Black & White

It has been more than a month since I blogged. Hubby was away and I was way too busy running around with the kids and so on. Also stuck with daughter's school project. I was not this much inclined to my own projects when I was schooling.

For a long time I have wanted to try to combine both dark chocolate and white chocolate in one dish. Thus, came up with the idea of making a trifle. I just love trifles. They are simple yet luxurious desserts.

Dark and white chocolate have distinctly different tastes. Dark chocolate is made of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, small amounts of sugar and vanilla. White chocolate is not true chocolate because it contains no chocolate liquor and, likewise, very little chocolate flavour. Instead, it is usually a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin and vanilla.

I used my famous moist chocolate cake as the base of the trifle. The recipe is found here.

Black & White Trifle


What do we need:

1 moist chocolate cake
200g cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup double cream, chilled
2 tbsp grated dark chocolate

White Chocolate Pudding
1 cup milk
100g white chocolate
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp sugar

How do we do it:

Combine all the pudding ingredients except the white chocolate. Cook on low heat while whisking constantly until mixture boils and thickens. Keep whisking for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in the white chocolate. Cover with cling film and press down so that it touches the surface of the pudding. This is to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool completely.

Slice the moist chocolate cake to 1 inch thickness and place it in a pie or flan dish.

Lightly beat the cream cheese until soft. Set aside. Beat the double cream until stiff. Fold in the softened cheese and the cooled white chocolate pudding. Pour the white chocolate cheese mixture on the cake. Finally, sprinkle the grated dark chocolate on top. Chill thoroughly. It tastes better after a few days.

The trifle may also be made in smaller portions like in ramekins or dessert glasses.

This trifle not just look amazing but it tastes AWESOME!!

For Love......

My son has been asking me to bake something using cocoa powder. So, I decided to bake him a chocolate packed cake. I filled and covered the cake with chocolate ganache. The cake was so chocolatey. Hubby and children loved it!!

I have always used sour cream in my pancakes but never in my bakings. For the first time I tried adding it in my cake. The sour cream made the cake rich and moist.

Soured cream is a dairy product that is rich in fats made by partially fermenting a regular cream using lactic acid bacteria. The bacteria causes the cream to sour or thicken. This process is called souring. The taste of sour cream is only mildly sour.

Sour cream is primarily used as a condiment. It is also used as the base for some creamy salad dressings and provides the base for various forms of dip used for dipping potato chips or crackers as well. Sour cream may also be used in baking. It can be eaten as a dessert, with fruits or berries and sugar topping.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

What do we need:

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate sode
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup recently boiled water

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup sour cream

How do we do it:

Sift together flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, and salt. Set aside.

Pour recently boiled water into cocoa powder. Stir well and set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Stir in vanilla essence. Fold in the sifted flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, starting and ending with the flour. Finally, fold in the cocoa mixture.

Pour batter into a greased and lined 8 inches round pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 175° C for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Fill and cover the cake with your favourite frosting. Decorate as per desired.

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The Return...........

I have now returned home in Switzerland. It has been 2 weeks already but I still have not well settled. Life is no more the same. I am now a mother of 2, a preschooler and a baby.

Minding 2 children and nursing a baby definately needs extra energy. I concocted an energy booster to start up my tough day.

Banana Chocolate Milk

What do we need:

1 cup chocolate milk, chilled
1 large banana
1/2 cup corn flakes

How do we do it:

Blend the banana with the chocolate milk until smooth and frothy. Fill a tall glass with corn flakes. Pour the banana chocolate milk onto it. Top with chocolate sauce if desired.

Weekend Baking Session # 23

I just realised that I have not baked cookies for our Weekend Baking Session. Therefore, this week I have baked the most famous and/or the most loved cookie in the world. Need I say more? Yes, it is Chocolate Chip Cookie. I have added an extra dose of chocolate in the form of chunks as well. Hence, it is double chocolatey!!!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

What do we need:

1 cup plain flour
1 cup ground oatmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate chunks

How do we do it:

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the ground oatmeal. Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla essence. Add the flour mixture gradually. Gently stir in the chocolate chips and chunks.

Shape dough into 1” balls, place on a greased or lined baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 190° C for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and cool on wire rack.

Pick me up

It is hubby dear's birthday today. I planned to bake him a black forest cake as it is his favourite cake. Just to be sure, I asked him "What do want me to make for your birthday?"
He replied "Whatever you want to. You don't need to trouble yourself a lot."
I said "Just tell me what you feel like having."
He asked "Would you make tiramisu for me?"

Now I remember that tiramisu was the first dessert I made for him. It has been almost 2 years since I made the last tiramisu. So, yesterday after work, I bought a packet of ladyfinger biscuits or sponge fingers and a tub of mascarpone cheese. The rest of the ingredients were at home. As soon as I reached home, I quickly whipped it up. Hubby was on and off peeping into the kitchen. He just could not wait to indulge himself with his favourite dessert but then, I told him that he has to wait until tomorrow (which is today) to have it as tiramisu needs an overnight chilling.

Tiramisu

What do we need:

2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup marsala wine or kahlua or any coffee liqueurs

1 cup hot water
5 tbsp coffee powder or granules
3 tbsp brandy (optional)

20 ladyfinger biscuits or sponge fingers
250 g mascarpone cheese
1 cup whipping or double cream

1 cup grated chocolate
2 tbsp cocoa or chocolate powder

How do we do it:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until creamy. Slowly stir in the wine or liqour. Cook on a double boiler, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when the custard is thick. Set aside to cool.

Combine hot water and coffee. Let cool. When cooled, add the brandy and set aside.

Beat mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the cooled egg custard and continue beating slowly. Set aside.

Beat the cream until soft. Gently combine the mascarpone mixture with the beaten cream.

To assemble, dip the biscuits one by one into the coffee and arrange neatly in a dish. The biscuits could be broken to fit the dish. Spread half of the cheese mixture. Sprinkle grated chocolate. Repeat with the biscuits and cheese mixture again. Sprinkle cocoa or chocolate powder on top. Chill well, preferably overnight before serving.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUBBY DEAR

Weekend Baking Session # 15

I was asked to bake 4 chocolate cakes for a function held by the Embassy of Malaysia in Switzerland. I was extremely happy as it is the 1st time ever I received an order to bake cakes. At last, my baking is recognised and being favoured.

I had to go on a baking marathon the day before the function. Hubby dear helped a lot. Many thanks to him. I received thumbs up from those who ate the cake. I felt very much honoured when his Excellency the Ambassador said that the cake was delicious and he thanked me for baking it.

I would like take the opportunity of sharing the recipe with everyone thru our Weekend Baking Session.

Moist Chocolate Cake

What do we need:

1 1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp instant coffee powder or granules

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup water

How do we do it:

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

Dissolve the coffee with hot water. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well. Beat in the coffee and vanilla essence. Gently fold in the flour mixture alternating with water. Start and end with the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into a greased baking pan. Bake at 175° C for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.






Cool completely before serving or frosting it with your favourite cream, as per desired. The cake tastes better the next day.

Weekend Baking Session # 8

It is a long weekend here. Starting from Good Friday to Easter Monday. I am having such a wonderful time resting and being with my daughter.

As it is Easter, I have thought of baking something in line with the theme. Weekend Baking Session this time is going rich and fudgy.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

What do we need:




Cake:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
50g cooking chocolate
1/4 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract



Fudge:
200g cooking chocolate
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp butter

How do we do it:

Boil some water in a pot. Add a teaspoon of salt. Place a glass bowl on top of the pot. Ensure that the water level is lower than the bottom of the bowl. In other words, make sure that the water in the pot does not touch the bowl. Break the chocolate and put them into the bowl. When the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from heat and let cool. This method is called double boiling. The reason of melting chocolate by this method is because chocolate tend to get burnt when exposed to direct heat. So, secondary heat has to be used.

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Stir in the cooled melted chocolate and yoghurt. Add the sifted flour mixture alternately with the water, starting and ending with the flour.

Pour the cake mixture into a greased or lined 7" round cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove the cake and let it cake cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, on a low heat, stir the whipping cream and butter until well blended. Add broken chocolate pieces. Continue to heat until the chocolate melts. Stir constantly. Remove from heat and let the fudge cool completely.

Slice the cake horizontally into half. Fill with some fudge. Cover the cake with the rest of the fudge. Decorate as per desired.





Happy Easter To All

Weekend Baking Session # 6

I had a punnet of strawberries in my fridge. Got to use them soon or they will get rotten. So many ideas came to my mind. As I have never baked an upside down cake, I decided to bake it.

Pineapples, cherries and blueberries are the famous upside down cakes. Strawberries are rather infamous. I am glad to introduce strawberries to this type of cake.

For this weekend, I want to be fair to all the vegetarians. Weekend Baking Session has always been non veg. So, this edition of WBS is a dedication to all the vegetarians out there. Special dedication to a beautiful young lady in Chennai, India who is also a vegetarian.

Strawberry Chocolate Upside Down Cake

What do we need:

500g strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice



1 cup bread flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt

2/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vinegar

How do we do it:

Hull and wash the strawberries. On a medium heat, cook them with sugar and lemon juice until the strawberries are soft and liquid is thick. Set aside.

Strawberries, before cooking


Strawberries, after cooking

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir and make a well in the centre. Pour the melted butter, milk and vinegar into the well. Stir to mix thoroughly.

Place the cooked strawberries at the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Pour the cake batter onto it. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for about 35-40 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean. Invert the cake onto a serving plate when the cake is still warm.





Serve strawberry chocolate upside down cake warm with a dollop of whipping cream.

Weekend Baking Session # 2

Some 3 months ago there was this craze called The CCC Craze around the food forums in SE Asia. I did not wanted to join it though as it is my nature that I always do something that others are not or no more doing it. Well, since the CCC craze has now subsided, it's time that I bake it.

This recipe was posted by Kirsten in Jo's Deli & Bakery Message Board. For the 2nd week of WBS, Chocolate Cheese Layered Cake is the chosen one.

Chocolate Cheese Layered Cake

What do we need:



A
250g cream cheese
60g castor sugar
1 egg


B
180g butter
150g sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa
120g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

How do we do it:

Beat cream cheese with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well incorporated. Set mixture aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, one at a time until well incorporated into mixture. Sieve all the dried ingredients together. Fold into egg mixture.

To assemble, pour half of mixture ‘B’, then all of mixture ‘A’, then remaining mixture ‘B’. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for 45-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Once cool, chill in refrigerator.



Well, I did not expect it to look like this. Shapewise, I guess, I did not really do good job. It is not supposed to be wavy. There should be three parallel equal sized layers. I will have to bake this cake again and do it correctly the next time.

Tastewise, I think I have done it right as I like it very much.