Awfully Chocolate Cake

I modified Yochana's Cake Delight - Awfully Chocolate Banana Cake and removed the banana part as hubby doesn't like banana. The cake didn't came out as successful as I thought. Coz I didn't wait for the spongecake to cool down and i put in the mousse between the layers, which melted into the spongecake. And i put in too little mousse : ( I think I just have to practise a few more times, it should be fine !!

Chocolate Sponge cake:
3 nos. Extra Large egg yolks of about 90 gm. each (or use 4 medium eggs of about 60 gm. each)
100 gm. castor sugar
120 gm. Self Raising flour
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
50 gm. Corn oil
1 teasp. vanilla essence

3 1/2 X.Large egg white (or use 4 1/2 medium eggs)
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
60 gm. castor sugar

30 gm. cocoa powder + 120 gm. of hot water - stir till smooth

Method:

(1) Mix egg yolks, sugar, oil, SR flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon.
(2) Add in cocoa mixture and stir together till smooth.
(3) Beat egg white with cream of tartar for 2 mins, then pour in sugar gradually till egg white becomes fluffy but not too stiff.
(4) Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Do not overmix otherwise the egg white will be deflated and the cake will sink. If you feel that you are mixing too long and can still see traces of egg white it means that you have overbeat your egg white. Stop mixing anymore, don't worry about the egg white traces, just pour into a 9" round cake tin and bake.
(5) Bake at 175C for about 50 mins. or till cooked.
(6) Cool the cake on wire rack and then slice into 3 layers.

Chocolate mousse:

250 gm. Non-Dairy Whip Cream
150 gm. Dairy whip cream
1 tsp. Vanilla essence
1 level Tablespoon of Gelatine powder - mix together with- 4 Tbsp. water and microwave for 20 secs
50 gm. Cocoa powder ) mix together
80 gm. icing sugar )
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Nescafe )
1 1/2 Tablespoon of hot water ) mix together
1 Tablespoon "Kahlua" or "Tia Maria" coffee liquer


Method for the mousse:

(1) Beat the two whip cream separately.
(2) Mix all the ingredients together.
(3) Spread 1/3 of the mousse on the first layer of sponge cake, lay the slice bananas on top and then top up with another layer or sponge, continue till the last layer of sponge is used up.
(4) Cover the whole cake with the balance mousse and keep in the refrigerator till the mousse sets.

Coating for the cake:

35 gm. cocoa powder
50 gm. sugar
150 gm. Dairy whipping cream
80 gm. chocolate - chopped
30 gm. Butter

(1) Put into a mixing bowl and double boil till mixture thickens. Cool before pouring onto cake.

(2) Pour the coating onto the cake and let the chocolate mixture flows down the side smoothly.
(3) Decorate the cake and put into the frige till coating sets.
(4) Slice with a warm knife and serve.

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Baked New York Cheese Cake

I have another attempt on cheese cake. Back to New York Cheesecake again. Couldn't accept my failure in Chicago cheesecake .. so here I go again . I modified my earlier recipe of New York Cheesecake and created my own one! Got very good review from hubby and colleagues for this cheesecake .. YIPPY!! Success !!!

Crust:

Ingredients:
100g graham crackers
56g melted butter
1 tbsp sugar

Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients and press them onto a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Pre heat the oven at 170 DC.
3. Bake for 8 - 10 min.

Cheesecake:

Ingredients:
2 8oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 175degreeC. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and milk. Then add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the sour cream lastly and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50minutes in a water bath. Switch off the oven and let it rest inside for 1/2 hour before placing it in the fridge. Chill overnight.

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Sweetcorn Bread

Well, since young I love sweetcorn bread. Still remember dad or mum would buy it from Gardens at Geylang East. Miss eating it for quite sometimes. So thought that it wasn't a bad idea for me to try making one myself .... Recipe is from Baking Mum

Ingredients
(A)
300 gm bread flour
3 tbsp custard powder
60 gm castor sugar
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp instant yeast

(B)
140 ml chilled fresh milk
1 egg

(C)
25 gm shortening

(D)
100 gm whole kernels of sweetcorn (canned, drained)

For glazing
1 egg (beaten)

Method

1. Combine (A) in a mixer. Add in (B) and mix into a dough. Add in (C) and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic to the touch. Lastly add in (D) and mix well.

2. Keep dough in a big bowl and let it proof, covered with a damp cloth or with clingwrap for 30 mins or till dough rises to double.

3. Divide risen dough into four equal portions and shape into balls. (For me I do it differently because I wanted to use a different moulds.) Leave two portion into a well greased mould. Leave it to proof for 40 mins.

4. Brush with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 20-25 mins. Remove hot bread from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool immediately.

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Chicago Cheesecake

I did said I was going to try making cheesecake again right? mm ... This time round , I tried making Chicago Cheesecake. The recipe was said to taste like the one from Coffeebean. I certainly hope so as that is my favourite cheesecake in Singapore. But I kinda combined some recipes as this recipe does not include the crust.


Crust:

* Recipe taken from caketree.sg

* Method taken from About.com

Ingredients:

100g graham crackers
56g melted butter
1 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients and press them onto a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Pre heat the oven at 170 DC.

3. Bake for 8 - 10 min.

Cheesecake:
Makes 1 7-inch round cake

Ingredients:

(A)
- 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 lemon rind
- 4 tbsp/ 60ml milk

(B) Sift
- 40g all purpose flour
- 40g cornflour

(C) Whisk
- 4 egg whites
- 150g castor sugar

(Tip: Eggs are easier to be separated when it's fridge cold but are easier to whisk & beat when at room temperature. So separate the eggs first and allow to come to room's temperature.)

Method:

1) Beat the cream cheese till smooth & creamy with an electric mixer. Add egg yolk, 1 at a time and beat till well incorporated. Add the lemon rind and mix well. Slowly stir in the milk last. Mix well.

(Tip: If cheese is cold, the batter will be lumpy. So remove the cream cheese from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.)

2) Fold in the flour mixture (B) in 2 additions. Mix well and set aside.

3) In a grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites till frothy. Add in sugar gradually and continue whisking till white & glossy.

(Tip: For proper whisking of egg whites, make sure that the bowl & whisk is free from grease & egg yolks. And ask your hubby to help u whisk. He should be an expert coz he will be more muscular than you !! )

4) Fold in the whipped egg white into the cream mixture, half at a time, till well mixed.

5) Pour batter into a lightly-greased 7-inch cake tin with a removeable base (eg springform tin) so that the cake can be easily removed when it's cooled.

6) 'Waterproof' the tin with aluminium foil as the cheesecake requires baking in a water-bath. Wrap aluminium foil properly over the base and edge of the cake tin to prevent water from seeping through the removeable base.

7) Place the cake tin into another bigger tray and pour water to 1-2 inches in height. This is baking in a water-bath, helping the cheesecake to bake evenly without cracking.

8) Bake in a pre-heat oven of 140dc for 45 minutes and 180dc for another 15 mins (depending on your oven, you may need to adjust your temperature and baking time). The skewer that pass through the centre of the cake will be slightly moist with some crumbs. It's okay. The residual heat will continue to bake the cake and after refrigeration and firming up, it'll be just right.

9) Turn off the oven and allow the cake to cool in the oven for an hour before removing it for further cooling on a cooling rack.

10) Remove the cake gently from the tin once it's completely cool. Chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

(Tip: Use an air-tight Lock & Lock plastic container to keep the cake so that it will not absorb other odors and the cake will stay moist and not dry out. )

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Baked Cheese Cake

I did many research on baked cheese cake recipe online. There were so many. Finally found one which i thought it will be easy. But who knows that I read wrongly the "4 8 oz cream cheese" as "8 oz cream cheese". My cheesecake turned up too watery and soft. Hubby thought that the taste was fine. Just that I didn't make it for the texture of both the cake and the crust : ( Quite disappointed. I won't be trying out this recipe anymore. It is too Expensive to try! I will look for a better one . So till I find a better one, I will not post the recipe of a cheesecake : P

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