Chocolate Cake with After Eight Bars

This is not a piece of chocolate cake, it is a slice of pure exclusive goodness. This must be the ultimate treat for a chocolate-lover. Biting your teeth in a super fluffy and moist chocolatey chocolate cake covered with chocolate icing and After Eight bars. Could you think of anything better?

This chocolate cake was a "present" for my friend who is pregnant in 8th month. I was going to meet her after a while and asked her what she was craving for. "Cheesecake" she said with a lot of entusiams and excitement, but I had not the ingredients available so I asked her to make another choice and there she was "Chocolate Cake!!! I want chocolate cake".

I know it is easier to use the electric mixer, but believe me, you would want to put the extra effort in making the cake by hand because it will benefit and result in a extra fluffy and moist cake which you wont get if you use a electric mixer. The thing is that a electric mixer can over-mix ingredients such as eggs and result in a more compact cake.

I n g r e d i e n t s


2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp hot water
2 eggs, large (at room temperature)
100 g butter or margarine (at room temperature)
125 g sugar
90 g allpurpose flour
1,5 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp water (semi-cold)
1 tsp vanilla sugar or essence


1) Dissolve the cocoa in the water and leave to cool
2) Cream the butter or margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy and pale in color
3) Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the cocoa mixture
4) In a small bowl mix 1 tbsp water with vanilla sugar or essence
5) Sift in the flour and fold in, followed by the vanilla mixture)
6) Pour into the prepared tin


Bake at 175C on the lowest slot for aout 30-40 minutes until firm to the touch and the cake pin comes out clean (start checking the cake after 25 minutes)

Grease and dust a springform about 18-20 cm with baking sheet on bottom

Mix 2 tbsp cocoa powder with 2 tbsp hot water in a small bowl and let cool

In a medum sized bowl combine sifted flour and baking powder

In a large bowl mix room temperated butter and sugar

Beat the butter and sugar until pale in color and fluffy with a wooden spoon by hands (15 minutes) or with a electric mixer on medium-high speed (5 minutes)

Add one beaten egg and beat for a few seconds until well-mixed

Add half of the cocoa mixture, beat for a few more seconds

Repeat the process (second beaten egg followed by cocoa mixture) once again

Carefully sift in the flour mixture

Followed by the vanilla mixture (In a small bowl add 1 tbsp water and mix it with 1 tsp vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla essense)

Fold in using a spatula (DO NOT use the el-mixer!) with large movements until just combined

Pour in prepared tin and bake at 175C on the lowest slot in the oven for about 30-40 minutes

Let cool in the tin for some time and turn on a plate

ICING


I n g r e d i e n t s


60 g butter
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
200-250 g icing sugar
2 tsp coffee
4 tbsp hot water


1. Mix coffee with hot water
2. Melt the butter, add cocoa powder and vanilla sugar
3. Add icing sugar and mix with electric mixer until you get crumb-like mass
4. Add coffee, one tablespoon at time until you get a thick and smooth icing (do not use all coffee if not necessary)

In a medium sized bowl add melted butter, cocoa powder and vanilla sugar

Add the icing sugar

Mix using a electric mixer until you get crumb-like mass

Add coffee little by little while mixing until you get a thick and smooth glaze, butter the icing on the cooled cake and add garnish as desired, let icing set a little

Garnish as desired. I garnished with some almond shavings all around on the cake and piped some swirls on top and added halfed After Eight Mint bars

ENJOY!

Chocolate Oat Balls

Sometimes the simple is best. And this applies well to these chocolate oat balls which are ready in no time and enjoyed by both, kids and adults. Not to mention that they look lovely on the table aslo. You can regulate the flavors by adding extracts of your choice and roll them in whatever garnish you like; coconut, pearl sugar, chopped almonds or other nuts are a few to mention.

Chocolate balls takes me back to my childhood when my mom used to make these with puffed rice and I just loved them. I also experimented a lot with these in my teenages since they were so easy to make.

Usually everyone got the main ingredients at home and I do not think there are many homes that are known for running out of oatmeal really. All you got to do is to ix and add and mix again for then to roll them out to even sized balls and roll them in garnishing of choice.

There are a variation of recipes on chocolate oat balls, but all of them takes base in the same ingredients. This recipe was taken from a swedish baking book which I ordered over the net called "Sju sorters kakor" which means "Seven sorts of cakes".

I do not make these too often as I am more interested in baking cakes and yeasted stuff. But I guess a late evening, almost tea-time and no goodies in the drawers and cupboards makes it obvious. Make a lot of them when you first have put your hands in it, they go fast!

These tasted like cappucino balls with the coffee added to it. And I enjoyed them alot with my cup of tea. But today I had some bought walnut baklava with a cup of coffee and oh, how much I love baklava <3

Makes about 30

I n g r e d i e n t s


100 g butter or margarine
1 dl sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
3-4 dl oatmeal
3-4 tbsp coffee, cold


1 dl garnish (shredded coconut, chopped nuts, pearl sugar, chocolate)


1. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy and pale in color
2. Add the cocoa powder
3. Add the oatmeal and coffee
4. Mix until all ingredients are blended well
5. Form to small equal sized balls (about 3 cm) and roll them in
garnish of choice
6. Keep them cool in the fridge

Troika Cake De Luxe

I love the Troika chocolate bar. For those of you who do not know what Troika is, it is a chocolate bar sold here in Norway which consist of a layer of marzipan, a layer of raspberry jelly and a layer of chocolate truffle covered with dark chocolate. This chocolate is delicious and so is the cake which is almost a copy of the popular and loved chocolate. This recipe, Troika Cake Deluxe, is adapted from Passion4Baking and was a little different than the first recipe I tried years ago.

Usually everyone are at home on weekends and as we were having guests also, I decided to give Troika cake a go and I was really up for trying a new and different recipe on this cake which I found on the blog, Passion4Baking. I remember to have made this cake a year ago, I do not really remember exactly, but it had a layer of almonds as well and was covered with chocolate. This recipe was a bit different with a chocolate mousse cake at the bottom and ended with chocolate truffle.

The cake does not really take long to make. The only thing that is going in the oven is the chocolate mousse bottom and you can prepare the rest of layers meanwhile and just line the layers at the end and let cool in fridge until it is going to be served.

The cake was gone minutes after it was ready and my older brother who loves Troika chocolate, ate large parts of it. Troika cake is a cake that is very difficult to not love as the main ingredient is chocolate, but the marzipan added makes it a bit "adult cake" which goes perfect to coffee.

The only thing I got a bit sceptical too was the amount of lemon juice added to the jelly, which actually made it way too sour and acidic in flavor to my taste. Next time, I will drop the lemon or add a very few drops of it. So if you are not a fan of a tangy flavor, you should be careful with adding it.

I divided the recipe in half, but still used a large baking pan so it kind of became a bit short in height, but it is all up to you if you want to use a small or large baking form. And you may use strawberry jelly instead of raspberry jelly, something I used since I did not have raspberry jelly available.

For step-by-step instructions with photos, see Passion4Baking (PS! It is in norwegian)

I n g r e d i e n t s


Chocolate Mousse Bottom


113 g chocolate (dark or any type you like)
75 g sugar
6 egg, large
3 lemon, drops of


Cover a baking pan about 30 x 30 cm or 26 cm spring form with a baking sheet


1. Melt the chocolate in microwave or over water bath, set aside and let cool
2. Separate the egg whites and egg plums
3. Beat egg plums and sugar (let 2 tbsp sugar for the meringue)for about 5-8 minutes until you get a very thick and fluffy eggnog
4. Add the melted chocolate and mix for a few more minutes until well blended
5. Whisk the egg whites along with 2 tbsp sugar and a few lemon drops for a few minutes (do not whisk for too long) until they start getting firm
6. With a spatula, fold the egg whites inside the eggnog mixture and mix until blended


Bake in the middle of oven at 175C for about 10-15 minutes until firm to touch


Let the mousse cake rest while you roll the marzipan




Marzipan Layer


300-400 g marzipan


1. Roll out a suitably thick layer of marzipan that is the same size of your chocolate mousse bottom




Jelly Layer


2 packets jelly, rapsberry or strawberry
1,5 dl water, boiling hot
0,5 dl lemon juice, freshly pressed (cut down the amount to your taste)
1 tbsp glucose (optional)


1. Boil water and add the packets of jelly, mix and add the lemon juice and glucose
2. Mix it well and set aside until it starts to get a little firm in consistency




Chocolate Truffle Cream


227 g chocolate (dark or according to taste)
5 dl cream
1 tsp vanilla extract or essense


1. Add the cream and chocolate in a sauce pan and warm it up until the chocolate melts (do not boil!)
2. Whisk, remove from heat and let cool in the fridge until cool
3. Whisk as normal until you get a firm whipping cream




LAYERING


1. The chocolate mousse bottom
2. Cover with rolled marzipan
3. Spread the jelly
4. Finish with the chocolate truffle cream


Let cool in fridge for atleast 30 minutes

Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake ~ Daring Baker Challenge - March 2011

Daring Bakers Challenge - March 2011: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake ~ Mets la main à la pâteI made this yeasted meringue cake just a day before the last day, and I am so glad I made it, because it was lovely! The yeasted bread was so soft and perfectly sweet and made a delicious combination with almond meringue and marzipan. Instead of using walnuts and chocolate in filling, I mixed ground almonds in the meringue and added some grated marzipan and what great result I got. They where gone with the wind. I made one with savory filling with chicken and eggs combined and it turned out a success as well. I will definitely make this cake more times as I loved the texture of the bread, so moist and so soft!

I have given step-by-step instruction with help of photos. I hope you will benefit of it and give this delicious coffee cake a try (recipe at the end of page).

THE DOUGH

Combine 230 g flour, salt, sugar and dry yeast in a large bowl

In a saucepan, add milk, water and butter and let warm up on medium heat just until the butter is melted

Take off the heat, add safron strands and let steep for about 10 minutes (re-heat milk until about 40C)

Add the liquid into the dry ingredients little by little with an electric whisk on low speed until all ingredients are well combined

Mix the batter for about 2 minutes on medium speed

Add eggs to the batter

And 150 g  flour

Mix the batter for about 2 minutes until combined on medium speed

With an wooden spoon, mix in enough of the remaining (220 g) flour in the batter till it forms a dough

The dough is done when it forms a ball and loosen from the bowl

On a heavily sprinkled (use the remaining flour) surface, knead the dough as you add flour as needed for about 8-10 minutes

The dough has to be smooth and elastic

Grease an large bowl lightly with neutral oil and put the dough inside while rotating it so the oil coats all sides of dough, cover with plastic wrap and kitchen towl

LET REST FOR ABOUT 45 - 60 MINUTES (1 HOUR)

ALMOND MERINGUE

Whisk the egg whites in a plastic or metal bowl for about 30 seconds on low speed and then on medium speed until they become frothy and opaque

Add vanilla essense/powder and sugar, one spoon at a time, beat on medium-high speed

Beat until the meringue becomes glossy and it forms stiff peaks

Take about 100 g almonds

And ground them finely

Carefully fold in the ground almonds in the meringue

Until just combined


THE MAKINGAfter 1 hour

The dough has doubled in size after raising for 1 hour

Divide the dough in half and roll out each to about 50 x 25 cm rectangular, spread the almond meringue filling evenly (leaving 3-4 cm on sides), grate 50 g marzipan on the filling

Roll the dough lengthwise and pinch the edges to seal

Transfer the roll carefully to a greased baking pan and make a circle, pinch and seal the edges

LET RAISE FOR 1 HOUR or until double in size

Brush with beaten egg or use may use the egg yolks that were left


Bake in the middle of oven at 175C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden in color and makes a hollow sound when tapped


Let cool, dust with icing sugar and enjoy!

EGG & CHICKEN FILLED


250 g chicken, boiled or fried
3 eggs, large, boiled
1 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste


cheese, grated


1. Tear the boiled or fried chicken into tiny bites
2. Mash the boiled eggs and mix with chicken
3. Add the seasoning and butter, mix
4. Spread on the rolled dough rectangular and roll it up as the sweet cake
5. Brush with egg, sprinkle grated cheese or any type of seeds

The recipe is adapted from Thedaringkitchen, Challenge March 2011


FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE


Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter
The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake




I n g r e d i e n t s


For the yeast coffee cake dough:


4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour
¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar
¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast
¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk
¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)
½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature


10 strands saffron for Ria’s version (Saffron might be hard to find and it’s expensive, so you can substitute with ½ - 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom or ground nutmeg. Or simply leave it plain like Jamie’s version)




For the meringue:


3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar




For the filling:


Jamie’s version:
1 cup (110 g / 4 oz.) chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (170 g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate


Ria’s version:
1 cup (130 g / 5 oz.) chopped cashew nuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon garam masala (You can make it at home – recipe below - or buy from any Asian/Indian grocery store)
1 cup (170g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips ( I used Ghirardelli)


Egg wash: 1 beaten egg
Cocoa powder (optional) and confectioner’s sugar (powdered/icing sugar) for dusting cakes


**Garam (means “hot”) masala (means “mixture”) is a blend of ground spices and is used in most Indian savory dishes. It is used in limited quantities while cooking vegetables, meats & eggs. There is no “one” recipe for it as every household has a recipe of their own. Below, I am going to share the recipe which I follow.


4 or 5 sticks (25 g) Cinnamon Sticks (break a stick and open the scroll)
3 ½ tablespoons (25 g / less than an ounce) Cloves, whole
100 g. (3.5 oz.) Fennel seeds
4 tablespoons (25 g / less than an ounce) Cumin seeds
1 ½ tablespoons (10 g / less than half an ounce) Peppercorns
25 g (less than half an ounce) Green Cardamom pods


In a small pan on medium heat, roast each spice individually (it hardly takes a minute) until you get a nice aroma. Make sure you stir it throughout so that it doesn’t burn. As soon as each spice is roasted, transfer it to a bowl to cool slightly. Once they are all roasted, grind into a fine powder by using a coffee grinder, or pestle & mortar. Store in an airtight container and use as needed.




Directions:


Prepare the dough:


1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.


2. In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. Ria’s version: add the 10 saffron threads to the warmed liquid and allow to steep off of the heat for 10 minutes. This will give the mixture a distinct aroma and flavor and a yellowish-orange hue.


3. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.


4. Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.


5. Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.


Prepare your filling: In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the filling if using. You can add the chopped nuts to this if you like, but I find it easier to sprinkle on both the nuts and the chocolate separately.


Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:


In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.




Assemble the Coffee Cakes:


Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper.


1. Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate).


2. Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.


3. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.


4. Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.


Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).


Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.


Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.


Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with confectioner’s sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. These are best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.




Crèmecannelle version:


Meringue


3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar
1 cup (220 g / 8 oz.) almonds, finely ground


1. In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.


2. Fold in the finely ground almonds and mix


Filling


100 g marzipan, grated


Follow the steps as in the coffee cake recipe above (except the filling), and sprinkle grated marzipan over the meringue before you roll it.