Devil Food Chocolate Cake

We left with two more months for 2012.  My girl was just commenting that this year passes by really quickly.  I guess when your days are jammed packed with activities, time goes by more quickly.

In a blink of an eye, we already lived here for 6 months.   Fast isn't it? 

Today I invited a bunch of mommies from my girl's kinder time to come by for breakfast as most of them haven’t been here before.  I can't believe that I had known them for 7 years already.  

Actually time isn't the factor for friendship.  I have learnt that chemistry does.  For some, even if you know them for a long time yet you feel that don't really know them truly.  For others, chemistry just hits in and it just fitted well as if you have been long time friend.  Am I confusing?

Anyway, I wanted to bake some cakes as well as some savoury items for our breakfast yak but as some couldn’t make it, I decided not to prepare too much.

Here are some new recipes that I attempted.

First on the list was Chocolate loaf cheesecake.   I chose this because it has lots of cheeses.  Unfortunately, the taste didn’t really come through well and the chocolate was weak as well.

Note: This cake surprisingly tasted so much better the next day.  Won't mind baking this again.

Next was a cake I had intended to bake for a long time.  It has a strange name and very interesting method of preparing for this one.  It is called Seckill Chocolate Cake.  Sounds cruel? I am always on a constant look out for new baking method.

I might have over baked on this one but what I like is that it yields a very nice tall cake.  In fact, this will be my tallest cake attempt.   I didn’t follow the ganache recipe as provided but used my own. 

I will retry this one once I have time.  I believe it will produce a nice texture if I haven’t over baked it. 

Overall, my guests love this. Perhaps the ganache saved the cake.

Last on the list was Devil Food Chocolate Cake.  I believe I had baked such cake before and it was good as well.

For this one, the texture was good but the height was disappointing as I didn't read her instruction properly.  I will definitely try again on this one but either double or triple the portion when I used a 7" pan.  I think using the recipe and bake it in a 6” pan will be good for a small family.

It definitely went well with the cream cheese frosting I must say.  I didn’t follow the recipe for the cream cheese as I used my discretion.

Overall, my mommy guests and little guests all enjoyed the cakes.

I just so love impromptu decision as it makes it more fun and exciting.  Last minute, we decided that we should go pick up our kids and have lunch at my place.   The kids had such great time that they decided to meet up again after church to have dinner together.

Boy, don’t I love last minute decision.  It makes it so exciting and fun.  Not only the mommies had a blast, I am sure those little ones too.

Thanks for a wonderful day. 

Chocolate Loaf Cheesecake
adapted from Cheesecake Mania by Kevin Chai

What you need:

150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cocoa powder
3 eggs
150g castor sugar
100g butter
200g cream cheese
30g chocolate
20g grated cheddar cheese

Method

Grease and lined a 4X8" loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 180 deg.

Melt butter, cream cheese and chocolate over a double boiler.  Beat till it is smooth.  Set aside to cool.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder together.  Set aside.

Whisk eggs and sugar well.

Add in sifted ingredients and mixed till well blended.

Add cream cheese mixture to the batter and blended till fully incorporated.

Pour into pan and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over it. 

Bake for 40 mins or till golden brown.

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Seckill Chocolate Cake
Source: 《美味糕点新主张》by 薛纪娟) and Simply Love 2 bake

What you need:

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

50g vegetable oil 
80g milk 
15g cocoa powder 
100g bittersweet chocolate 
90g egg yolk (approx 6 eggs @ 63g) 
180g egg white 
120g castor sugar
75g cake flour (sifted)


Chocolate Ganache


150g dairy whipping cream/ heavy cream 
120g bittersweet chocolate  
12g butter

Method:

Greased and lined 2 X 6” round baking pan.  Preheat oven to 150 ºC.

Bring oil and milk to a gentle boil, remove from heat and add in cocoa powder. Mix well and add chocolate and mix till chocolate melted.

Add egg yolks, one at a time, mix till well blended.

Beat egg white till foamy, add sugar in 3 additions, and beat till soft peak (70-80%) (7-8分发) (When lifted, the tip of the meringue has soft and small bend).

Take 1/3 of the meringue to mix with the chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula till 80% incorporated (need not mix till fully incorporated).  Fold in 1/3 of flour gently, mix till just incorporated. Fold in remaining meringue and flour alternatively to form even chocolate batter.

Divide batter into 2 pans.  Baked @ 150 ºC for 20 mins and @ 175C ºC for the last 10-15 mins.

Bang the cake on tabletop once it is out from the oven and invert to cool the cake. Loosen the side with a small knife and unmould after the cake has cool down completely.

Place cool cake on wire rack with a tray/bowl underneath and pour chocolate ganache on the centre of the cake, use both hands to hold the wire rack and swirl to let the ganache cover the whole cake.

Chill for at least 30 mins or until the ganache is set before serving. 

Chocolate ganache

Heat cream till bubbles at the side, remove and pour into chocolate.  Let it sit for a few mins and stir till chocolate melts. 

Add in butter and stir till it is glossy.

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Devil Food Chocolate Cake
Source: Bisous A Toi

What you need:

135g plain flour

26g cocoa powder

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

98g castor sugar

½ cup brown sugar

65g butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup buttermilk

½ cup warm water

Method:

Sift plain flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Cream sugars and butter till light and fluffy.

Add in egg.

Alternate flour and  buttermilk mixture into 3 and 2 portion respectively into the batter.

Divide into 2 portion and bake at 170 ºC for 30 mins.

Cream Cheese Frosting

200g cream cheese

100g butter

150g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

Sift icing sugar into the above ingredients and beat till light and fluffy.