BAKING PROJECT

I was leafing through my favourite cookbook, “Classic Home Desserts” by Richard Sax (thank you !)  trying to look for a recipe with chocolates.   Found the recipe “Chocolate cloud cake” and since it sounds simple to prepare, no flour (means no measuring and no sieving),  I thought I’ll give it a shot.  One thing I don’t like about flourless cake is the way the cake turns out, it breaks my heart to see it shrink.  But nevertheless, my hubby always say that taste is more important than looks.  And judging from the ingredients, I am sure this cake will taste heavenly.   The chocolate that I used for this recipe is a Dark Couverture, bought from the shop next  to Tesco Ampang.

Here’s the recipe. I didn’t add the cognac and for the sugar, I only use 3/4 cup (my daughter still complains the cake is too sweet).

Method

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C.  You will need a 8 inch springform pan to make this cake, line the bottom with a parchment or baking sheet.  Do not butter the sides of the pan.  Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, stirring occasionally.    Remove from the heat and add the butter, stir till the butter is melted.  Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the 2 whole eggs and the 4 egg yolks, just slightly.  Add half of the sugar and continue beating. Then add the chocolate mixture, optional cognac and orange zest.  You might be tempted to dig your finger in the mixture and start licking, but control yourself .

Using a mixer, beat the 4 egg whites until foamy and gradually pour in the remaining sugar.  Beat till it is at the soft peak stage.  Stir in 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to try to lighten it.   Then fold in the remaining whites.

Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes or until the center is not wobbly, do not overbake.   Mine turns out nice and as expected, once cooled it will sink leaving a crater-like cake.  Use a knife to loosen the sides of the cake and remove from pan.  Top with the whipped cream.

You can prepare the whipped cream earlier and keep it in the fridge, or prepare just before serving.  Add all the ingredients and beat till it is not so stiff.  Pipe or just spoon on the cake, dust with some cocoa powder and decorate as you wish.

Because I am addicted to chocolate, I love, love, love this cake and everyone in the house likes it too.. the book claims that it serves 8 to 12 but I doubt it.  I made it for dinner yesterday and the cake is gone by lunch today   and there’s only 3 of us in the house.

This is another quick meal you can prepare, provided you have ready-rolled puff pastry in the freezer.  Thaw the frozen pastry about 1 hour before using.   The topping variety is endless, here I am using a can of tuna, fried with onions and eggs.

The ingredients:

Peel the puff pastry, lay it down and let it thaw at room temperature.  Here I have to cut off the edges since the ends were cracking as it has been sitting in my freezer not properly wrapped.

Prepare the tuna topping.  Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil in the frying pan and stir in the chili paste.  Stir for about a minute then add the  the onion, garlic and red chili slices.  Sauteed for a while and then  add the tuna.  Break it into small pieces , keep stirring and lastly add the oyster sauce.  Season with salt.  Mix well and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 190C.  Lay one sheet of puff pastry and brush the whole sheet with beaten egg.  Lay a second layer on top of the first and glaze it with the beaten agg also.  For the third layer, cut the sheet into the shape below, leaving about a 1 inch border.  Glue it to the 2nd layer of puff pastry.

Prick the base with a fork.  Bake empty (without any topping)  for about 20 minutes or till it is golden and puffy.

It should look like this.

Remove the pastry case from the oven.  I sprinkle some mayo and tomato sauce on the base then top with the tuna.  Make  small indentations and break the eggs into them.    Bake for another 10 or 15 minutes.   Garnish with the chopped parsley.

You can find ready-rolled puff pastry in supermarkets like Cold Storage.  Or be creative and use other types of pastry such as paratha, tortilla wraps etc.  Of course you cant beat homemade but sometimes in our busy lifes,  it is nice to be able to whip up a great looking and tasty meal in a short time.

Happy new year 2012 to all the readers out there -

Keep the smile, leave the tear,
Think of joy, forget the fear,
Hold the laugh, leave the pain,
Be joyous , coz its new year!