Monday, December 20, 2010

Black Forest Cake

It's my husband's birthday and I let him choose what cake he'd like to eat on his special day like I always do and no surprise when he told me that he wanted a black forest cake ( like he does every year! ).

Nothing's complicated but the cake requires a few steps of preparation..I made the cherry filling and syrup in advance..then prepared the cake base and the whipped cream topping on the day I made and assembled the cake and I left the cake set overnight in the fridge, then served him the next day when he was back from his trip!

The recipe ( adapted from here )

The cake base..

80 g self raising flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
30 g cocoa powder
90 g caster sugar
50 g water
25 g evaporated milk
65 g canola oil
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg white
40 g caster sugar
1/4 cream of tartar

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line the base of 8 inch cake tin with parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cocoa powder together into a mixing bowl and set aside.

2.  Combine the 90g sugar, yolks, water, oil, milk and vanilla in another bowl. Stir until incorperated and pour overthe flour mixture. Gently mix the dry and wet ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Set aside.

3. Beat the white and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy, then gradually add the remaining sugar one tablespoon at a time and continue beat on high speed until reach the soft-medium peak ( more than soft but not hard peak). Gently fold the white into the cake mixture until blended.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted from center comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning the cake out and leave the cake to cool at room temperature before assemble.

Syrup ( for brushing top of layers ):


1/4 cup sugar
1/3cup water
2 tbsp Kirsch

1. Heat the water and sugar until boiled and a bit thick. Take off the heat and set aside until cool , then add kirch into the syrup.

Kirsch Whipped cream:

3 cups whipping cream
60 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp Kirsch
1 tbsp gelatin dissolved with 2 tbsp hot water ( leave to cool )

Method :

Beat the cream, sugar, vanilla and kirsch together until soft peak then add gelatin and continue to beat until combined and set.

Cherry Filling:

1.5 cans dark cherry in syrup
3 tbsp corn stratch dissolved with 3 tbsp hot water
3 tbsp Kirsch

1. Put cherry along with the syrup into a saucepan. Heat until warm then gradually add the corn stratch mixture. Keep stirring until thick then take off the heat and leave to cool before adding the kirsch.

Assemble the cake :

1. Slice the cake into 2 layers. Brush top of each layer with the syrup. Spread the whipped cream over the bottom layer and top with most of the cherry filling ( leave fews for the topping) , then spread more whipped cream to cover the filling. Put the other layer on top and cover the whole cake with the whipped cream. Decorate the cake as desired ( I used chocolate shavings as seen in the photos!)..

















Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Cheesy Crispy Cornflake Cookies

Cookie is normally not a thing that I'm really keen to make for some (strange) reasons which even myself still couldn't figure it out ! But on the other hand, whenever I come across an interesting cookie recipe, I could never resist giving it a try..:)

As for a verdict, to my surprise, it turned out to be a flavorful cookie which I was totally pleased with the outcome..

The recipe could be found here.





















Monday, December 6, 2010

Cornmeal Biscuits with Honey Butter

I always couldn't resist giving a recipe a try when it's about cornmeal because it's one of my favorite ingredients. When I found this cornmeal biscuit posted on Serious Eats, I knew straight away what I'm gonna make for my husband as an afternoon teatime snack on the weekend!!

Anyway, my husband is not a big fan of cornmeal..so, I didn't really expect to get a good feedback back when I served him the biscuits along with the honey butter. But surprisingly, he responded positively and even my daughter, who is not really interested in this kind of baked good, also liked it !

As for myself, I couldn't agree more with what it's said on the post...and it would be a big mistake if  you decide to skip the honey butter!    























  

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Vanilla Custard Cake

This cake has been a hit not only among Thai food bloggers but also my friends who have tasted it...and I never fail to get compliments every single time I make it ! Please give it a try and you will find out how gorgeous the cake is.. 


The recipe could be found here.