sábado, 20 de marzo de 2010

Birthday Cake

I made this chocolate cake for my daughter´s bday, it had to be chocolate and had squares, so I thought of giving it a fresh and non complicated look and this is what came out, it was moist and delicious, you can do it in layers or just in one piece.
I divided the batter in 3


in between layers I added the chocolate nutella sauce



covered it with ganache



covering sides too



Finishing by adding colored whipped cream squares and colored sugar


CAKE
200 grs. butter
200 grs. sugar
150 grs. flour
200 grs. semi-sweet chocolate
(or milk chocolate) melted
65 grs. milk
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
SAUCE
100 grs semi sweet chocolate
100 grs. nutella
3/4 cup milk
GANACHE
250 grs. semi-sweet chocolate
150 grs. milk
20 grs. butter
DECORATIONS
Whipping cream
sugar to taste
drops of food coloringDirections
CAKE DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven 350 degrees.
1.cream the butter untill it has a lighter color , then add the sugar, egg yolks,beat for one minute, then the chocolate, give this 2 minutes and add milk.
2.In another bowl whisk the egg whites untill stiff, then add it to the cake batter with soft revolving movements.
3. Grease a pan, this is a big square cake pan
4. Put the cake batter in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 min. or untill it's done.
For the sauce heat the milk, add the chocolate and nutella, with a toothpick make little holes in the cake and pour the warm sauce, it should go inside the cake, let it rest for 20 min before covering with ganache

FOR THE GANACHE
Heat the milk, and add the melted chocolate
beat for 2 minutes and add the butter.
Cover the cake .
DECORATIONS
If you want to put chocolate decorations just melt chocolate, put it into a decorating pipe and do whatever you want.Prepare the whipping cream with the sugar and when soft peaks appear add some drops of your favorite color.I just did little color squares and sprinkle with colored sugar


domingo, 7 de marzo de 2010

Banana and Dried Fruits Cake

Is there a house without BANANAS? I don´t think so, its a versatile fruit, besides it´s delicious and healthy. Well I had 4 ripe bananas and wanted to follow my instinct, so I decided dried fruits would be a great addition, as I still had some from Christmas.

Here´s the recipe, it turned out great, its so moist and delicious, and dried fruit are an interesting addition, so I hope you like it!

INGREDIENTS
4 ripe bananas
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup cubed mixed dried fruits
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp vanilla
1tsp baking soda
powder sugar for decoration (optional)


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F . Grease 2 molds, I used two flower ones.
In a large mixing bowl sift the flour.
In a mixing bowl mash the bananas, add the sugar, then baking soda, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, until smooth.
Then dust some flour over dried fruits, so that they stay on top of the cake.
Add dried fruits.
Spoon batter into prepared molds.
Bake until golden brown, about 35 min.
Remove from oven, and let it cool.
Dust with powder sugar the cake that goes on the lower part, and just place the little cake on top
Done,
enjoy!