chocolate sauce

this chocolate sauce is handy because it stays liquid at room temperature, any lower and it will set a bit.  Do keep refrigerated though when not using it.  Warm it in the microwave for few seconds to reheat.

• 325g water
• 140g sugar
• 60g honey
• 55g cocoa
• 225g melted chocolate

• Make a syrup with the water, sugar and honey.
• Put the cocoa in a large bowl, slowly add some the warm syrup to the cocoa while whisking, next whisk in some of the melted chocolate.  Continue in this manner.
• If you get lumps in the mixture, blitz with a blender or failing that, sieve.

Cake tin and cooking times rough guide for christmas cake

Size in inches            Total cooking times estimate
4                                       2hours
5                                       2 1/2hours
6                                       3hours
7                                       3 1/2 hours
8                                       4 hours
9                                        4 1/2 hours
10                                       5 hours

This is for recipe and oven temperatures given below

Christmas cake

This is a light fruit cake.  You can make it your own by substituting ingredients for example if you don't like cherries add golden sultanas or soak fruit in lemon or orange juice.

This recipe makes 1 x 9inch deep filled cake, adjust measurements and cooking times as necessary

A.
1350g sultanas
100g cherries
100g mixed peel
160g prune juice (or orange juice)

B.
450g butter
8 eggs
450g soft brown sugar
2 table spoons honey

C.
450g self raising flour
2 heaped teaspoons spice of choice (eg cinnamon and nutmeg)
100g ground almonds
200g nibbed almonds

Method:

• Prepare tins by lining with grease proof and if you have it double line with brown paper (the grease proof on the inside) this helps prevent burning of the outer edges.
• Preheat oven to 200C
• Soak ingredients A in the prune juice overnight, mix well.
• Cream ingredients B-the butter, sugar and honey, add eggs gradually ( use some of the flour if the mixture starts cracking)
• Stir in ingredients C into the butter mixture, then follow by the soaked fruit of which any excess juice has been drained. 
• Spoon into the prepared tins, leaving a little dip in the centre (to allow for the cake rising)
• Put in the oven at 200C for 25 minutes after which reduce the oven temperature to 140C and cover with a double sheet of brown paper or a silpat (to prevent the top colouring too much) and cook for 2 hours
• After cook a further two hours at 120C (with brown paper still on top)
• Remove from oven and allow cool totally,brush with apricot jam and cover with marzipan, decorate with roll out icing or royal icing.

Santa face Christmas cake-one of two designs I made this year

Christmas cake design 2. marzipan fruit

I made these marzipan fruit with three supermarket liquid colours blue  (blue mixed with yellow is green), yellow and red.  The 'stalks' are  whole cloves cloves.  Use a small paint brush reserved for pastry work for painting on extra effects.  Add lemon extract to the lemon and orange extract to the orange if desired.

Chocolate Mousse Cake (white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse)

For this cake you will need to make a parfait base to which is added cream and chocolate, you can whisk the cream in advance and leave in the fridge and the chocolate you can melt while the parfait is thickening in the mixer.

The sponge base is given here, follow the instructions as per sponge given on this blog

This recipe is enough for two 12 inch cake, it is difficult to make less as this would require using a hand held whisk and this is time consuming.  If you have mousse over, it can be frozen or used as a dessert on its own.


Sponge:
12 eggs
200g self raising flour
50g cocoa
335g sugar

• whisk eggs and sugar to ribbon stage
• fold in the cocoa and flour
• Pour into prepared tins
• cook at 170C for approx 25 mins

Parfait base:

• 150g yolks
• 250ml syrup (150g sugar, 100ml water)

• Whisk the yolks in electric mixer at high speed
• meanwhile bring to the boil the sugar and water

• Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium low 
• Allow any bubbles to subside in the syrup mixture and then begin to Pour down the side of the bowl (do not allow the syrup to hit the whisk-see Italian Meringue on this blog for more information)

Parfait base

Once all the syrup is poured, increase the speed to maximum until the eggs are thick and  creamy.  Divide mixture into 225g and 125g

Dark Chocolate Mousse

• 225g parfait base
• 500g dark chocolate
• 750ml cream, whipped

White Chocolate mousse

• 125g parfait base
• 500g white chocolate
• 600ml cream, whipped

Note:
It is important not to over whisk the cream or you'll get lumps in the mousse
If your chocolate is very hot you'll need to whisk in a little cream into it first before you start mixing it with the parfait or you risk the mixture becoming lumpy (this is especially true of the white chocolate) but on the other hand-add too much cream to the chocolate and it'll solidify so add only a little if your chocolate is very warm or else wait for it to cool.

cream consistency

• Fold the chocolate into the parfait base, then fold in the whipped cream (pictured below).

• Scoop into piping bags

Assembly:

• Slice the sponges in 3 using a serrated knife.
• Line a cake ring with acetate or parchment
• place one layer on the bottom and top with chocolate mousse

chocolate mousse on top of sponge base

• Place a layer of cake on top
• Top with the white mousse
• Place a layer of cake on top
• Refrigerate for few hours or freeze

Decoration

Cover with Ganache or Chocolate decoration

finished cake  covered with ganche and decorated with chocolate work, gold leaf and macarons

Covering with Ganache

Place cake on cake rack over a clean tray or clean parchment

Warm the ganache gently in the microwave, stopping the microwave and stirring every 20 seconds or so until liquid ( don't over heat)

Pour the ganache over the cake and smooth surface with plate knife or the back of a large bread knife in one fluid movement to ensure the sides are covered.

Place in the fridge for a few minutes to set the ganache then remove from the rack and place on plate or cake board.

Decorate  as desired 

The ganache under the rack can be gathered up and reused.

Posts to Come

I haven't posted since September for so many reasons-been away, camera phone broke, lack of time etc.  but I have made many desserts since then, and I will post them eventually, not will all have photos unfortunately and some will be without photos for a little while (I borrowed a camera and haven't yet put the pictures on my computer).

Anyway, I'll be posting in the next few weeks (or so)

Pumpkin cheese cake
Gingerbread
Chocolate Cheesecake
Christmas Cake
Macarons
Lemon Meringue pie
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Chocolate Work
Chocolate Sauce
Mincepies and mincemeat

Bakery

It will be two years this year since we closed our bakery's doors forever.  Here are some of the cakes from our Summer range

Mille feuille, profiterole, strawberry tart, black forest, strawberry mille feuille, death by chocolate gluten free, lemon meringue pie, opera, Paris Brest, white and dark chocolate mousse, blueberry tart, bread and butter pudding. Top:chocolates and fudge

Buttercream (with Italian Meringue)

Sorry no Pictures (lost them with my phone!)



Stage 1: Buttercream
60g water (approx or enough just to cover the sugar)
140g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
190g unsalted butter, at room temperature
extract of choice

Stage 2: Italian Meringue
2 whites (60g)
120g caster sugar
50g water (approx or enough just to cover the sugar)



Stage 1: Buttercream
put the caster sugar in a small pot with the water.  Stir and brush down the sides with a clean finger or clean pastry brush to remove any sugar from the sides of the pan (any sugar on the side will crystallise during the cooking and can cause the rest of the sugar to crystallise)

Put over a medium high heat. Monitor with a thermometer (when taking the temperature, take in the centre of the mixture and ensure the tip is not touching the pot's base (the metal of the base will be hotter than the sugar mix so you'll get a higher and inaccurate reading)

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks until thick.

When the sugar mixture reaches 121C remove from heat and allow the bubbles to subside off the heat

Once the bubbles have subsided (almost immediately for this small recipe but may take a few minutes for larger quantities of sugar), pour the sugar down the side of the bowl containing the egg yolks while whisking the yolks on medium speed.  It is vital that you do not let the sugar to hit the whisk on its way down- this will just spin the sugar around the bowl and not into the yolks-and you'll end up with a runny mixture with hard sugar pieces in it).

Continue whisking until the mixture has cooled completely.  There will be a sugar trail on the side of the bowl-don't scrape this into the mixture or you'll have hard pieces in the mix, just leave it.

On medium speed start to incorporate the butter, continue to add the butter slowly until all has been incorporated.  Add any extract or colour of choice.

You can use the buttercream as is or you can incorporate Italian meringue (stage 2 of the recipe) for a lighter buttercream.

Stage 2:
Italian meringue

the basic rule of thumb is double the sugar to your whites for meringue.  So weigh the whites you had left over from the buttercream and multiply by two to get the amount of sugar you should use, if using large eggs, you will probably have 60g or so of whites.


put the caster sugar in a small pot with the water. Stir and brush down the sides with a clean finger or clean pastry brush to remove any sugar from the sides of the pan (any sugar on the side will crystallise during the cooking and can cause the rest of the sugar to crystallise).  Continue to do this during the cooking process as necessary.

Put over a medium high heat. Monitor with a thermometer (again when taking the temperature, take in the centre of the mixture and ensure the tip is not touching the pot's base (the metal of the base will be hotter than the sugar mix so you'll get a higher and inaccurate reading)

When the temperature measures about 105C start whisking the whites to firm.

When the sugar mixture reaches 121C remove from heat and allow the bubbles to subside off the heat

Once the bubbles have subsided (almost immediately for this small recipe but may take a few minutes for larger quantities of sugar), pour the sugar down the side of the bowl containing the whites while whisking on medium speed. Again, it is vital that you do not let the sugar to hit the whisk on its way down- this will just spin the sugar around the bowl and not into the whites-and you'll end up with a runny mixture with hard sugar pieces in it).

Continue whisking on medium speed until the mixture has cooled completely. You must let it cool completely before you finish whisking or the meringue will break down.  There will be a sugar trail on the side of the bowl-don't scrape this into the mixture or you'll have hard pieces in the mix, just leave it.
Fold all or some of the Italian meringue into the buttercream.  Colour if desired.