Monday, May 9, 2011

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Light Whipped Ganache

A bitter aftertaste after knowing the results of General Elections 2011.

1. Tin Pei Ling, who cannot distinguished a chicken's head from a pig's head has been elected into the parliament.
2. Wong Kan Seng got away with letting a limping terrorist escape while a fine minister like George Yeo was voted out.
3. The death of the Potong Pasir legacy.

But I know this opens a brand new chapter...and I look forward to the future. Mr Chiam, we will uphold your spirit as the Father of Democracy. You will, always be my Chiampion! :)

Awaiting for the GE2011 results!
So we have PAP, WP, SPP, NSP supporters! Rojak fan club hahah

My facebook wall is now roaring with resentment for Tin Pei Ling's entry into the parliament. Ahh well.

And I also want to say that I'm very proud of my parents, they did the right thing and voted wisely despite they were initially afraid. My sister and I have been actively participating in rally hopping and we have a lot of dialogues on how we feel about national issues. From this general elections, I felt my family getting even more closely knitted.

I also discussed this election fever with ZY during our baking session hahah! After that day, I felt a little more confident to do layered cakes, seeing how he assembled everything together. Butbutbut I screwed up mine. It was basically falling apart with the ganache sweating in the hot weather. I managed to save it and it didn't look too bad afterall. Definitely need more practice.

The chocolate cake has an insanely fine texture yet has the right amount of chocolate, accompanied by whipped ganache that is so light that it literally disappears into your mouth like cloud. I'm really looking forward to my next bake from this book.

Am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delight (May 2011).

Chocolate Fudge Cake (adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible)

Ingredients:
85 unsweetened cocoa (Dutch-processed)
354g boiling water
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
300g sifted cake flour
434g light brown sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
227g unsalted butter

Method:
1. Grease two 9 x 1.5" cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper, and then regrease and flour. (If you only have 2"-high pans, either do 2/3 the recipe for 1 layer or 1 1/3 the recipe for 2 layers.)
2. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
4. In another bowl, lightly combine the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture, and vanilla.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Gradually add the egg mixture in three batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. Bake 20-30 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cakes should start to shrink from the sides of the pans only after removal from the oven.
7. Let the cakes cool in the pans on racks for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto greased wire racks. To prevent splitting, reinvert so that tops are up and cool completely before wrapping airtight.

Light Whipped Ganache Filling and Frosting (adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible)

Ingredients:
227g bittersweet chocolate (I use 138g 55% & 89g 70% Valrhona chocolate)
464g heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:
1. Break the chocolate into pieces and process in a food processor until very fine.Heat cream to the boiling point and with the motor running, pour it through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process a few seconds until smooth.
2. Transfer to a large bowl of electric mixer refrigerate until cold, stirring once or twice. Do not allow the mixture to get too cold or it will be too stiff to incorporate air.
3. Add the vanilla and beat the mixture just until very soft peaks form when the beater is raised. It will continue to thicken after a few minutes at room temperature. If the mixture gets overbeaten and grainy, it can be restored by remelting, chilling, and rebeating.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Jean! Same view as mine.... =(
    But what can we do..I've already joined the petition, but I think nothing will be done in the end...!

    Anyway..your fudge cake is looks terribly good! HAHA..!!!!!!!

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  2. im inspired somehow...the way that you and your family are so involved in and care so much about national issues etc. good to hear that your family is closer because of it too :) win!
    i do love this crazy insane fine texture...yum yum!!

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  3. Jean, this is so lovely. I always have problem with ganache.

    As for the politic part, you are right an all the points. It is not that we didn't know about our past and are ungrateful, we just wanted something done in the right way with accountability to the nation.

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  4. hi jean, i guess the election has brought momentous experience for you and good to know that it has also bring family closeness to you. That piece of cake looks truly good and that icing is so smooth!

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  5. I think the chocolate fudge cake looks fabulous! the cake looks very moist. ;) But I wouldn't mind a thicker spread of chocolate icing for sure...remember...a cream cake person?

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  6. Delicious fudge cake, neatly frosting, the cake looks moist too!

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  7. Just came back from Singapore...and got into the election fever. Poor Mr Chiam! For all these years, he has been doing well for Potong Pasir and the nation. I respect his perseverance!

    Your cake has such a light and fluffy texture. It must be very delicious for all to enjoy with the "election fever".

    It was fun watching the nation speaking their thoughts for the future.

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  8. pretty cake you have there :) i can never spread the ganache as neat as you. hehe

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  9. Wah... the cake looks so tempting leh

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  10. Hi Jean,

    Is there a typing error on the recipe calling for 342g of boiling water ?? My cake will be soiled with water... Kindly confirm

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  11. Sorry I mean 354g of boiling water ?

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  12. I can tell that you have some level of intelligence unlike some of the PAP bootlickers.
    Very nice blog! :)

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