Happy Birthday Dad!

Its my dad's birthday together and since I can't spend it with him personally, I'm taking the opportunity to wish him "Happy Birthday" with this cake that I made for him. Like me, my dad has a sweet tooth. (Unlike me, though, my dad has, for most of his life, been blessed with an amazing metabolism which means that it takes a quite a lot for him to put on any weight.) As such, I'm sure he would love this cake which is made of dark chocolate cake layers, a decadent white chocolate filling and then glazed with a generous layer of thinned dark chocolate ganache. Appropriately, the cake is called Blanc et Noir.

Although the cake has quite a few components to it, it is a relatively easy cake to make. The trickiest parts are handling the cake layers as they tend to be very moist and delicate, and getting the glaze to go on smoothly. Unfortunately, although I managed to cover the whole cake, I had a few small air bubbles on the surface of my glaze which though not fatal, does slightly mar the appearance of the cake. This is somewhat made up for by the marbling effect that is created with the white chocolate on the dark glaze - an easy technique that produces impressive looking results.

Since I can't share the cake with you, Dad, in person today, I'll make this for you another time. Hopefully, it'll turn out perfect. In the meantime, M and I have been enjoying this incredibly rich cake all of today.

Happy birthday again, Dad! I hope you're having a great day.


Blanc et Noir
From Pure Chocolate

White-chocolate ganache filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz white chocolate, finely chopped

Noir cake layers:
8 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
Dark-chocolate ganache glaze

White chocolate for writing:
2 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tsp vegetable oil

to make the filling
In a saucepan, heat the cream over medium-high heat just until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and add the white chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is smooth and melted. Pour into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let the ganache set up at least 12 hours or overnight at room temperature.

to make the cake
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 300F.

Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch quarter sheet pan and line with parchment paper. Then lightly butter the parchment paper.

In a double boiler melt the chocolate over low heat. Remove the boiler top when the chocolate is nearly melted and continue stirring until completely smooth. Add the softened butter in 3 parts, stirring until no visible traces of butter remain. (If the butter begins to melt and separate, stop and allow the chocolate more time to cool.) The finished mixture should be glossy and smooth. Set aside to cool until the mixture is the consistency of softened butter. Briefly return to the double boiler if it begins to thicken too much.

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks with half the sugar at medium-high speed, increasing to high speed until pale yellow and tripled in volume, 5 to 6 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. With a rubber spatula fold in the melted chocolate mixture. The mixture should be smooth and glossy.

Clean the whisk and in another clean bowl begin whipping the egg whites on medium-high speed, increasing the speed and allowing them to become quite frothy. Slowly add the remaining sugar and continue whipping until the peaks are stiff and creamy.

Lighten the chocolate mixture by quickly folding in a quarter of the whites until smooth and no traces of white remain. Then gently fold in the remaining whites in 3 parts, trying not to overmix and lose the volume. Evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan. The pan will be two-thirds full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The cake will rise above the edges of the pan, and a light crust will form on top. A cake tester inserted in the center will have a few moist crumbs.

Let the cake cool in the pan at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then chill until thoroughly cold, 4 hours or overnight. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap if chilling for longer than 4 hours. (The layer can be wrapped in plastic once cooled and placed in freezer up to a week prior to assembly.)

to assemble the cake
Have ready the white-chocolate ganache filling.

To remove the well-chilled cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the edges. Place the bottom of a baking sheet over the cake and invert. Remove the parchment paper.

Place the filling in a mixing bowl. It should be the consistency of softened butter. (If not thick enough, stir and let sit longer to thicken.) With a whisk attachment or using a hand-mixer, mix on high speed until the ganache is lighter in colour and texture and soft peaks form, 2 to 4 minutes. Stop several times and scrape down the side of the bowl.

Using a ruler and the tip of a paring knife, mark the cake in thirds across its width. Cut the cake with a serrated blade into 3 approximately 4-inch-wide sections.

Place one chilled layer of the cake on the serving plate or on a 4-by-8-inch cardboard cake board. With a metal spatula, spread half of the white ganache filling on the layer. Top with the second chilled cake layer and spread with the remaining filling. Top with the last chilled cake layer.

Using a thin-bladed knife, trim the sides of the cake. Let set in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.

to finish the cake
Make the dark-chocolate ganache glaze.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the glaze into a small bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill for approximately 25 minutes. Set aside the remaining ganache to cool about 30 minutes, gently stirring occasionally until it thickens and ribbons off the end of the spatula, 80-85F.

Meanwhile, make white chocolate for writing.

to make writing chocolate
In a small bowl over simmering water, melt the chocolate. Remove from the heat, add the vegetable oil, and stir with a spatula until smooth. Set aside.

With an offset spatula, thinly coat the top and sides of the finished cake with the 1/4 cup chilled ganache glaze. Transfer to a cooling or pouring rack positioned over a rimmed baking sheet.

Slowly and evenly pour the rest of the glaze around the sides of the cake, being careful to cover all the corners. Then pour the remaining glaze down the center using a metal spatula to spread the glaze evenly over the top, letting the excess run down the sides. Before glaze sets, decorate.

Pour the writing chocolate into a small parchment paper cone. Pipe 3 thin white parallel lines, 1/4 inch apart, lengthwise, down the center of the cake over the soft glaze. Working quickly, with a toothpick draw small figure eights crosswise through the ganache and white stripes all along the cake's length.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours to set. Remove half an hour before serving. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

serves 12 to 18

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I know, I know. Its still a little while before Christmas gets here but its starting to look like Christmas in my kitchen. Just a couple of nights ago, inspired by this blog and my recent exploits in cookie decoration, I decided to make a cookie Christmas tree.

The tree is really simple to make - all you really need are 5 0r 6 star-shaped cookie cutters in varying sizes, a good sugar or gingerbread cookie recipe and some royal icing to decorate the tree with - but yet, when assembled, I think it looks like it took a little more effort. I also think it makes a cute gift which is why this is also my entry for A Spoonful of Christmas, a blog event showcasing all types of food gifts for Christmas. So if you're looking for ideas on what to bring to that holiday party you've been invited to, why not bring a cookie Christmas tree?


Cookie Christmas Tree

Sugar cookie recipe from Pretty Party Cakes

200g unsalted soft butter
200g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
400g plain flour, plus more for dusting
1 vanilla pod

In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar and seeds from the split vanilla pod until well mixed and just creamy in texture. Do not overwork, or the cookies will spread during baking.

Beat in the eggs until well combined. Add the flour and mix on low speed until a dough forms. Gather into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour.

Place the dough on a floured surface and knead briefly. Using two 1/4 inch guide sticks, roll out to an even thickness.

Cut out 2 cookies using each of the different sized cookie cutters (i.e., if you have 5 different sized star shaped cookies, you should have 10 cut cookies). Place them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Chill again for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on size, until golden-brown on the edges. Let cool on a wire rack.

When cool, decorate cookies as desired with royal icing. Leave to dry.

To assemble the tree, start with your largest sized cookie as the base. Then layer on the second cookie of the same size but offset the tips of the star so that they appear in between the tips of the star below. Glue together using a dollop of icing. Repeat with the second largest set of cookies and so on until you reach the smallest set of cookies you have. For this set, layer on one of the cookies onto the tree as before but this time, use the second cookie for the tree top decoration.

Fondants aux Pommes

Its time again for Sugar High Fridays, and this time, SHF #36 is hosted by Spittoon Extra with a theme of Drunken Apples. As you may surmise then, in order to participate, one needs to find a recipe that pairs apples with alcohol.

When I first read the theme, my mind instinctively thought to make something French since I often come across French recipes that combine apples with Calvados, an apple brandy from Lower Normandy. So I reached into my bookshelf for my copy of Paris Sweets and started searching for a recipe. It wasn't long before I found the recipe for Soft Apple Cakes, or Fondants aux Pommes - doesn't it sound so much more poetic in French? The alcohol used for this recipe, however, is rum not Calvados as it is the raisins, which also go into the apple cakes, that are soaked in the alcohol.

As Dorie Greenspan promises in her introduction to these treats, which originate from the famed Boulangerie Kayser, the cake in this recipe is incredibly soft and creamy. Not at all like the texture of a muffin even though this is the type of tray in which they are baked in. Combined with the sweetness of the apples and the slight kick from the rum, it makes for an irresistible snack. Bet you can't stop at just one!

PS: Special credit goes to M for helping me with flambe-ing the raisins. Something I didn't dare do on my own!


Fondants aux Pommes

From Paris Sweets

60g moist, plump raisins
30g dark rum
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 to 4 large apples, peeled and cored
105g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp double-acting baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
100g sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Soak the raisins in hot water for about 4 minutes, until they are puffed. Drain, drop them into a small saucepan, and, stirring constantly, warm them over low heat until they are very hot. Remove the pan from the heat, pour the rum over the raisins, and, standing back, ignite the rum with a match. Swirl the pan until the flame goes out.

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325F. Line 20 muffin molds with cupcake liners.

Put the lemon juice in a large bowl. Cut each apple in half from top to bottom, cut each half into 1/4 inch slices, and then cut the slices crosswise in half. Toss the slices in the bowl with the lemon juice.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Put the eggs and sugar in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed until the eggs are pale and voluminous, about 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Switch to a large rubber spatula and stir a couple of spoonfuls of the batter into the melted butter. Working gently, fold the flour into the remaining batter, followed by the melted butter, apples and raisins.

Spoon the batter into the lined muffin tins, filling each mold just about to the top, and slip the tins into the oven. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, rotating the tins top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking; the cakes are done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the tins to a rack and wait for 5 minutes before gently lifting the cakes, in their papers, from them. Allow the cakes to cool to tepid or room temperature before serving.

Makes 20 little cakes

Back to making savoury food

It seems that my last few posts have all been dessert related so I thought it was high time that I posted a savoury recipe instead lest you readers begin to think that I subsist slowly on sweets (although, frankly, if health wasn't an issue, I would). But that's a discussion for another time.

Ever since I got back from Toronto, I've been on an Asian food kick. I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that I had lots of my mom's wonderful home cooking while I was there. So, I've been trying out a few new recipes to broaden my Asian food repertoire.

One of the latest to grace our table is Kung Pao Shrimp. As Kung Pao <insert your favourite meat here> appears on many a Chinese menu in the west, some people seem to think that this dish is a western invention that doesn't exist in China. In reality, it does. Kung Pao chicken is a classic Sichuan dish which originated in the province of the same name. The dish is actually named after a late Qing dynasty official who served as the governor of Sichuan. The words Kung Pao actually originated from his title (Gong Bao) which translates as palatial guardian. There are differences, however, between the western and traditional Sichuan versions, the biggest of which is the use of Sichuan peppercorns in the latter which help to give the dish its distinctive hot, numbing flavour. If you can't take spicy food, lighten up on the peppercorns.

Kung Pao Shrimp
From Xi Yan

900g fresh medium seawater shrimps
salt
20 dried chillies (sectioned)
ground Sichuan peppercorn
oil

For the sauce:
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp sesame oil

1. Wash shrimps then shell them leaving the tails intact. Cut along the back and de-vein. Wipe dry then mix with salt and leave to marinate for 1/2 hour.

2. Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and test taste to suit.

3. Heat oil in wok. Add shrimps and deep fry until they are 70% done, start to curl and turn red. Strain and set aside.

4. Wash the wok and wipe dry. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add dried chillies and stir fry until they are slightly burnt. Add shrimps to wok and stir fry. Pour sauce onto shrimps and cook until it thickens slightly. Add ground Sichuan peppercorn and stir well.

Dressing up cupcakes

As previously mentioned, while in Toronto, I managed to squeeze in a class on decorating cupcakes at Bonnie Gordon Cakes. For those of you who haven't heard of Bonnie Gordon, she is the genius behind all the wonderful creations featured on the Heather Locklear movie, The Perfect Man. (You can check out pictures of her creations by clicking on the link above)

Having thoroughly enjoyed the Designer Cookie class that I took with several days prior, I was very much looking forward to this particular class. In addition, since I had scheduled a private session, I was relishing the chance to ask all the stupid questions that I had about decorating that I didn't quite want to voice in front of other people.

My teacher this time was a lovely lady named Sarah who spent about 7 years as a pastry chef at a restaurant before deciding to move into cake decorating and chocolate making. She is the person responsible for all the lovely creations featured in the photo at the beginning of this post and below. (Sorry to disappoint those of you who thought I might have been the one who made these lovely cupcakes!)

During our two and a half hour class we covered the basics of decorating cupcakes such as the right buttercream consistency for cupcakes (used to create even mounds on top of cupcakes before layering on the fondant), creating thumb roses and ribbon roses from 50/50 (a 50-50 mix of fondant and gum paste), using cutters, embossers and veiners to create decorations for cupcakes, etc. We also spent time talking about the endless possibilities for coloring the decorations such as using gel pastes, lustre dusts and petal dusts. Before this session, I had no idea the sheer amount of tools that existed to aid in making baked goods look pretty. One can easily spend thousands, and I really mean thousands, on this equipment. Don't believe me? Just go to Yahoo or Google and search for cake decorating or sugarcraft equipment to see for yourself.

In the short time allocated for the class, it was hard to complete many of the more intricate designs that Sarah had done in advance since many of the decorations you see take about 24 hours to fully dry. Still, I was able to create some simple roses, bows and butterflies to make my own cupcakes. (see smaller pictures directly below) I know I've got a long way to go, but hey, you have to start somewhere! In any case, for those of you who are interested in cupcake decorating, I've reproduced the perfect buttercream recipe below. Enjoy!

Perfect Buttercream

1 cup sugar
5 pasteurized egg whites
2 cups butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla

Warm egg whites and sugar, whisking continuously over a pot of simmering water. When sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot, whip meringue in a bowl of an electric mixer until cooled, thick and tripled in volume. Add butter in chunks mixing continuously. When butter if fully incorporated and the buttercream has a smooth silky look, whisk in any desired flavourings.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe buttercream on tops of cooled cupcakes.