just 20 minutes.  Allow to rest in the pan for about 10 minutes before lifting onto a wire rack to cool.

5. The original recipe was served simply dusted with icing sugar, but I topped ours with a half batch of our ever reliable Jamie Oliver chocolate icing, using the quantities below:

Chocolate Icing
(from Jamie Oliver’s Return of the Naked Chef)

  • 50g/1¾ oz unsalted butter
  • 50g/1¾ oz dark chocolate (I used Callebaut 811)
  • 50g /1¾ oz icing sugar (sifted)
  • 1½ tablespoons (6 teaspoons/30ml) milk

Melt the ingredients in a bowl over some lightly simmering water. Stir until blended well and allow to cool slightly. Pour over cake and allow to set.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

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Chocolate Slab Cake

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , on March 31, 2009| 17 Comments »

chocslab1

I love recipes which are simple, homely and comforting – dishes which are easy to make, large enough to share with the neighbours and so delicious that my boys request them over and over again.  A couple of years ago, I was reading Consuming Passions by Michael Lee West – a collection of stories and recipes, drawn mostly from her Southern US upbringing. In one section she mentioned a “Chocolate Sheet Cake” and the concept fascinated me – I loved the idea of being able to bake a big tray of chocolate cake and ice it before it had cooled, right in the pan.  But it was West’s description of the cake that was particularly evocative:

In my family, whenever a chocolate sheet cake appeared, it was usually to soothe a broken heart, or to soften the impact of an impulsive thrift-shop purchase. It was not a cake of holidays, but a cake that cajoled and flirted, a cake that said, ‘Forget about your problems, sweetie. Come sit by me for a while.’

Since then, the chocolate sheet  cake, or Choccy Slab Cake as it’s known at our place, has become a household staple. After some experimenting, we’ve finally come up with a combination that keeps everyone happy – a Mrs Field’s devil’s food cake recipe, baked in a roasting pan, and topped off with an ever reliable Jamie Oliver icing.  The whole ends up greater than the sum of its parts, because the icing over the warm base creates a very moist and velvety cake, which keeps well for the few days it takes to be eaten.

I made this cake for Alex’s 21st – it’s a great recipe for feeding lots of intoxicated and hungry twenty year olds.

Note: click here for a printable copy of this recipe.

. . . . .

Cake

  • 13/4 cups (440ml) boiling water
  • 170g (6oz) dark chocolate, chopped finely (we use Callebaut callets)
  • 1 cup (110g) unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 cups (300g) plain (all purpose) flour
  • 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), sifted
  • good pinch salt
  • 285g (10oz) unsalted butter, softened
  • 13/4 cups (packed) (380g) brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F) with fan.  Line the base and sides of a large roasting pan with parchment paper (Bake). I do this by squishing an extra-large sheet of Bake into the pan and pleating the corners, or snipping with scissors and overlapping them.  My tray is 37 x 27 x 5cm (141/2” x 101/2” x 2″), but the recipe is quite flexible, so use whatever you have on hand and adjust your cooking time accordingly.

2. In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the dark chocolate and let it sit for five minutes.  Add the cocoa and stir until the mixture is smooth.  Allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the cake.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Don’t whinge about all the bowls you’re using, it’s worth it.

4. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla, then add all the flour mixture and half the chocolate mixture.  Beat on low speed to combine, then on high for 1½  minutes.  Add remaining chocolate mixture and beat on low to combine.

5. Pour the batter into the roasting pan and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until a thin sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.   Be careful not to overcook it. Remove the cake from the oven, but leave it in the pan.  Allow to cool a little while you prepare the icing.

Icing

  • 100g (33/4oz) dark chocolate callets, or finely chopped chocolate
  • 100g (33/4oz) unsalted butter
  • 100g (33/4oz) icing sugar, sifted (it’s important to sift, or you’ll get lumpy icing)
  • 3 Tbsp (60ml) milk

Melt all ingredients in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring constantly until well blended.  Pour the finished icing over the warm cake, jiggling the pan around so that it’s all evenly coated.  Let it sit for say another 15 minutes or so, then put the whole thing into the fridge to set.

The cake can be kept at room temperature once the icing is set.

. . . . .

More food for the masses: Party Pizza!

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