Posts tagged ‘chocolate’

February 25th, 2012

Chocolate Deliquesce with Cayenne Pepper & Ginger

A gooey, chocolate deliquesce that's truly multidimensional. First you taste the chocolate, then the stem ginger and then arises the sensation of cayenne pepper.

I’ve been wanting to use cayenne pepper in a chocolate dessert for almost two years now. I just never got around to it. It’s obvious to anyone who follows my blog that I think almost anything taste better with ginger, so it’s probably no surprise that I chose stem ginger in syrup to accompany the cayenne. This is truly a multidimensional dessert.

First you taste the chocolate, then the ginger and as you swallow, the sensation of cayenne arises in your palate, slightly warming your tongue. This recipe has a lot more flour than I usually use in a moelleux. A moelleux is slightly less fluid in the center than a fondant but it should always be gooey in the middle with a bit up crunch on the outer top.  As for why I call it a “deliquesce”…

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 cup all purpose, self-rising flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp cayenne (two if you’re brave)

1/2 tsp real vanilla either in powder form or scraped from a pod

6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet bakers chocolate chips

1 1/3 cup melted, unsalted butter -  If you are in the USA, try to use European butter.  It has a higher fat content than American butters and yields a better moelleux.

Large pinch of salt

Stem ginger in syrup

Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F)

NOTE: For the baking time to be equal to mine, it’s important that you make your deliquesce in the same size molds that I used. I used muffin trays of this size

Cut up the stem ginger so that you have about one tsp of ginger per cake (this recipe yields 10 moelleuxs), set aside

Sift flour, cocoa, cayenne, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl

In another bowl, mix the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until smooth and pale. Then add the vanilla.

Fold in 1/3 of the butter and 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time until all of it is incorporated. Mix well with a hand mixer but do not over mix

Fold in the chocolate chips

If you are not using a silicone muffin tray, you will need to grease your muffin tin

Divide the batter evenly among in each cup, careful to fill each cup only half way at first

Spoon 1 tsp of stem ginger in the center of each cup (after you have filled it half-way with the batter). Then spoon about 1/3 (max!) of the ginger syrup on top of the ginger.

Spoon the rest of the batter on top of each of the cups to completely cover the ginger in the center

Put in the oven with the rack slightly below the center of the oven

Bake for precisely 20 minutes. You may bake for only 18 if you want an even softer center but *never bake for more than 20 minutes*

Makes 10 cakes

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July 8th, 2010

Latest Inspired Creation – Chocolate and Basil Cake

A while back ago I ran across a blog article about chocolate and basil truffles from a London chef. The thought of a rich dark chocolate combined with bold, fresh basil immediately piqued my imagination and left me wondering, how to create a chocolate basil cake. When I started this morning, I wasn’t sure how much of each ingredient I would use.

The basil leaves are combined with white chocolate and considering the sweetness of white chocolate, I knew I would use less sugar in the cake.

The fresh basil leafs were blended into a melted white chocolate and cream mixture and then chilled completely.

I improvised, put it in the oven to bake and crossed my fingers. The resulting mix of flavours and level of sweetness are perfect!

The cake turned out so well that it’s on sale to the public at the Bubble T Café in Le Marais! So if you are in Paris and want to try it, make your way to :

……

Bubble-T Café
17 rue Quincampoix
Paris, 75004
……………….
The recipe is below the photos.

Chocolate and Basil Cake

Perfect texture on the outside...

Rich and ultra-moist in the center...

One more pic because it's so good

Recipe: Recipe (adjusted)

Ingredients

  • 200 g dark chocolate 70-85%.
  • 200 g unsweetened butter
  • 150 g white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 rounded tablespoons of flour
  • 200 g white chocolate
  • 20 cl cream (30% fat)
  • 15 g fresh basil leaves (leaves only – weight of stems not included)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 190°C
  2. Melt the dark chocolate with the butter over a bain-marie. Once completely melted remove from heat and whisk to completely combine the butter and chocolate.
  3. Stir in the sugar and mix well.
  4. Allow to cool for 15 minutes
  5. In a large bowl,whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
  6. The mixture will become lumpy, keep whisking.
  7. Add the flour and whisk the mixture until it is no longer lumpy. It should be smooth and glassy.
  8. Pour into non-stick 20 cm round baking dish.
  9. Bake for 23-25 (max!) minutes.
  10. While the cake is baking, melt the white chocolate with the cream over a bain-marie. Do not allow to over-heat! The white chocolate burns easily.
  11. Stir constantly.
  12. Remove from heat and allow to cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  13. After cooled, chop the basil leaves (stems removed).
  14. Mix the white chocolate and basil leaves in the blender until completely blended.
  15. The white chocolate should turn green.
  16. Refrigerate the white chocolate basil mixture again so that it becomes more firm.

This cake should be eaten completely chilled! Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes on the counter and then refrigerate for 2 hours. Refrigerate the white chocolate basil mixture as well. After the cake is chilled, spread the white chocolate basil mixture on top of the cake. Allow to cool some more or eat immediately. Normally this chocolate cake can be eaten warm but with the basil topping it taste best eaten very chilled

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April 26th, 2010

Death by Chocolate

I showed up to my dear friend’s for dinner last night to find that there were indeed four of us for dinner instead of two. The more the merrier! Steve had made desserts so it was no problem that I only took enough for two. He promptly opened his fridge to show me the sugarless mousse au chocolat. He then said, “I also baked a floorless chocolate cake”.

I wasn’t quite sure what he meant. I tried to imagine but,… a chocolate cake without a bottom? Not physically possible unless he’s mastered anti-gravity baking and his cake exist in a two-dimensional world.

Throughout dinner he mentioned this “floorless” chocolate cake a few times so my curiosity peaked. Finally he brought out the casserole dish he had baked it in and I understood. This was Trish Deseine’s almost FLOURLESS chocolate cake!

His French accent is so adorable!

He did a brilliant job at baking it. Another friend, Miss S was dining with  us. Miss S is responsible for the chocolate tastings offered by La Maison du Chocolat in Paris. She has agreed to give me a brief, “How to Taste Chocolate” course. I will be writing about it, no doubt.

By the time Miss S and I  headed out into the night, I noticed something. Death by chocolate is not nearly as uncomfortable when there is almost no flour in the cake or additional sugar in the mousse au chocolat. Here is my adaption of Trish Deseine’s Gâteau au chocolat fondant de Nathalie. recipe:

Required time: about 40 minutes

Ingredients:

200 g un-salted butter

200 g high quality dark chocolate (70 % cacao)

250 g sugar (original recipe calls for 200 g)

4 eggs

3 rounded tablespoon of flour (original recipe calls for just 1 tablespoon. I prefer 3 level tablespoons)

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line an 8-inch (20cm) round cake pan with parchment paper (no need to if you’re using a non-stick pan).

Melt together the butter with the chocolate in a double-boiler. Transfer into a medium mixing-bowl. Add in the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and let cool a little. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Finally, add in the flour and mix well.

Pour the dough into the pan, and put into the oven to bake for 22 to 35 minutes, until the center is set but still a little wobbly. Turn the oven off but leave the cake inside for another ten minutes, then put the pan on a cooling rack on the counter to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and take it out about an hour before serving.

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