Saturday 29 September 2012

Chocolatissimo



This cake is essentially a chocolate mousse cake and is very, very chocolaty. Half of the mousse mixture is baked, while the other half forms the topping. There are people who like chocolate and there are people who are chocolate maniacs. If you are in the first category, you may find this cake a bit too heavy for you. But for the choco maniacs, you will absolutely love this.

My version, not glamorous looking at all but tastes pretty good.


This is how the cake is supposed to look like as it appeared in Ms Su Chan's  book, Cakes & Desserts :

Chocolatissimo from Cakes & Desserts by Su Chan. Doesn't it look pretty?

The recipe comes from Ms Su Chan's book Cakes & Desserts with my notes and observations in red.

Chocolatissimo


Ingredients :

For the base :
- 50g butter
- 250g chocolate, chopped
- 5 eggs, white and yolks separated
- 3/4 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/4 teaspoon water
- 75g walnuts, broken into pieces (I omitted)
- 50g castor (superfine) sugar
- 10g white chocolate, melted and spread onto greaseproof paper with a spoon and chilled (This is for decoration which I omitted)
- 1 teaspoon snow powder (I have no idea what this is and I omitted)
- 100-150g chocolate, grated to decorate (I omitted)

For the Filling :
- 50g unsalted butter
- 350g chocolate, chopped (this is a lot and I wonder is it typo error? I followed anyway)
- 4 eggs, white and yolks separated (please use pasteurized eggs for your safety)
- 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/4 teaspoon water
- 20g castor (superfine sugar)

Method :
For the base :
- Grease a 22.5cm (9") springform pan and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 150C
- Melt butter and chocolate in a mixing bowl (I melted these by placing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water)
- Add egg yolks, cocoa powder, coffee and combine (I let the chocolate cool a bit first before doing this)
- Fold in walnuts, if using, and set aside.
- Whisk egg whites and sugar until stiff.
- Fold egg white into chocolate mixture and pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

For the filling :
- Melt chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl (as above)
- Add egg yolks and coffee and combine (as above)
- Whisk egg white with sugar in another bowl until stiff.
- Fold egg white into chocolate mixture and pour over cooled base.
- Set aside overnight to allow cake to set in pan (I covered pan with cling film and refrigerated overnight)
- The next day, remove cake from the pan.
- Sprinkle grated chocolate over the top and decorate with white chocolate tags. Dust with snow powder (I skipped this step entirely)
- Slice cake into 10 slices and serve chilled.

This is what I noted from my experience with this cake :

1. I think I overbaked the cake. By the time I checked, 33 minutes had passed. The cake was done and was a bit hard. It would be wise to check at the 25 minute mark.


2. The cake shrank after coming out of the oven. Perhaps, I should have cooled it in the oven?

 

Just out of the oven.
After 30 minutes it shrank.

3. When making the filling, the pasteurised egg whites took forever to stiffen. At first I thought either the mixing bowl or beaters were not clean (oily or tainted with yolks). Then it occurred  to me that the pasteurization must have altered the molecular structure of the egg whites and I kept on going. I used higher speed to beat and I think it took 3 times as long compared to normal egg whites.


4. If I make this cake again, I would line the sides of the pan with baking paper to make it easier to release the cake. I ran a spatula around the cake before releasing the springform pan.


5. After I released the cake (refrigerated overnight), I found it hard to slice. Perhaps this is due to the high chocolate content. I've checked Chocolatissimo recipe on other sites and it calls for 10oz of chocolate which translates to roughly 280g of chocolate for the whole cake. This recipe here in total uses 600g of chocolate which made me think that there is perhaps a typo error in the book. Or perhaps Ms Su Chan intended it to be a very chocolaty experience. In my next attempt, I will reduce the chocolate used.


I like this cake very much especially the filling. There will be another attempt and hopefully the second one would turn out better looking.


Dense chocolaty goodness.








30 comments:

  1. The chef's cake minus the chocolate deco = your cake! I haven't had chocolate cake for a while, pls share one with me, hehe!HAppy mid autumn festival,PHong Hong!

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    1. Hi Jessie! Hah, hah! I don't know how to take photo of choc cakes. Always come out as a big brown blob. Of course I will share with you, no problem! And Happy Mid Autumn festival to you too!

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  2. Hi Phong Hong, I was just thinking of one chocolate cake that I wanted to make next week! Great minds thinks alike? Hehehekakakaka! Your cake looks delish, so chocolaty rich!
    Happy Mid Autumn Festival!

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    1. Joyce, hope you had a nice Mid Autumn Festival! Try this cake, actually quite easy to make and has all the chocolaty goodness.

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  3. This cake look very rich in chocolate, you must be a chocolate lover..remind me i have quite long did not bake one..中秋节快乐!

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    1. Sonia, I love chocolate. I think your kids will love this one!

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  4. Oooo ... that looks heavenly! Chocolate heaven! Gimme a bath tub of chocolate and I'll soak in it .... oh, sorry, got a little carried away. Can you tell I'm a chocolate person? Has to be bitter choc tho. Fuss pot.
    This looks so gooey and moist ... just the way I like it! Gimme! Gimme!

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    1. Hi Ping, I wonder of Cleopatra bathed in chocolate milk too? Heh..heh...Agreed that bitter choc is best for this. Make lah....quiet easy :)

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  5. Who needs a 'fancy schmancy' cake when you can have 'pure chocolate heaven'...oh, my oh, my Phong Hong, it's so late here, time to get some zzzzzz's and I'll be dreaming of your amazing cake, but first I must wipe the drool off my face! xo

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    1. Hi Elisabeth! I can tell, you love your chocolate :)

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  6. OMG, my kids the choc maniacs will definitely love this! Too good...thanks for sharing!!! Wish you a pleasant day! :)

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    1. Love2Cook, I guarantee you two cutie pies will love this cake a lot. And so will you!

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  7. Hello Phong Hong,
    I think you are getting an expert now as a baker as looking at the content page here, with remarks putting in red colours. Sometimes we learn to perfected it after our first attempt. Homemade bakes are always the best eventhough it doesn't came out perfect looking. Your second photos ALMOST look the same as the cookbook (3rd photo). I have not had chocolate cake for quite awhile already but looking at yours has digged out my craving! Happy Mid Autumn Festival to you and to your family! Enjoy your weekend!

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    1. Mel, hope you had a good Mid Autumn Festival! Thanks for the compliments lah, so shy. I am still learning and hoping to improve :)

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  8. wow! this cake looks so moist and chocolaty and rich. absolutely perfect for a special occasion.

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    1. Swasthi, do you think this cake is healthy for a health freak? Hah! Hah! Definitely good to make us happy!

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  9. Hi Phong Hong, going strong with baking. Who can say you are a novice baker with this cake of yours if you didn't tell your story. The last photo looks so professional like from bakery. Jia Yu!!

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    1. Kimmy, thanks for your support and kind words. I am practising more to improve!

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  10. Wow the quantity of chocolate is quite unbelievable, i think i gained a few pounds just looking at it, coz i literally ate it with my eyes haha. You did a good job, the cake looks so moist and luscious. Su Chan has some great cakes, i like their tiramisu especially, but hvt not had the chance to frequent her shop for a long time.

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    1. Esther, I thought I had it bad because I gained a few pounds just smelling food. Hah! Hah! Thanks for the compliments, I appreciate the encouragement. Su Chan's cakes are to die for, I'll be trying out more of her recipes.

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  11. Can't tell the difference between the cake in the cook book and yours.. :)

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    1. Auww.....you are too kind! Next time I ought to jazz it up a bit with some simple decorations.

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  12. your cake looks nice lah...the only difference is yours dont have garnishing only..tastewise i bet it's just as good! so true abt the whipping the pasteurised eggs...takes me FOREVER to get it whipped!the last time i whipped these pasteurised egg whites just few weeks ago for my semifreddo, i used a little cream of tartar added to the pasteurised egg whites.. i just tried to see if it will makes the process faster or not..nope, it doesnt help but maybe a little help to stabilise the egg whites.

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  13. Hi, hope I get to taste your chocolate cake but please not Eu Beng's. (haha your mum knows the joke) Your muffins sangak sedak.

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    1. Thank you, Kor Kor! Ahahaha! Eu Beng's chocolate cake tu, dok leh makang :)

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  14. Hmm, I know this cake from my childhood as "The Chocolate Dessert", my mom used to make it for special occasions or when someone important was coming to a dinner party.. Suffice it to say, I only ever got a very small slice. Now that I'm ..err... older, I ought to make one just for myself.

    oh.. snow powder is confectioners sugar.

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    1. Hi Toby! Yeah, you ought to bake this cake and give yourself a big slice. It's a good cake, especially the unbaked mousse layer. Thanks for the info on snow powder. Fancy name for confectioners powder :)

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