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 a very simple no-bake cheesecake.  The base is made of crushed biscuits – you can use digestive biscuit, oreo, cream cracker, marie etc.   Melted butter is added to bind the crush biscuit and then baked to make it crispier.  This strawberry cheesecake to me, taste more like a mousse.  It is light and the taste of cheese is not too overwhelming.  Pleasant taste.

The recipe :

For the base, I use my food processor to crush the biscuits.  Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue mixing till all is mixed well.  Oil a 7 inch loose-bottomed cake tin.  Pour the biscuit and using the bottom of a glass, press the base to get an even thickness.   Bake at 160C for about 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let it cool down, before pouring in the filling.

To make the filling, in a food processor again, crush the strawberries together with the orange zest and juice.   In a double-boil bowl, sprinkle the gelatine over the water.  Leave for 5 minutes then double-boil to dissolve the gelatine (turn it into liquid).  In the mixer, beat the cream cheese with the sugar, essence, yogurt and cream.  Then add the mashed strawberries.  Pour the dissolved gelatine into the cream mixture and keep stirring.

Whisk the egg white into soft peaks.  Fold into the cream mixture.  You will end up with quite a runny filling, but do not despair, it will firm up.  Wrap the outer layer of the cake tin with aluminum foil.  Pour the filling onto the biscuit base and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  I left mine overnight and the next morning, it is ready to be served.  Decorate with the strawberries and whip cream, if you wish.

If you have extra strawberries,  keep them frozen in the freezer section.   Other than dessert, I usually make Pink lemonade – Lemon and strawberry juice, for the family.  It is hard to find sweet strawberries in Malaysia, so turning them into dessert and juice is another alternative than eating them fresh .