Sunday, January 16, 2011

Chicken Farm Baker's Project # 30 : A Valentine’s Baking Treat for My Sweetheart, Devil food cake with Pink buttercream and Dark chocolate Ganache

Baking for someone is very special (well I mean "baking, itself), the feeling when you thinking about it, and the feeling when you making it, I think they are all important. So, for this month the Chicken farm members have an important project, we have to bake for the Valentine’s Day.

The host of this month (P'Chavee), want all of us to prepare ^^, so we have to think about it before hand.
I have a lot of ideas, well I love to bake and thinking about it make me happy, but when I really think about the people who will use the recipe on their special occasion, I had to revise it. 
For Valentine's day, baking for the one that we love, all I want is happiness, not a complicating recipe and too fussy decoration, I know that all the feeling that we have while making the treat will be packed in it too. I want a recipe that anyone can make it, and yes most of all delicious enough to share with the one that I love.
So after thinking about it for a while, I choose the devil food chocolate cake as a base for my cake, it's very easy to make, you don't have to be afraid about over mixing the batter (the batter is very watery), the cake is packed with a lot of chocolate that's very suitable for the Valentine's day and the last but most important thing is it's very delicious ^^.
For the decoration, I think Swiss meringue buttercream is a great option, because it's very predictable, and you don't need a thermometer like the Italian meringue (it's OK to beat it over the heat  and get it hotter than the recommended temperature, it's very forgivable). The Swiss meringue buttercream is as good as the Italian one and with a bit of shortening in the recipe, you will get the buttercream that's very easy to use and can stay in shape at room temperature.
And the last thing the ganache, it's the tastiest and easiest thing to make ^^, all you have to do is boiling the cream and stir in the chocolate and liqueur, that's all. The decoration for this cake is very easy too (I think I have too much of "easy" in this blog, haha), you just spread the buttercream over the cake, let it firm up for 3-4 hours (because the ganache will be pour over it, and if the buttercream is not firm enough they will mix up) and pour the delicious ganache over the cake. Then keep it refrigerate, but take it out of the fridge about half an hour (or 1 hours depend on your room temperature ^^). And be happy!!
I made these cakes in small cake pans, only 12 cm (about 5 inches), but if you don't have the small pans like me, just use 2-18 cm cake pans and increase a bit of baking time. Or, if you have the same size of pan, I really suggest you do do the same as me, make 1 (3layers) cake for the one that you love, share it with him or her and keep 1 layer cake for yourself to enjoy when you have a daydream ^^.




Devil food cake with Pink buttercream 
and Dark chocolate Ganache
Makes 2 (1 -3layers 12 cm cake and 1 single layer 12cm cake)

Devil Food Chocolate Cake
70g .................................. Unsweetened chocolate
70g .................................. Sour cream
15g .................................. Cocoa powder
1⅛ tsp ........................... Baking soda
170g ............................... Boiling water
112g ................................ Cake flour
¼ tsp ............................. Salt
2 ...................................... Eggs
1¼tsp ............................. Vanilla extract
85g .................................. Unsalted butter (soft)
216g ................................ Dark brown sugar


Swiss Meringue Buttercream
200g ............................... Unsalted butter
50g .................................. Shortening
200g ................................ Sugar
100g ................................ Egg whites
26g .................................. Corn syrup
......................................... A dash of salt
1tsp ............................. Vanilla extract
.........................................Pink food coloring


Kahlúa dark chocolate ganache
50g .................................. Dark chocolate ( 58%)
50g .................................. Whipping cream
1tbsp .............................. Kahlúa (or other brand of coffee-flavored liqueur)

......................................... M&M for decorating
Make the cake:
Preheat the oven  180°C 
Line 4 (12cm) cake pans with baking paper.
Sift together flour and salt together, set aside.
Melt the chocolate by placing the chocolate in the bowl over warm water.
Mix cocoa powder, baking soda and sour cream together, stir to combine, then slowly pour the boiling water and stir until combine, let the mixture cool before making the cake.
Beat the eggs with the vanilla extract.
 When ready, beat the butter and sugar together until light (about 3 minutes), add the melted chocolate, beat until fully combine.
Add the egg, beat to combine.
Using low speed add the flour to the butter in 3 parts, alternating with the liquid mixture. There should not be any lumps or dry pockets of flour remaining.
Divide the batter equally (about 210g/pan), bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes.
Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan.
Let the layers cool before frosting it.
Dailydelicious note: Cake layers are very soft and fragile, be careful when taking them out of the pan.

Make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

 Stir the egg whites, sugar, and corn syrup in a bowl set over simmering water, until the instant read thermometer register 45°C  or about 3-4 minutes (you will see that most of the sugar melted).
Take out of the pan and whip with the hand mixer at high speed for 10 minutes or until the meringue is very thick and glossy.
 Beat the butter and shortening together until soft, add salt and 1/5 of butter into the meringue, beat to combine, then slowly add the rest of the butter (little by little), beat until fully combine, add the vanilla beat to combine.
Add the pink food coloring and beat until fully combine.


Assemble:
Place one cake layer and spread the buttercream over the top of the cake, top with second layers, spread the buutercream again, and top with the last layer. 


Spread the buttercream over the top and side of the cake, and refrigerate until the buttercream firm.


Make the Kahlúa dark chocolate ganache:
Put the whipping cream in a small pan, and place over low heat until boil.
As soon as the cream's boiling, take off the heat and pour the chocolate into the pan, stir until melt, then stir in the Kahlúa.
Pour the ganache over the cake and decorate with M&M, refrigerate until require, but best serve at room temperature and share it with the one that you love (or yourself, ^^).


Chicken Farm Baker's Project # 30 : 
A Valentine’s Baking Treat for My Sweetheart
All I want to say is "I love you"

22 comments:

  1. a divine cake pook! very very lovely!

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  2. what a nice cake! must be so good too. I like the pink frosting :)

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  3. Hi, Jess
    Thank you.

    Hi, Snookey doodle
    Pink is for Valentine's day, right ?^^

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  4. That's one very tall, slim and beautiful cake :) Love the pink! Bet it tastes divine.

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  5. I am already feeling so sweet looking at the cake, AWww....

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  6. Damn pretty looking cake...stunning!

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  7. Oh this is too cute Pook! The choc sponge looks great! Can bear to eat it.

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  8. Pretty cake...so glad to see chocolate cake recipe in your blog. Thanks a bunch for sharing just in time before Valentines. Is the cake still soft after putting in the fridge?

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  9. Hi, Nel
    Yes (haha, I really believe it)
    It's great, I ate a lot while taking the photo.

    Hi, Wendy
    Well, it's the pink effect, ^^.

    Hi, Priya
    Thank you

    Hi, Honey
    Oh! I wish you can.

    Hi, Secret admirer
    This cake will firm up after refrigerate but it will become soft quickly after taking out of the fridge, and BTW I think you will love it ^^.

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  10. hi, can i replace the sour cream with heavy cream or plain yogurt? cos, it is very hard get sour cream from place :(

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  11. Yes, Lee
    I suggest you using the whipping cream with 3/4 tsp of lemon juice, it will be better than using yogurt.

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  12. Pook, Thanks for your response. You never disappoint us. I trust your taste bud.

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  13. I am feeling so lovely and sweet by looking at the cake, cant imagine if I am the receiver!

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  14. this is so lovely..whoever receives the cake will has his heart melted right away!!..easy..easy..everything will be so easy if i can bake like you!!

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  15. These are so cute! I love the shape of your cake and the way you decorated them.

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  16. hi, your cake looks awesome. wanna try baking it for my frens birthday. is it possible to make the cake in advance? as i can only make it during the weekends but i want to give it to my a few days later. thanks!

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  17. Hi, Natnutty
    Yes you can bake it in advance, just bake the cake and let it cool completely and cover with plastic warp and aluminium foil, then freeze it in the freezer.
    Take the cake out of the freezer the day before you want to serve, and decorate it as you wish ^^.

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  18. hi, i made the swiss meringue buttercream, and managed to get the stiff peaks after whipping the egg white portion, but when i added the butter, the mixture became very liquidy... is this normal? is it because the weather is very warm? i put it in the fridge hoping it would set. just wondering if i did anything wrong.
    thanks.

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  19. When adding the butter is it soft but still cool or very soft and melt? If your butter is too hot it can be a problem, or adding the butter into hot meringue can cause the melting (and turn into liquid) too.
    But the mixture should become firm when cool enough, hope your buttercream is alright after refrigerating.

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  20. Hi dailydlicious

    i love your site very much..thanks for sharing all these recipes...

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  21. Hi

    I happened to be on your website and saw the recipe for this cake, I made one for Father's day for hubby....but one thing, the cake batter was watery, was it suppose to be so? and the cake was hard when put in the fridge?

    Phoebii

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  22. Hi, Phoebii
    There is nothing wrong, the batter is watery. And because the cake contain butter, it will be firm in the fridge. You need to place it in the room temperature to make it soften.

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