Tiramisu II

Tiramisu is the only cakes which I don't mind has a ton of cream. It's so easy and best of of all you don't have to switch on the oven, great for summer season.

I have made this version of tiramisu using sponge fingers (in the pic. I used basic sponge) and always received compliments. It's about time I share it here.

Tiramisu
pictorial https://cookpad.com/hu/receptek/1925954-tiramisu

Ingredients

For soaking
1 x 200g sponge fingers (about 20 pcs)
2 x 18g Nescafé strong 3in1
about 150ml hot water
Rum, to taste

For Cream filling
2 eggs (size M)
2 - 3 Tbsp granulated sugar or to taste

1 x 250g Mascapone cheese, room temperature
1 x 200g whipping cream
1 Tbsp gelatine granules
Powder sugar , to taste
Rum, to taste

For dusting
Cocoa powder

Method :-

1) 30 mins before assembling the cake :
      i) prepare the coffee by bringing about 150ml of water to boil. Mix in the coffee and let it cool
         in  the fridge.
      ii) take out mascapone cheese from fridge and bring in to room temperature.
      iii) Whisk eggs and 2-3 tbsp sugar in a heat proof bowl and slowly heat it over boiling water.
            Just heat about 60°c , when the egg mixture is hot to touch. Then remove from double boiler
           and whisk using electric mixer until foamy and cool a bit.

2) Once 30 mins. is up  you can start assembling.
     1) take out coffee from the fridge add in liquer of choice. or leave it out. mix well

     2) Prepare the gelatine as per instruction on packet. set it aside.

     3) Mix together mascapone cheese with thicken eggs (step 1, iii ) until well combine.

     4) In another bowl whip up the whipping cream until soft peak. slowly add in mascapone
          and egg mixture until well combine. add in the gelatine and mix well.

     5) soak lady's finger one at a time and form a layer on glass dish. soak each for about 5 seconds.
         Then put half the cream and smooth it over. Repeat another layer of soaked lady's fingers,
          and finish off with the remaining cream. dust with cocoa powder.

     6) leave in the fridge overnight.
 

Fanta Slice { Fanta szelet }

Yup, Fanta as in the orange soda.  As strange as this sound, it does work. This should be sit in the fridge at least overnight for best taste.


Fanta Slice { Fanta Szelet }

Chocolate sponge cake layer :-
3 eggs , medium-sized, separated
3 heap Tbsp sugar
3 heap Tbsp plain flour
1 level Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 level Tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt 

Cream layer :-
200ml whipping cream
250g cottage cheese, room temperature
1 zest of lemon
100g powdered sugar, or to taste
1 Tbsp gelatine powder  
  
Orange layer :-
1 can x 333 ml Fanta brand orange soda
40g pudding powder
1 tsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp powdered sugar , or to taste.

Processes :-

Chocolate sponge cake (can be made in advance, freeze and thaw a day before serving)

1) Pre-heat oven at 180˙c.

2) Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. set it aside.

3) In separate bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until creamy. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and and mix gently until will combined.

4) Take 1/3 of the stiff egg white and add into chocolate batter to loosen it a little. Then fold in carefully the remaining stiffen egg white until well combine.

5) Great baking pan (  18x20cm ) and lined with baking paper . Pour in the cake batter . Bake for 12 mins or until the skewer comes out clean.

6) Let it cooled fully.

7) Once cake is cooled, start preparing the room temperature cottage cheese. Use a hand blender to blender the cottage cheese to get rid of lumps. Add a little of the whipping cream to help loosen the cottage cheese a bit.

8) Once cottage cheese is smooth, set it aside. In another bowl, start whipping the cream until half stiff. Then add in powdered sugar, cottage cheese and lemon zest until well combined.

9) Add in the preped gelatine* . Mix well . pour it over the cooled cake. Level the cream.


10) For the orange layer, take about 100ml of the soda and mix with the pudding powder.  Let it sit.
Meanwhile, heat up the remaining orange soda with lemon juice and sugar. When this is hot enough. pour in the earlier pudding-orange mixture, stir constantly until it thickens , just like making instant pudding. Once orange pudding is thick enough, set it aside to cool a little before pouring it over the cream layer. Level it out.

11) Let the assemble cake sit in the fridge over night before serving.

Holiday Baking : A dessert named "Lonci"

We first tasted this "cake" at my sister-in-law, and my husband loves it. So, he asked for the recipe from his sister. Nobody knows why the name "Lonci". We tried searching online with no result. For me, the looks is exactly like a Gerbeau slice, except for the fillings, of course.  I would say that the filling is too mild and the chocolate taste takes over. However, I do like the result of the pastry and this method of making butter cream intrigues me. Perhaps I'll test out the pastry and buttercream separately in other bakes in the future.

Lonci (Creamy Gerbeau Slice)

Ingredients

For pastry

400gm flour

1/2 sachet baking powder

120gm shortening (used goose fat)

120gm sugar (reduced to taste)

1 egg

sour cream , as needed (less than a cup)

For filling

200gm butter, softened

250gm powdered sugar (reduced according to my taste)

500ml milk

2 Tbsp sugar

4 heap Tbsp flour

flavourings :-

Rum

cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 sachet vanilla sugarFor cocoa glazing

4 Tbsp water

8 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

120gm butter

Method

For Pastry

1. Mix together all ingredients in a bowl except for sour cream. Add sour cream gradually and knead until you have a smooth dough
2. Divide dough into 3. Roll each dough out into a rectagular sheet and blind bake each sheet until golden brown in a meadium heat oven
3. 
   

For filling

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy set aside.
2. Cook milk, sugar and flour in sauce pan until it thickens. Place the thicken mixture onto cold water to cool. Stir the mixture continuously until cooled.
3. Mix together buttercream (1) and milk mixture (2) . Divide this into 2 portions.
4. One portion flavour with cocoa and rum ; while another portion add in vanilla extract or a sachet of vanilla sugar

For cocoa glazing

1. Bring water and sugar into a boil and mix in cocoa powder. Remove from heat and add in butter and mix until well combine

Assembly

1. Place 1 sheet of baked pastry onto serving dish, spread with all of cocoa flavour filling. Then place seconc sheet of baked pastry over it. Next spread vanilla flavoured filling over the pastry and place final baked pastry sheet on top.
2. Finish off by pouring cocoa glazing while glazing is still warm . Let cake rest for at least a day before serving.

Chocolatre frosting with sour cream

The #1 reason that puts me off making any kind of cake frosting is the amount of sugar and butter used in a recipe. I know without these two ingredients I won't achieve any good and stable frosting. So, I'm constantly googling for frosting recipes that are not so caloric. My search brought me to this recipe over at Kwanster.
I'm re-posting the whole recipe below in order for me to note down any tweaking needed to suit my taste. In saying that, it is already great recipe and you shouldn't hesitate to try it! And go over to Kwanster's blog to thank him/her.
Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (for 12-15 cupcakes) via : link above
Ingredients
170g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped ** used 60% cocoa content, find the taste to dominating..
64g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted ** didn't follow exactly, adjusting to taste as I whisk
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
Pinch of salt, sifted
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. sour cream , room temperature **20% fat ** added rum for extra flavour
Method:

1. Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Set aside to cool until just barely warm.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale.
3. Gradually mix in the sifted confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt, beat until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate and then the sour cream.
5. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
6. Frost your cake immediately.

My note = **

1) as I was going through the process, the buttercream already tasted good before the addition of chocolate. So, perhaps I'll try without the chocolate next time

2) 60% cocoa content was overpowering the sponge cake as a whole. Next time will use a lower cocoa content also lesser quantity, perhaps 100gm instead of 170gm.

Rafaello Cake

Raffaello Cake
Ingredients
For the base
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
3-4 Tbsp sugar (incl. 1 sachet vanilla sugar)
100gm desiccated coconut
For the cream top
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp plain flour
250ml milk
1 sachet vanilla sugar / or vanilla extract
200ml whipping cream
3-4 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 Tbsp gelatine
For decoration
Toasted almond slices
Toasted desiccated coconut
Steps
1) Pre-heat oven at 160°c / Gas mark 3. Grease cake tin
2) In a bowl, pour in egg whites and pinch of salt. Beat egg whites until soft peak. Add in sugar gradually and continue to beat egg whites until stiff peak. Fold in desiccated coconut carefully.
3) Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 15 mins. or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
4) Set cake aside to cool.
5) In a sauce pan, mix together a little of milk with egg yolks and flour until smooth in texture. Then gradually add in remaining milk.
6) Cook mixture over low heat until thicken by stirring continuously.
7) Once thicken to the right consistency, remove from heat and cover the custard directly with cling film. Set aside to cool.
8) Once custard is cool, you can start soaking gelatine powder by sprinkling gelatine power over 60ml of cold water. Do not stir the mixture! Leave to soak for 5 mins. Then cook gelatine over double boiler until gelatine is fully dissolved. Do not boil the mixture. Set aside to cool.
9) In a mixing bowl, pour whipping cream and 3 - 4 Tbsp of powdered sugar until stiff.
10) Mix half of whipped cream into cool custard and whipped until well combined. Mix in a few table spoons of gelatine liquid into the custard mixture, combine well and pour this custard cream onto cake.
11) Mix remaining whipped cream with a couple of spoons of gelatine, combine well and pour whipped cream over custard cream.
12) sprinkle a little of the toasted desiccated coconut over cake. Let cake chill in fridge over night.
13) sprinkle toasted almond slices over cake when serving.

One-bowl Chocolate fudge cake with chocolate sour cream frosting

In the last minute, I've decided to try out this chocolate cake for a birthday cake since my first bake (another chocolate cake recipe) failed! This cake turned out moist and stable, great with my go-to chocolate sour cream frosting. The left over also freezes well. PERFECT!
I've declared this as my go-to chocolate cake recipe from now on. No more fussing about with other recipes :p

Chocolate Cake

via kitchencorner

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

2 teaspoon granulated coffee

Chocolate sour-cream frosting

adapted from kwanster

100g chocolate, break into pieces
64g unsalted butter, at room temperature
50-64gm confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
Pinch of salt, sifted
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. sour cream , room temperature **12 or 20% fat
added rum for extra flavour

For the cake:-

1) Pre-heat oven at 180°c.

2) Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large bowl. Whisk through to combine using a hand whisk to stir through flour mixture until combined well. 

3) Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together until well combined. Mix the granulated coffee with  boiling water then pour into the cake batter and mix well combine. 

4) Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans or one cake pan where you can cut horizontally after the cake is baked and cooled down. 

5) Bake for 30-35 minutes if using two pans or 1 hour until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 

6)Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

For chocolate frosting :-
1) Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Set aside to cool until just barely warm.
2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale.
3) Gradually mix in the sifted confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt, beat until light and fluffy.
4) Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate and then the sour cream.
5) Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and well blended.

Frost cake and decorate as you desire.

Simple chocolate cake with chestnut frosting

Get the simple chocolate cake recipe from Joy of Baking

Caramelised red cabbage

I have tried cooking caramelised red cabbage a number of times but was never satisfied with the result until this recipe!

Caramelised Red Cabbage
adapted from No Salty

Ingredients
1 medium head red cabbage
1 apple
100g butter (reduced to 50g + vegetable oil)
50-60gm sugar (adjusted to taste)
50ml balsamic vinegar (adjusted to taste)
2 pinches of cumin seeds
salt & pepper, to taste

Method
1) Thinly slice red cabbage and apple, about 1cm width.
2) Heat a heavy duty sauce pan, melt butter (and vegetable oil), sprinkle in the sugar and stir until sugar dissolved.
3) Sauté cumin seed a bit before adding in red cabbage and apple.
4) Season with salt and pepper and dashes of balsamic vinegar, stir well. Put on the lid and let it braise for 30 mins.
5) After 30 mins. remove lid and let it continue to simmer to thicken the sauce. Check seasoning and it is ready to serve.

Moist Chocolate Cake

MMmmmmm..the taste does live up to the name - moist! The recipe made me 3 small alum. foil trays and I alone finished 3/4 of a tray..help, someone please hide it

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My normal practice whenever baking a cake is reduce the qty. of sugar stated, but somehow for this one I followed to the T and the sweetness was balanced with the after taste of cocoa / coffee...simply perfect!!

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Head over to Pusiva's for the recipe.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

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

Method:

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.