REAL CHOCOLATE CAKE
This recipe comes from the
superb food magazine 'Cook’s Illustrated', an American publication.
It's not glossy and gorgeous, but serious about food. Dedicated to
excellence, the team of test cooks work nonstop until they come up with
the best recipe: 130 cakes were baked before David Pazmino was satisfied
that this was the perfect old-fashioned American chocolate layer cake.
He sandwich and ices it with an awesome rich, creamy and buttery frosting. But
for afternoon tea in the country, I simply bake it in one deep tin and
quickly glaze it. I also quite like the German indulgence of topping wedge
of chocolate cake with a cloud of softly whipped cream. .
Lazy
Days - contemporary country-style cooking
by Phillippa
Cheifitz (Published by Quivertree Press)
See SHOWCOOK,
Cook's Corner
for more on Lazy Days
100 g dark chocolate, broken
into bits
¼ cup cocoa
½ cup hot water
1 ¾ cup of sugar
1 ¾ cup of flour
1 ½ tsps bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
4 extra-large free-range eggs
2 egg yolks
175 g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Place chocolate, cocoa and hot
water in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, stirring until the
chocolate melts. Add ½ cup sugar and keep stirring for a minute or two
until glossy. Set aside to cool.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of
soda and salt together. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk
the eggs and yolks together. Gradually whisk in the remaining 1 ¼ cups
sugar and beat relentlessly until pale and fluffy. Beat in the cooled
chocolate. Gradually beat in the softened butter a tablespoon at a time,
until thick and creamy.
At low speed beat in the flour
mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the
flour. Fold in the vanilla with a spatula and check to see that all the
flour is properly incorporated.
Turn into a 23 cm springform
cake tin, coated with a nonstick cooking spray and lined with a circle
of baking paper. Bake at 180ºC for 40 minutes or until a tester
inserted comes out clean.
Cool for about 15 minutes before
removing from the tin. Allow to cool to room temperature before glazing.
For the glaze:
100
g dark chocolate and the cream together pour or spread over the cake.
WHITE FRUITCAKE WITH SUGAR CRUST
Lazy
Days - contemporary country-style cooking
by Phillippa
Cheifitz (Published by Quivertree Press)
See SHOWCOOK,
Cook's Corner
for more on Lazy Days
250 g fruitcake mix
2 - 3 tbsps brandy
½ cup sugar cubes
grated rind of 2 large bright
lemons
2 - 3 tbsps melted butter
3 cups flour
4 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
250 g unsalted butter, at room
temperature
2 cups caster sugar
4 free-range eggs
1 cup full cream milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
(Serves 12)
Place the fruit mix in a bowl. Pour over boiling water, then
drain. Cover with brandy and leave to steep while preparing the tin and
making the batter.
Coat a tube cake tin very well with nonstick cooking
spray. Roughly crush the sugar cubes, mix together with the lemon rind
and melted butter and spoon into the bottom of the prepared tin.
Sift
the flour, baking powder and salt together. Using an electric mixer,
cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one
at a time. At a low speed, fold in the sifted flour mixture, alternately
with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in the vanilla
extract. Fold in the brandied fruits by hand. Spoon the batter into the
tin and smooth the top.
Bake at 190ºC, one shelf below the centre, for
about an hour or until a tester inserted comes out clean. Allow to stand
for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. If
the sugar crust sticks to the bottom of the pan, carefully remove it and
pat onto the top of the cake. Or, if you prefer, leave out the sugar
crust altogether and simply dust the plain cake with sifted icing sugar.
DANISH ALMOND CAKE
Based
on the delicious Danish toscakage, similar to Sweden's tosca
kaka - a buttery lemon sponge topped with crunchy almonds - this
cake can be served with coffee or for pudding with thick cream and
seasonal berries.
Sue
Lawrence's Book of Baking
Glorious Breads, Biscuits, Cakes and Tarts (Published by Headline)
See SHOWCOOK,
Cook's Cornerfor
more Sue
Lawrence's Book of Baking
150 g sticks of unsalted butter,
softened
150 g caster sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large free-range eggs
100 g self-raising flour, sifted
Topping:
100 g unsalted butter
100 g granulated sugar
100 g chopped almonds
1 heaped tbsp plain flour, sifted
2 tbsps double cream
(Serves 8 - 10)
Preheat oven to 170ºC and
butter a 24 cm springform cake tin.
Cream together the butter and
sugar with the lemon zest until light and fluffy. Gradually add the
eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the
flour.
Tip into the prepared tin,
smooth the top, and then bake for 20 minutes until firm.
Meanwhile, make the topping:
melt the butter in a small pan, and then stir in the remaining
ingredients. Just before the cake is cooked, bring the topping mixture
to the boil. Remove the cake from the oven, pour the topping over the
cake immediately, smoothing it out. Return to the oven and bake for a
further 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove to a wire rack and leave
for 20 - 30 minutes to cool in the tin before carefully removing the
cake. Serve warm.
SEMOLINA-ORANGE CAKE
The
Ultimate Book of Baking
By Heilie Pienaar (Published
by Human & Rousseau)
Coming soon to SHOWCOOK, Cook's Corner!
250 g
butter or margarine
200 ml (170 g) caster sugar
4 extra-large eggs, separated
5 ml grated orange rind
375 ml (210 g) cake flour
200 ml (130 g) semolina
15 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
200 ml fresh orange juice
60 ml (25 g) almond flakes
Syrup:
80 ml (65 g) sugar
60 ml water
10 ml orange liqueur
Cream
the butter and half of the sugar. Add the egg yolks, one at a time,
beating well after each addition until light and fluffy. Add the orange
rind. Gradually add the remaining sugar and whisk to soft
peak stage.
Syrup:
Combine the sugar and water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 5
minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the
liqueur. Pour over the warm cake.
NEAPOLITAN
DI CAPRESE CAKE
"This
is a classic infallible Italian recipe made simply with almonds, bitter
chocolate and eggs," says Annette Kesler, "enjoyed for the
very first time in Naples."
500 g almonds, ground
200 g bitter chocolate, grated
200 g sugar
200 g butter
5 ml vanilla essence
2 ml almond essence
5 ml ground cinnamon
8 eggs, separated
pinch cream of tartar
sifted icing sugar, to garnish
(Serves 6 - 8 people generously)
Mix almonds and chocolate. Cream
sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add essences and cinnamon. Beat
in egg yolks one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add
almonds and chocolate. Whisk egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar
and continue whisking until stiff. Fold batter into egg whites and mix
through gently. Turn into a 30 cm fluted tart dish or quiche pan, base
lined with non-stick paper and with the sides well brushed or sprayed
with oil.
Bake at 170ºC for 25 minutes or
until tart has risen well and is firm to the touch. Cool before turning
out on a wire rack. Just before serving, dust with sifted sugar.
BERRY TARTS WITH
MASCARPONE
Delectable Food
From Rural France to Urban Cape
By Marlene van der
Westhuizen
See SHOWCOOK,
Cook's Cornerfor
more Delectable Food
From Rural France to Urban Cape
1 roll puff pastry, thawed
125 ml caster sugar
250 g mascarpone
vanilla to taste
berries of choice
125 g double thick cream
(Serves 6)
Mould puff pastry into flan ramekins. Fold the
caster sugar into the mascarpone. Add the vanilla, and fold a handful of
berries - wild strawberries are great! – into the cheese mixture. Put a
dollop in each ramekin, and bake at 180ºC /Gas 4 for around 20 minutes Remove. Add some fresh berries, and serve with a scoop of thick cream.
SPICY
CITRUS CAKE
This is simply the easiest, must-have cake.
It travels wonderfully for picnics and weekends away.
Delectable Food
From Rural France to Urban Cape
By Marlene van der
Westhuizen
See SHOWCOOK,
Cook's Corner
for more Delectable Food
From Rural France to Urban Cape
500 ml self raising flour
175 ml caster sugar
2, 5 ml salt
125 ml sunflower oil
5 eggs, separated
200 ml water
zest of 1 orange
zest of 2 limes
5 ml vanilla bean paste
5 ml powdered cinnamon
10 ml butter
50 ml icing sugar
(Serves 10 with abundance)
Mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the
oil, beaten yolks and cold water, and whisk well. Beat the egg whites
until stiff peaks form, and fold into the batter with the orange zest,
lime zest, vanilla bean paste and cinnamon
Pour the batter into a large, buttered springform
pan and bake at 180ºC/Gas 4 for an hour or until a skewer comes out
clean. Let the cake cool before removing it from the pan. Dust with a
sprinkling of icing sugar.
COCA
COLA CAKE
"This
is an exceptionally moist chocolate cake," says Barbara Newman,
expert baker!
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
250 g butter
1 cup Coca Cola
3 tbsps cocoa
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp bicarbonate
1 tsp vanilla
Grease and flour a tube tin.
Heat oven to 180ºC. Combine flour and sugar in mixer. Heat butter,
cocoa and Coca Cola until boiling. Pour over flour and sugar mixture and
beat for 2 minutes.
In a small bowl mix eggs,
buttermilk, bicarbonate and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat for 1
minute. Batter is thin. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 55-60
minutes. Test with skewer. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes before
turning out onto rack. When cool, ice with the following:
Icing:
125 g butter
3 tbsps Coca Cola
1 ½ tbsps cocoa
½ - ¾ box icing sugar (250 -375g)
Combine butter, cocoa and Coca
Cola in a saucepan and heat to boiling. Stir in sifted icing sugar. Cool
a little then pour over cake. It will thicken as it cools.
POPPY SEED
& YOGHURT CAKE
"A
simple winner with unusual flavours and textures; poppyseed, coconut and
yoghurt," says Barbara Newman.
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil
1 cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
4 tbsp poppy seed
1 cup coconut
250 ml (1cup) plain yoghurt
Beat eggs and sugar
until light
in colour and thick. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a small
loaf tin at 160ºC for 45 minutes. Test. Allow to stand on rack for 5
minutes then remove from tin. Serve sprinkled with icing sugar.
