Yue's Handicrafts ~月の工作坊~

Chocolate & Passionfruit Mousse Cake

2012-05-21T19:02:00.000+01:00

I have to apologize for abandon this site for a month…

Things get a bit hectic in my work & I got a bit demotivated recently.

Of course, one of the reason was that my new camera was sent back to Fuji for servicing.

I got my camera back so there was no excuse not to bake & photograph.

Last weekend, I went to Basildon & took the chance to make this chocolate & passionfruit mousse cake.

Since I hadn't baked for a while, I thought I would make something easier to get starting again.

I love passionfruit & chocolate combo, passionfruit is tangy & refreshing, taming down the richness of chocolate.

For the decoration, I simply copied from the previous cake design & used white chocolate pieces.

I also tied it with a red ribbon & it looks great & delicious after all :)

Chocolate & Passionfruit Mousse Cake (8" round):

Chocolate cake (8" round)

4 eggs

65 g sugar

50 g plain flour

20 g cocoa powder

30 g butter, melted

35 g milk

Line a 8" cake pan with parchment paper & grease the side.

In large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 15 g of sugar until thick & pale, then fold in the melted butter.

Mix & sieve all flours, then mix the flours with the egg yolks, pour in milk & fold until smooth.

In another large bowl, whisk the egg white & sugar (added in 3 portions) until stiff.

Mix a spatula of whipped egg white with the chocolate batter.

Pour the remaining whipped egg white & fold gently until smooth.

Pipe the batter over the marked circles & bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20-30 min.

Remove from the oven & cool on rack.

Cut out the cake in half & cut one of them into a 7'' cake.

Cake Syrup

2 tbsp hot water

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Brandy

Mix all ingredients & set aside for use.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

350 g whipping cream

190 g 70% dark chocolate, melted

2 tbsp sugar

In a large bowl, whisk whipping cream with sugar to soft peaks.

Fold in the melted chocolate until smooth.

Passionfruit Mousse

250 g cream cheese

150 g whipping cream

100 g passion fruit pulp

50 g sugar

50 g hot water

8 g gelatine leave

Dissolve gelatin in hot water.

Whisk cream cheese with sugar until smooth.

Whisk the whipping cream to soft peaks then fold in the cheese mixture.

Fold in the passion fruit pulp & then the gelatine solution.

Passionfruit Jelly

60 ml water

15 ml passion fruit pulp

10 g sugar

1.5 g gelatine leaves, bloomed

Bring the sugar, water & passion fruit pulp to boil then add in the bloomed gelatine, stir until dissolve.

Let the syrup cool down.

White Chocolate Decors

50 g white chocolate, melted

To make the chocolate pieces, line a silicon sheet on the table.

Dip the tip of a palette knife & take some melted chocolate, press on the sheet & slice in a straight line to spread.

Repeat to get 15-20 pieces or enough to get round the cake.

Composition

Place a 8" cake at the base of a 8" mousse ring, brush generous amount of cake syrup on the cake.

Pour in the chocolate mousse & refrigerate to set.

Place the 7" cake on top & brush with cake syrup.

Pour in the passionfruit mousse & refrigerate to set.

Pour in the passionfruit jelly & refrigerate to set.

Remove carefully from the ring & decorate with white chocolate pieces.

30min Wholemeal Cream Scones with Homemade Strawberry Conserve

2012-04-29T20:41:00.002+01:00

Stop baking cakes for a while, I’ve been looking for new breakfast ideas as I’m bored with muffins & pancakes…

I recently have afternoon tea with scones & pies so I thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to make scones.

The most interesting recipe is 30-min scone & the recipe I used only needs 3 ingredients: whipping cream, wholemeal self-raising flour & sugar.

Scone is plain really, but when it’s freshly baked from the oven, it’s soft & tastes great with clotted cream & strawberry conserve.

Light & soft cream scones served with a cup of coffee that wakes me up in the morning :)

Recipe :

Homemade Strawberry Conserve

800 g fresh strawberry

400 g sugar

2 lemons, juice only

Combine all ingredients in a pan & heat with stirring.

Bring to boil, uncovered, without stirring, about 25 min or until jam gels.

Pour hot jam into hot sterilised jam jars & seal immediately.

Wholemeal Cream Scones (about 8－10 scones)

300 ml whipping cream, cold

315 g whole self raising flour

40 g sugar

Prepare the oven to 200C & lightly grease a baking sheet.

Whisk up the whipping cream with sugar, fold with the flour.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface & flatten it to a thickness of 2 cm.

Use a 5cm pastry cutter to stamp out the scones.

Gently push the remaining dough together, knead lightly, reroll & cut out more.

Arrange on the prepared baking sheet & bake for 15-18 min.

Cool on a wired rack & serve while it’s warm with clotted cream & strawberry conserve.

Crémeux aux Framboise

2012-04-18T18:39:00.000+01:00

I baked this cake for my friend’s birthday.

I first saw the recipe from cake chef, which is a Japanese website showcasing Japanese patisserie.

It’s called Cremeux, meaning creamy & smooth.

The cake is composed of 3 layers: almond genoise, white chocolate yogurt mousse & mascarpone mousse.

I really like the mascarpone mousse & white chocolate yogurt mousse combo, but I was thinking it would be overly sweet so I added a raspberry jelly layer.

I renamed this cake ‘Crémeux aux Framboise’.

The mousse is smooth & creamy, the raspberry adds a tangy freshness.

For the decoration, I wrapped the mousse ring with bubble wrap & made the cake from upside down so that the top mascarpone mousse would pick up the pattern.

It worked out really well & I simply garnished with fresh fruits.

Happy baking!

Recipe (8” square):

Genoise Blanche

180 g eggs (~3 large eggs)

70 g sugar

14 g honey

50 g plain flour

25 g corn flour

10 g butter, melted

17 g milk

Preheat oven to 160C, line a parchment paper on a baking pan.

Combine butter & milk, warm to 40C.

Combine eggs, honey & sugar in a large mixing bowl & sit over a pan of simmering water, beat with electric beater at high speed until hot then remove from heating.

Continue beating for another 8-10 min until pale & fluffy.

Fold in the flour gently.

Fold in the milk until smooth.

Bake for 15-20 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on a wired rack.

Mousse Mascarpone

250 g mascarpone

300 g whipping cream, whipped up

20 ml Grand Marnier

4 g gelatine leaves, bloomed in cold water

40 g egg yolks

70 g sugar

30 ml water

In a saucepan, combine egg yolks, sugar & water, cook over low heat to ~82C, stir constantly while heating until it becomes thick.

Remove from heating, add in the bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Fold with mascarpone, Grand Marnier, & the whipped cream.

Gelée de Framboise

250 g raspberry puree

60 g sugar

8 g gelatine leaves, bloomed in ice water

100 ml water

1 tbsp Grand Marnier

In a saucepan, heat raspberry puree, water & sugar, stir until dissolve.

Remove from heating, add the bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Add in Grand Marnier.

Mousse au Chocolat Blanc au Yogurt

200 g white chocolate

200 g natural yogurt

5.3 g gelatine leaves, bloomed in ice water

300 g whipping cream, whipped up

Melt chocolate over simmering water, fold in yogurt.

Add bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Fold with whipped cream.

Composition

Wrap a 8” square mousse ring with bubble wrap & secure with tapes.

Pour in the mascarpone mousse & refrigerate to set.

Pour in the raspberry jelly & refrigerate to set.

Pour in the white chocolate & yogurt mousse.

Cut the genoise into 8” square & place on top of the mousse.

Refrigerate to firm up ( 3 hr or overnight).

Remove carefully from the ring & decorate with fruits & sprinkles with golden lustre.

Scenes from Easter Break to South Wales

2012-04-15T17:43:00.001+01:00

Sunset at Southgate.

Scenes from Tenby.

Sunset at Angle.

Scenes from Talybont Reservoir, Brecon Beacon National Park.

Afternoon tea at Old Barn Tea Room, Brecon Beacon National Park.

Scenes from Clun Gwyn waterfall.

Brownie Eggs for Easter

2012-04-05T15:00:00.000+01:00

I spotted a Korean post about these brownies baked in egg shells a few days ago.

I couldn’t resist to bake it for Easter, it’s fun & interesting :)

The creative idea is originated from Sandra Mangas & Cupcake Project.

Both of them have amazing food blogs, full of inspirations & amazing recipes.

It was sunny & bright the next morning so I set up a table next to the window to take these shoots.

I adore the lighting & love the simple white set up.

Happy Easter!

Recipe (about 9 egg shells):

adapted from here (Korean)

140 g dark chocolate 72%, chopped

80 g unsalted butter

2 eggs

110 g caster sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

95 g plain flour

To prepare the egg shells, make a small hole enough to fit the tip of your piping bag & empty the eggs.

Soak & sink in salt water for 30 min, rinse with water several times & turn upside down on a dry towel to dry.

Once dry, put 1 tsp of vegetable oil in each shell & cover the inside, turn upside down on a paper towel to get rid of the excess oil.

Preheat oven to 180C & place the prepared egg shells in a cupcake pan using aluminium foil to help them stand upright.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter & chocolate, melt over simmering water.

In another bowl, combine eggs & sugar, whisk to combine.

Add the chocolate batter to egg mixture, whisk until smooth.

Sift in the flour & cocoa powder, fold until combine.

Load the batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Fill the eggs about 3/4 full & bake for 18-20 min.

Remove the excess cake & clean the shell with a damp towel.

Stand to cool & wrap with golden colour foil.

Chocolate Genoise with Berries

2012-03-29T00:30:00.000+01:00

I was quite excited last week as I bought a new camera, Fujifilm X-Pro 1.

As much as I like my old camera GF1, I think it’s time to upgrade.

I took a few shoots in the front garden, it’s bright & sunny so flowers are blooming.

To celebrate my sister’s birthday, I baked a chocolate genoise filled with layers of berries.

We had an incredible tea time, we had freshly baked scones, hazelnut macaroons with fruity & tangy berry tea.

A great way to enjoy the spring.

Recipe:

Chocolate Genoise (2 x 8” round)

8 eggs

220 g caster sugar

60 g unsalted butter

75 g cocoa powder

220 g plain flour

Preheat oven to 180C & grease two 8” baking pans.

Combine eggs & sugar in a large mixing bowl & sit over a pan of simmering water, beat with electric beater at high speed until hot then remove from heating.

Continue beating for another 8-10 min until pale & fluffy.

Melt the butter until it starts to turn golden (beurre noisette) then with the whisk running add the melted butter.

Sieve in the flour & fold gently into the mixture.

Divide the batter between the pans and bake for 25-30 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out on a wire rack to cool.

Syrup

100 g water

2 tbsp Grand Marnier

Combine all ingredients.

Decoration
450 g blueberry, raspberry & blackberry (150 g each)

300 g strawberry
300 g whipping cream
50 g 72% chocolate, chopped

Whisk up 250g cream with 1 tbsp of sugar.

Make chocolate ganache by melting the chocolate with 50 g of cream over simmering water.

Assembling
Carefully slice off the top crust from each cake, cut the sponges in half horizontally to make 4 sponge layers & brush generously with the syrup.

Place the bottom layer on a cake stand & then spread with a layer of whipped cream.

Layer some berries on top, slicing larger ones, sit the second sponge on top.

Cover with cream & berries then sit the final sponge on top, cover with chocolate ganache and berries to decorate.

Mother's Day & A Sweet Paradise

2012-03-21T23:09:00.000Z

March is a very busy month, family birthdays & mother's day.

I've baked 3 cakes including this one this month.

I made 'Jasmin' again for mother's day since my mum likes it.

My sister Kelly suggested to put in some bird's nest (燕窝) in the jelly so I did.
This time I made it into a simple round-shape & garnished with white chocolate shards.
Spring has come & camellia has started to bloom in the front garden so I took a few for garnish.

My patissier-to-be sister Jenny had made us some chocolate macarons & a delicious blueberry cheesecake.

At the end of the day, we're a bit overwhelmed by the desserts.

Rose Angel

2012-03-16T20:35:00.001Z

I baked this rose angel food cake from egg whites left after I made the chocolate concerto.

I was thinking to bake a lavender one instead of rose but I just couldn’t find it from all those tins & jars in my kitchen.

My sister isn’t fond of the rose fragrant, she prefers lavender but I think it's alright.

The cake is not overly sweet, tender & ethereally light.

I could have eaten the entire cake by myself in one sitting.

I don’t have a cake pan for angel food cake so I used a 6” round cake pan, seems to be fine.

I might invest one as I think I’ll bake more angel food cakes.

For those who are trying to watch their diet & calorie intake, this is a perfect dessert.

Recipe (6” round):

adapted from Low-Fat Desserts (chinese)

180 g egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

pinch of salt

75 g caster sugar

30 g plain flour

30 g corn flour

1 tbsp dried rose buds

1 tbsp hot water

Preheat oven to 180C.

Remove stems from the rose buds & loosen the petals, combine with hot water.

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites & salt.

Mix sugar with cream of tartar, adding it gradually to egg whites & whisk to soft peaks.

Mix & sift the flours, fold gently with the whipped egg whites.

Add in the rose petals & pour into a non-greased cake pan.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 min.

Remove from oven & cool upside down on a wire rack.

Chocolate Concerto

2012-03-13T23:47:00.000Z

March is a busy month for me, birthdays & mother’s day, all these take almost all my weekend breaks.

Last week, I made a chocolate mousse cake as a birthday cake.

Even though I wasn’t happy about the photos, I’ll post it on my blog anyway.

The cake tastes great, not very sweet, rich & divine, just how I like it to be.

I made a 8” square but it was a bit thin, I think using a 6” square is much better.

The cake consists of 3 luscious layers of dark, milk & white chocolate mousses & a rich chocolate cake.

To enhance the taste of chocolate, I didn’t put in sugar for the mousses as suggested from the recipe.

Plus, brushing the cake with Grand Marnier syrup adds a sophisticated note.

The original name is Trios Mousses au Chocolat - chocolate trios.

I prefer ‘concerto’ as it really is a showcase of chocolate.

Recipe (8” square):

adapted from here (chinese)

Chocolate Ganache Cake

22 g plain flour, sifted

8 g cocoa powder

1 egg yolk

40 g sugar

1.5 egg whites

50 g 85% chocolate, chopped

30 g unsalted butter

30 g whipping cream

Preheat oven to 160C & grease a 8” square pan.

In a saucepan, combine butter & whipping cream, bring to boil.

Remove from heating, add in chopped chocolate & stir until smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk & 20 g sugar to combine, then add to chocolate batter & whisk until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk up egg whites with remaining sugar.

Fold in flour, cocoa powder then chocolate batter.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 min.

Cake syrup

1 tbsp Grand Marnier

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp hot water

Combine all ingredients & leave aside

Dark/Milk/White Chocolate Mousse

70 g 72% dark, 38% milk or white chocolate, melted

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp water

180 ml whipping cream

4 g gelatine leaves, bloomed

In a saucepan, combine egg yolks & water, whisk while heating gently to 82C until it’s like custard.

Add melted chocolate & stir until smooth.

Whisk whipping cream until it gets thickened; it should be pourable & fluffy.

Combine 2 tbsp of whipped cream with bloomed gelatine & heat in a microwave for approx. 20 sec, stir to dissolve.

Fold whipped cream with chocolate batter, then the gelatine cream.

Assembling

Using a 8” square mousse ring, place the cake at the bottom & brush the syrup on the cake.

Spread the dark chocolate mousse layer evenly, refrigerate to set (about 30 min).

Meanwhile, prepare another mousse layer, when previous mousse layer is set, spread the chocolate mousse & refrigerate to set.

Do the same until white chocolate mousse.

Decorate with whipped cream & white chocolate lace.

Caramel Financiers & Guest Post on Foodforfriendsyeah!

2012-03-07T21:11:00.000Z

It was a pleasure to be invited by Matt from foodforfriendsyeah to write a food photography guide for his site.

I have to admit that I’m not very good in writing photography guide & I think there’re lot of great food stylists/ bloggers who are much better than me but I had to give it a try.

If you’re ever interested in how I take my food photos, you can read the entire story here.

I hope some people will find it helpful & let me know what you think.

Back to the food, I baked these mini caramel financiers sometimes ago & I thought I’ll share the recipe here.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve baked financiers but I think this was the best ones.

Alright, I’m obsessed with caramel & I couldn’t resist anything made with it.

These little financiers were moist, delicate, not so sweet & with a rich flavour of caramel.

Recipe:

Caramel Cream

25 g granulated sugar

25 g whipping cream, warm

Financier Batter

130 g unsalted butter

4 egg whites

70 g sugar

50 g ground almond

50 g plain flour

Butter the moulds.

In a saucepan, caramelise the sugar over low-medium heat, then slowly pour in whipping cream & stir until combined.

To make beurre noisette, heat butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat until golden brown & with a nutty fragrance, strain & set aside for cooling.

In a large bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, ground almond & plain flour, fold in beurre noisette & caramel cream.

Pipe in the prepared moulds & refrigerate for at least 1 h.

Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 12-15 min or until golden brown.

Jasmin

2012-02-27T22:58:00.000Z

I have to admit I was delighted when I completed the challenge to make this lovely dome-shaped cake.

I’ve had an urge to make this cake as it had been in my mind for 2 weeks.

I could have made this earlier but I didn’t really have times, plus this would make a lovely birthday cake for my mum.

I made a red wine poached pear mousse cake for my mum’s birthday last year & she wasn’t fond of it but this time she really likes this.

I wasn’t settled for the design even though I had the recipes & decorations drawn up.

I changed them as I was making it, that’s why I’d spent a whole day & it’s great I didn’t mess up the decoration, phew…

I almost did with the glaze, can’t really see it from the photos as I’d it covered by the strawberry lace tuiles.

The cake is composed of 6 components:

1. white genoise

2. jasmine creme brûlée

3. jasmine & lychee jelly

4. jasmine & white chocolate mousse

5. lychee milk glaze

6. strawberry lace tuiles

Original design (bottom) & composition (above).

I named this cake Jasmin as there is a base note of jasmine with fragrant & sweet lychee, they work wonderfully together.

My mum loves it, my sister loves it & I love it :)

There was one suggestion from my sister that I could use nappage neutre instead of the milk glaze, it might be easier to work with but I bet I still make a mess with that…

Recipe (8” dome-shaped):

Genoise Blanche (7” round)

120 g eggs (~2 eggs)

80 g sugar

67 g plain flour

13 g butter, melted

4 g milk

Preheat oven to 180C, line a parchment paper at bottom & butter the side.

Whip eggs with sugar to soft peaks, fold in flour.

Mix one part with butter until smooth then fold in the rest.

Fold in milk until smooth.

Bake for 15-20 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on a wired rack.

Créme Brûlée au Jasmin (7” round)

36 g egg yolks

2.5 g dried jasmine

25 g sugar

125 g double cream

63 g milk

Preheat oven to 150C.

Bring milk & cream to boil, once boil switch off heating, add jasmine tea & cook for 3 min then strain.

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks & sugar until pale, slowly pour in the jasmine tea with constant stirring.

Bake in a hot water bath for 12-15 min or until the centre jiggles like jelly.

After cooling, freeze in a refrigerator for use later.

Gelée de Jasmin Litchi

1 tbsp dried jasmine

80 g canned lychee, chopped

90 g lychee syrup

40 g water

6 g gelatine leaves, bloomed in ice water

Line the dome-shaped mould with a piece of cling film, even at the bottom to remove air bubbles.

Bring water to boil, once boil switch off heating, add in jasmine tea, cook for 3 min & strain.

Add the bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Combine with lychee syrup & lychee.

Pour into the mould & refrigerate to set.

Mousse Chocolat Blanc Jasmine

114 g white chocolate, melted

4.8 g gelatine leaves, bloomed in ice water

12 g sugar

114 g milk

45 g egg yolks

300 g whipping cream, whipped up

7 g dried jasmine

Bring milk to boil, once boil switch off heating, add in jasmine tea, cook for 3 min & strain.

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks & sugar, slowly pour in the hot jasmine milk, stirring constantly.

Return to heating & cook over low heat to ~82C, stir constantly while heating until it becomes thick.

Remove from heating, add in the bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Fold with melted chocolate & then fold with whipped cream.

Sirop au Jasmin

2 tbsp dried jasmine

2 tsp brandy

80 g water

2 tsp sugar

Bring water to boil, once boil switch off heating, add in jasmine tea, cook for 3 min & strain.

Combine with remaining ingredients.

Glacage Pour Jasmin

120 g whipping cream

100 g lychee syrup

30 g hot water

50 g glucose

6 g gelatine leaves, bloomed

Combine hot water, glucose & bloomed gelatine, stir until combine.

Add in the remaining ingredients & stir until incorporated.

Tuiles Lacet aux Fraises

15 g strawberry, smashed into puree

30 g sugar

10 g butter, melted

15 g plain flour

1-2 drops red food colouring

Preheat oven to 180C & line a parchment paper on an oven tray.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients & stir until incorporated.

Spread it thinly with a spoon the tray.

Bake in the oven for 3-5 min.

It will bubbles in the oven & when cooling down, it’ll become hard & crispy.

Composition

Cut the genoise into 2 pieces (7” and 6”) & soak with generously amount of jasmine syrup.

Pipe in the white chocolate mousse, swirl around to cover the side & leave a hole.

Put the jasmine & lychee jelly, followed by 6” genoise, creme brûlée then 7” genoise in the middle.

Press slightly & spread the base evenly, refrigerate to firm up (3 hour or overnight).

Remove from the mould & put it on a wire rack, pour the glaze on top to cover the entire cake.

Cover the side with strawberry laces.

Cut strawberries & place at the top, sprinkles with golden lustre.

One Apple, Two Blueberry Cheesecakes & Three A Trip to Lewes

2012-02-22T00:48:00.000Z

It’s my friend’s birthday and she had special request for a baked cheesecake.

So, the night before I met her, I baked, not one but two small cheesecakes.

The recipe was actually for a 8” cake but we’re going to a historical & lovely town called Lewes.

It’s not a good idea to bring a giant 8” cake around.

The little cheesecake turned out great with simple arrangement of poached apples & my friend loved it :)

I cooked some blueberry jam & simply spread over the other cheesecake which I brought to my mum the next day when we had lunch together.

Lewes was an adorable town, full of antique shops, cozy cafe & cute crafts stores.

There is also a big flea market & it's like treasure hunting :)

Floral tea cups & saucers bought from Lewes.

Recipe (make two 6'' round):

Crust

140 g digestive biscuit crumbs

50 g unsalted butter, melted

Mix the ingredients & bake in an oven at 150C for 15 min.

After cooling, press into 6" springform pans.

Cheesecake Filling

200 g cream cheese

180 g sour cream

70 g sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 lemon, zest only & finely ground

Preheat oven to 170C & butter the pan.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with sugar until smooth.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Blend in sour cream, stir until smooth.

Sieve in cornstarch & mix well.

Sieve through the batter.

Add in the lemon zest, mix well.

Divide into the prepared pans & bake for 20 min, then leave to cool in the oven.

Earl Grey Tea Poached Apples

2 apples, peeled, cored & sliced

100 g sugar

200 ml water

1 teabag of earl grey tea

Combine water, sugar & tea bag in a pot, bring it to boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer, add in the apple slices & cook for 5 min or until apples become soft.

Remove apples from the syrup & set aside for cooling.

Add 1/2 tbsp of corn flour to the syrup & cook until it thickens.

Remove from heating & set aside for cooling.

Blueberry Jam

150 g fresh blueberries

35 g granulated sugar

1/4 lemon, juice only

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan & cook until it thickens.

Assembling

Remove cheesecakes from the pans.

Working from outwards, arrange poached apple slices in a rose shape & brush some syrup over the apple slices.

Spread the blueberry jam on top of another cheesecake.

Cool for 2 hours before serving

Triple Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

2012-02-12T13:59:00.000Z

This is one of a few cheesecakes that I'll make again, not only because it's simple to prepare, yet the result has never failed me.

It's more like chocolate pots de creme, smooth & rich, I once called this killer chocolate cheesecake.

It's absolutely chocolatey.

A little inspiration is topping with chocolate ganache & dark chocolate sprinkles.

It is freezing in London & it's no more comforting than having a rich chocolate cheesecake in a warm sofa.

Wish you all have a happy valentine's day.

I'm thankful to Maryanne from the little epicurean for nominating me for this award.

Below comes the rules for this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you & link back to his/her blog.

2. Post the award in your blog.

3. List 5 blogs with fewer than 200 followers& break the news by commenting on those blogs.

I am nominating (in no particular order) few of my favourite blogs:

double cream single sugar

Recipe (8" round):

Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

250g mascarpone cheese

150g dark chocolate 72%

3 eggs

75g sugar

200g whipping cream

25g cocoa powder

Preheat oven at 160C.

Line a parchment paper at the bottom of a 8" loose base pan & wrap with aluminium foil.

In a saucepan, warm the whipping cream (not boiling), add in chocolate chunks & stir until smooth.

In a large bowl, melt mascarpone cheese over simmering water, add sugar & whisk until smooth.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, until smooth.

Sift in cocoa powder & blend until smooth.

Add the chocolate cream to the cheese mixture & stir until smooth.

Sift through the mixture & pour into the pan.

Bake in a hot water bath for 30-35 min, then leave to cool in the oven.

Topping

30 g dark chocolate 72%, chopped

30 g whipping cream

dark chocolate sprinkles

In a saucepan, bring whipping cream to boil, stir in chocolate until dissolve, leave to cool.

Pour ganache over the cheesecake & sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles.

Refrigerate for 2-4 h before serving.

Red Velvet Cake on a Snowy Day

2012-02-09T00:19:00.002Z

Valentine's day is coming so I thought it's a great time to bake this lovely red velvet cake.

I've bookmarked this recipe (for who knows how long...) when I'd first seen it from Dear Pig's blog (chinese).

She baked the cake & simply garnished it with red rose petals.

It looks so perfect & I couldn't think a better way to decorate the cake.

To be honest, decorate a cake with frosting is what I'll always avoid if I can.

That was one of the reason why I hadn't made this when I saw it the first time.

Last week, I finally made it & tried my best with the frosting, it wasn't too bad after all :)

Indoor shoots on red background.

Soon after I made this cake, snow had finally arrived in England.

I had been waiting the snow as I feel the winter without snow is not like winter.

It snowed all night & there're inches of snow when I waked up the next morning.

Put on some warm clothes, took my camera & I walked out the door & stunned by the beautiful scenes.

When I got back home, I thought it'd be a great idea to take the cake out & took some photos.

It did look amazing in the snow!

Recipe (6" round):

recipe adapted from here

Red Velvet Cake

120 g plain flour

40 g corn flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

100 g sugar

160 g vegetable oil

1 egg

1/2 tbsp vanilla essence

120 ml buttermilk

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp red colouring

Line a parchment paper & butter the side of a 6" pan.

Combine & sift plain flour, corn flour, salt & cocoa powder.

In a large bowl, whisk sugar & oil together using an electric beater.

Add egg & beat until smooth.

Add in colouring & vanilla.

Add flours & buttermilk gradually, whisk until smooth.

In a small bowl, combine soda & vinegar then add to the batter, whisk until combined.

Pour into the prepared pan & bake in a preheated oven at 175C for 35-40 min, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wired rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

250 g cream cheese

125 g unsalted butter, soften

75 g sugar

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients & beat until well combined.

Assembling

Carefully remove the cake from the pan, cut off the top & slice into 2 pieces of same height.

Spread a layer of cream cheese frosting & smooth with a palette knife.

Top with another piece of cake, cover the cake with enough frosting.

Pipe the rest of frosting around the edge & garnish with rose petals.

Refrigerate for at least 2 h before serving.

Blackberry & White Chocolate Mousse

2012-02-04T15:25:00.000Z

The mousse was very easy to make, I almost always have the ingredients in hands.

It just happened that I had some white chocolate & blackberries, not very usual as I always stock dark chocolate & raspberry.

Anyway, I whipped them up in the morning, piped in a silicon mould & freeze.

Later, I popped them out & simply arranged with some rose syrup & blueberry jam I made sometimes ago.

It turned out to be gorgeous :)

Recipe:

White Chocolate Mousse

150 g whipping cream

75 g white chocolate

50 g milk

2 g sheet gelatine

In a small bowl, melt chocolate over simmering water then stir in milk, add bloomed gelatine & stir until dissolve.

In a large bowl, whisk whipping cream to soft peaks & fold in the chocolate milk.

Blackberry Mousse

100 g blackberry puree, about 175 g blackberries

10 g sugar

100 g whipping cream

2 g sheet gelatine

Blend blackberries into puree using electric blender, strain to remove seeds.

Warm the puree with sugar using microwave, add the bloomed gelatine & stir until dissolve.

Whisk the whipping cream to soft peaks then fold in the puree.

Simple Blueberry Jam

400 g frozen blueberries

100 g sugar

1/4 lemon, juice only

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients, cook until it thickens.

Pour into a sterile jar & keep refrigerated upto 3 weeks.

Rose Syrup

40 g fresh fragrant roses, red or pink

120 g sugar

250 ml water

1/2 lemon, juice only

10 dried rose buds

Rinse the rose petals with water & remove the white base.

Combine sugar & water in a saucepan, bring water to boil & stir to dissolve the sugar.

Add the rose petals, simmer for 20 min.

Add lemon juice & boil for 1 min.

Pour in a sterilised jar & keep refrigerated for storage.

Assembling

Fill the moulds with white chocolate mousse, refrigerate to set.

Top with the blackberry mousse, freeze to set.

Remove from moulds, decorate & serve.

Asian Pear & Oolong Mousse Cake

2012-01-26T21:45:00.000Z

This lovely mousse cake is when East meets West.

The subtle, sweet & fragrant oolong mousse with crispy Asian pears coupled with the chewy & moist pecan brownie.

When it melts in the mouth, I can feel the delicacy & sweetness, gradually overtaken by the rich & nutty chocolate brownie.

I've chosen to use Asian pear over William pear.

William pear usually go tender after poaching, but I wanted crunchy bits in the mousse & Asian pear retains its crisp texture.

Plus, Asian pear is very juicy with a delicate & refreshing fragrant.

It is one of my favourite fruit.

Oolong tea varies in taste & the tea I used is originated from China which is sweet & fruity.

The taste of oolong tea is vital so I would recommend to get the best oolong tea you can get hold of.

I really like it, especially the mousse & I'll definitely make it again :)

You can also make a 'West meets West' version, simply replacing the oolong tea with black tea like earl grey, Asian pear with William pear.

Recipe (8" square):
Oolong Tea Poached Asian Pears

2 Asian pears, peeled, cored & diced

5 g oolong tea leaves, in a tea infuser

50 g granulated sugar

200 g water

In a saucepan, combine sugar & water, bring water to boil & stir until sugar dissolved.

Remove from heating, put in the pears & the infuser containing oolong tea.

Leave to stand for 3-5 min then remove tea infuser but leave pears to stand for at least 1 h.

Drain the pears & reserve the syrup.

Pecan Chocolate Brownie

2 eggs, separated

75 g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

80 g sugar

100 g dark chocolate 72%

100 g salted butter

45 g plain flour

Preheat oven to 190C & line a parchment paper on a 8" square pan.

Melt chocolate & butter over simmering water, stir until smooth.

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with 20 g sugar until light & creamy, fold in the chocolate butter.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites with remaining sugar to soft peaks, fold in chocolate batter.

Sift in the flour & add the pecan nuts, fold until combined.

Pour into the prepared pan & bake for 18-20 min.

Oolong Syrup

50 ml pear oolong syrup

1/2 tbsp whisky

Combine all ingredients.

Oolong White Chocolate Mousse

3 egg yolks

350 g whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

20 g sugar

120 g white chocolate, melted

10 g sheet gelatine, bloomed in cool water

200 ml milk

10 g oolong tea leaves

Combine oolong tea & milk in a saucepan, bring the milk to boil then keep it simmering for 3-5 min, remove tea leaves.

Add in the bloomed gelatine & stir until dissolved.

Add in melted chocolate & stir until smooth.

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar over simmering water until pale & creamy.

Pour in the chocolate milk & stir until smooth.

Fold in the whipped cream until smooth.

Topping Jelly

150 ml pear oolong syrup

2 tsp whisky

4 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

Combine all ingredients, heat using microwave & stir until gelatine is dissolved.

Assembling

Remove the brownie & place it at the bottom of a 8" square mousse ring.

Brush generous amount of oolong syrup on the brownie.

Pour the oolong mousse over the brownie, arrange the pears evenly over the mousse, refrigerate to set.

Pour the jelly on top & refrigerate to set.

Carefully remove the cake from the mousse ring, cut into 10 entremets & decorate with fruits.

Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

2012-01-20T19:53:00.000Z

One word to this chocolate cake, DIVINE.

Fall in love instantly with this moist & melt-in-the-mouth chocolate mousse cake.

I added a little variations to the recipe.

I really like the subtle note of Grand Marnier matching with bittersweet chocolate & I used muscovado sugar to increase the richness & moisture.

I baked a small 6" cake instead of 8", only because I didn't have a 8" pan in hands.

I think it's the right size, a small slice with a cup of tea makes my day happy & satisfied after the photo shoot.

Below is my favourite photo of the day, really like the tone & composition :)

Recipe (6" round):

adapted from here

60 g dark chocolate 72%

40 ml hot brewed espresso or strong brewed coffee

50 g salted butter, soften

65 g dark muscovado sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 tbsp Grand Marnier

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 200C, line a parchment paper at the base & grease the side of a 6" springform pan.

Dissolve 30 g of sugar in hot brewed espresso or coffee.

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate over simmering water, stir in the espresso or coffee.

Remove from heating, stir in butter until smooth.

Stir in egg yolks, one at a time, until smooth.

Add in Grand Marnier, stir until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites with the remaining sugar to soft peaks.

Fold the 1/3 of egg whites into the chocolate batter until smooth.

Fold in the remainder of the egg whites.

Pour in 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, cover & refrigerate the remaining batter.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 min, remove from heating & cool to room temperature, cool further in a refrigerator (at least 1 h).

Pour the remaining batter on top of the cake, return to the oven & bake at 200C for 25 min or until a skewer inserted come out almost dry.

Leave to cool & refrigerate for at least 4 h or overnight before serving.

Run a blunt knife around the edges & carefully remove the cake from the pan.

Dust with cocoa powder & serve.

Note: If you're using 8" cake pan, just double the recipe.

White Wine Cheesecake

2012-01-13T19:43:00.000Z

I almost forgot to share this recipe, the photos were lost in my endless photo library.

I've created a new portfolio from 500px as you can see I've added a new badge & a new tab at the top :)

So, I'm reorganising my photo library at the moment.

A snapshot of my 500px wall.

I found the photos from the library & then I've to find the recipe...

Luckily, I have an iPad & I've used it to jot down note & recipe.

I barely remember what I liked about the cheesecake but the chewy bits & the subtle note of wine.. from my note.

Recipe (8" round):

Crust

150 g viennese butter cookie crumbs

75 g unsalted butter, melted

Mix all ingredients & press into a loosebase cake pan.

Grapes in White Wine

240 ml white wine

200 g green grapes, chopped

1 tbsp dried osmanthus (optional)

Combine all ingredients & leave to stand overnight.

Drain to remove grapes & reserve the wine for the filling & topping.

Cheesecake Filling

250 g cream cheese

100 g sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

240 ml whipping cream

10 g sheet gelatine

120 ml white wine, from grapes in white wine

grapes in white wine

In a small saucepan dissolve sheet gelatine in white wine over low heat.

Beat cream cheese, sugar & lemon juice until smooth, then fold in gelatine mixture.

Whisk whipping cream to soft peaks, then gently fold into the cheese mixture.

Fold in the chopped grapes.

Pour into the prepared pan & refrigerate to set.

Decoration

90 ml white wine, from grapes in white wine

15 g sugar

50 g water

4 g sheet gelatine

Grapes

Lemon slices

In a small saucepan, combine wine, sugar, water & gelatine over low heat until gelatine is dissolved, cool slightly.

Pour over the cheesecake & refrigerate to set.

Remove from the pan & decorate with lemon slices & grapes.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake

2012-01-05T19:13:00.000Z

On New Year day, I'd gone home to celebrate with my family.

We had hotpot & dumplings :)

Hotpot is simple to prepare but it's absolutely tasty, also very enjoyable with family & friends.

On new year's eve, I didn't go out for countdown but baked a simple yet delicious chocolate whipped cream cake.

I brought that home for desserts after the meal but my sister also made two delicious cakes.

I took the chances to take some photographs & also to practice the skill of using flash indoors.

Food Photography Practice

Recipe:

Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake

2 eggs

100 g icing sugar

232 g double cream

110 g plain flour

24 g corn flour

20 g cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

In a large bowl, whisk double cream with icing sugar to soft peaks.

Add eggs, one at a time, beat until mix.

Mix & sift in all flours, fold until combine.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 30-40 min.

Chocolate ganache

25 g dark chocolate 72%, chopped

30 g double cream

In a saucepan, bring double cream to boil, stir in chocolate until dissolve, leave to cool.

Pour ganache over the cake & decorate with chopped nuts.

Brésilienne

2011-12-31T11:41:00.000Z

This is the first time I've tried to test the recipe from the book 素材より素材らしく―杉野英実の菓子 (Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé by Hidemi Sugino) my friend bought it for me from Japan in September.

I've tried to make Pomme d'Eve but the recipe wasn't his, I might give it a try sometimes.

Evan from Evan's Kitchen Ramblings has tried many desserts, all of them look gorgeous.

The recipe I chose to give a closure to 2011 was Brésilienne.

A truly elegant dessert consists of coffee mousse, caramel mousse & coffee joconde biscuit.

I have to say I didn't do a perfect job to make the entremets look like the photos from the book.

I didn't have the right mousse rings & I did make a mess with the first cake when I spread the glazing on top.

So, I gave up with the glazing part...

I think the taste is the most important.

First of all, this cake is definitely not for people with a sweet tooth, if you're coffee lover, you'll fall in love with it.

When eating the coffee mousse alone, it's quite bitter.

But the sweetness is enhanced by the caramel mousse & the coffee joconde.

I personally think the Cognac syrup for the joconde is a must as it adds a sophisticated note to the cake.

Thank you for joining me in my journey of baking this year.

Wishing you all the best the coming year.

Recipe (make five 3" x 3" or ten 1.5" x 3" entremets):

from Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé by Hidemi Sugino

Sirop à 30°B / Simple syrup

130 g sugar

100 g water

In a saucepan, bring the sugar & water to boil.

When all sugar crystals have dissolved, pour into a sterile jar & let cool.

Keep the extra in the refrigerator after use.

Biscuit joconde sans beurre au café (9" square)

25 g ground almond

25 g icing sugar

20 g egg yolks

15 g egg whites

2 g instant coffee (mix with 1 tsp of hot water)

23 g plain flour

Meringue

50 g egg whites

30 g caster sugar

Combine icing sugar & ground almonds in a bowl.

Add in egg yolks & egg whites, whisk until thick & fluffy.

Fold in flour.

To make the meringue, whisk egg whites & caster sugar together until stiff peaks then fold into the yolk mixture.

Fold in coffee.

Spread a thin layer of mixture on the baking tray lined with baking paper with spatula.

Bake in a preheated oven at 230C for 6-7 mins until golden.

Sirop d'imbibage

30 g sirop à 30°B

1 tbsp Cognac

1 tbsp water

Mix all ingredients & set aside.

Mousse au café

135 g whipping cream, whipped up

2 g sheet gelatine, bloom in cold water

12.5 g Cognac

Crème anglaise au café

60 g milk

10 g instant coffee

30 g egg yolks

20 g caster sugar

To make crème anglaise au café, whisk egg yolks & sugar in a saucepan, bring milk & coffee to boil in another saucepan then slowly whisk it into the yolk mixture.

Whisk the yolk mixture while heating over low heat until 82-85C.

Remove from heating & stir in the gelatine.

After cooling, mix in the Cognac.

Fold in the whipped cream.

Mousse au caramel

Crème caramel

75 g whipping cream

1/10 vanilla pod, split & seeded

43 g granulated sugar

25 g glucose

Pâte à bombe

30 g egg yolks

25 g sirop à 30°B

135 g whipping cream, whipped up

4 g sheet gelatine, bloom in cold water

1 tsp Cognac

To make crème caramel, warm whipping cream & vanilla.

In a saucepan, combine sugar & glucose, heat over low heat & caramelise, carefully stir in vanilla cream, then stir in Cognac.

Sift through to remove vanilla pod then stir in gelatine.

To make pâte à bombe, bring the syrup to boil then add slowly to egg yolks with stirring.

Fold pâte à bombe into creme caramel, fold in whipped cream.

Decoration

Coffee extract

Nappage (or apricot glaze)

Assembling

Cut the joconde into 3" square & place at the bottom of the mousse ring, Soak with syrup then pipe in the coffee mousse until half the height of the mousse ring.

Place another joconde on top & soak with syrup.

Pipe in the caramel mousse, freeze until firm.

Brush with coffee extract & cover the top with nappage/apricot glaze.

Remove from the rings & serve.

Chestnut Loaf Cake

2011-12-24T15:43:00.000Z

Winter is the time for chestnuts.

The lovely smell of chestnut, the rich & moist texture, the sophisticated note of rum all give to subtle & nutty flavours.

It's great on its own or as an accompanied to a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Also, a great way to celebrate winter.

Wish you all have a merry Christmas & happy New Year.

Recipe (4" x 8" pound cake):

Sweetened Chestnuts

200 g ready to use chestnuts

80 g water

40 g sugar

1 tbsp rum

Combine all ingredients & leave to stand for 2-4 hours.

Chestnut Loaf Cake

150 g sweetened chestnuts, drained & roughly chopped

100 g unsalted butter, soften

90 g icing sugar

2 eggs (L), separated

100 g unsweetened chestnut puree

100 g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp soda

1 tbsp rum

Preheat oven to 170C, mix & sift plain flour, baking powder & soda.

In a large bowl, whisk butter with 45 g of sugar until light & fluffy.

Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, until smooth.

Blend in chestnut puree & rum, mix until smooth.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy then add in remaining sugar gradually, then whisk to soft peaks.

Add 1/3 egg whites into chestnut batter, fold in gently.

Sift in flours, fold gently to mix.

Add the remaining egg whites & fold until smooth.

Add chestnut pieces & fold to mix.

Pour into a pound cake pan & bake for 40-50 min.

Chestnut Cream

100 g unsweetened chestnut puree

40 g unsalted butter

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp rum

Melt butter in a microwave & combine with all other ingredients.

Assembling

Remove the cake from the mould.

Decorate with chestnut cream & sweetened chestnuts.

Cream Cheese & Whipped Cream Cupcakes

2011-12-17T12:25:00.000Z

I baked these lovely cupcakes for my breakfast last week.

As a chocoholic myself, putting chocolate truffles inside is what I always do.

I usually warm the cupcake in a microwave so I'd have a melting chocolate centre, plus it's great with a cup of mocha :)

These cupcakes are moist, fluffy & light!

Recipe:

150 g cream cheese

170 g whipping cream

2 eggs (L)

130 g icing sugar

150 g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Chocolate truffles

Preheat oven to 180C & line muffin mould with cupcake cases.

In a large bowl, whisk up whipping cream with sugar.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, fold into whipped cream.

Add one egg at a time & whisk until smooth.

Mix & sift flour & baking powder, blend with the batter.

Fill in the prepared moulds until 2/3 full & squeeze in one chocolate truffle in each cake.

Bake in the oven for 30 min.

Sweet Orange

2011-12-07T20:08:00.001Z

I designed a cheesecake on a tart & drew it out.

I went shopping & bought all the things I needed.

At the end, I made something different.

Things don't always go as planned but it happens.

The cheesecake is great, I like the orange slices on the side & the ginger biscuit base.

I think the cake will look prettier with the cream on the tart but there was no whipping cream left when I decorated it.

It still tastes great & less calorie without cream :)

Recipe:

Cream Cheese Tart (7" round)

Crust

150 g ginger biscuit crumbs

70 g unsalted butter, melted

Line a loose base tart pan with parchment paper & preheat oven to 160C.

Mix all ingredients & press into the prepared pan.

Bake in the oven for 15 min.

Remove from oven, leave it to cool & refrigerate before use.

Cream cheese filling

2 eggs

130 g cream cheese

90 g sugar

1 tsp rum, best using orange liqueurs

Combine all ingredients & stir until smooth, pour into the prepared pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160'C for 20-30 min or until golden colour.

Orange Chilled Cheesecake (6" round)

150 g orange juice (about 2-3 oranges)

60 g sugar

100 g cream cheese

120 g whipping cream, whipped up

8 g sheet gelatine

1 unwaxed orange, halved & thinly sliced

Line a parchment paper on the base & the side of a loose base cake pan, arrange the orange slices on the side.

Soak sheet gelatine in cold water & squeeze out excess water.

Bring orange juice to boil, add in gelatine & stir to dissolve, leave to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth, fold into the whipped cream

Fold in the orange juice mixture, pour into the prepared pan & refrigerate to set.

Assembling

Remove the tart & cheesecake from the mould.

Place the cheesecake carefully on top of the tart.

Decorate as you like & enjoy.

Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse Cake

2011-11-30T14:30:00.005Z

Last week, I made a chocolate mousse cake for my birthday.

I always wanted to make an earl grey chocolate mousse cake & finally got around to make it for my special day.

I wasn't happy with the decoration overall, I wanted a dome shape & the chocolate ganache wasn't smooth.

I wasn't going to post this but it did taste really nice & rich so I decided to post it anyway.

I might try to make this again sometimes & I believe decoration will become better with practice.

I tend to design the cake before getting to make it e.g. the look & the flavours.

It's not always turn out like the drawings but I find it inspiring :)

I draw more often now as I have an iPad which is great for drawing but I rarely show my works here.

Jenny also made me an apple & red wine mousse cake which was pretty & delicious.

Recipe (6" dome):

Vanilla Crème Brûlée (5" round)

100 g whipping cream

18 g milk

1/4 vanilla pod, split & seeded

26 g sugar

1 egg yolk (L)

3 g sheet gelatine

Soak sheet gelatine in cold water & squeeze out excess water.

In a large bowl, mix egg yolk & sugar until smooth.

In a saucepan, bring whipping cream, milk & vanilla pod to boil, pour the vanilla cream to egg mixture & whisk while pouring.

Return to heating & bring to 82C.

Turn off heating, add bloomed gelatine & mix until smooth.

Pour into a 5" round container & refrigerate to set.

Chocolate Cake Base (5" round)

2 large eggs

50 g sugar

33 g all purpose flour

10 g cocoa powder

20 g unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C, line a 6" square loose base pan with parchment paper & grease the side.

In a large bowl, whip the eggs & sugar until pale & fluffy (approx. 3-4 min).

Mix & sieve all flours 3 times, add to the batter & fold until smooth.

Gently fold in melted butter.

Pour into the prepared pan & bake for 15-20 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Remove from oven & cool on a wired rack.

Earl Grey Syrup

2 teabags earl grey tea

40 ml boiling water

10 g sugar

1 tsp Grand Marnier

Mix all ingredients & let it stand for 10 min.

Remove teabags & leave to cool.

Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse

5 teabags earl grey tea

105 g milk

240 g dark chocolate 72%, melted

300 g whipping cream

2 tbsp sugar

In a saucepan, bring milk to boil, infuse teabags & leave to cool before removing teabags.

Whisk up the whipping cream.

Fold in melted chocolate & earl grey milk.

Chocolate Ganache

30 g whipping cream

45 g sugar

30 g water

16 g cocoa powder, sifted

2.5 g sheet gelatine, bloomed with cold water

In a saucepan, mix & warm all ingredients except gelatine, stir until smooth.
Go through a sift to remove any lump.
Add bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Assembling

Cut the chocolate cake into 2 pieces.

Pour 1/3 chocolate mousse into the mould, refrigerate to set.

Put in a piece of chocolate cake, brush generously to soak with the syrup.

Put crème brûlée on top & then chocolate cake, brush with the syrup.

Pour in the remaining mousse, refrigerate to set.

Remove from the mould, cover with chocolate ganache, refrigerate to set.

Decorate as you like & enjoy!

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake with Toffee Tuile

2011-11-17T18:16:00.006Z

Chocolate cake again!

The glory of autumn & winter is when I'm craving for chocolate & don't feel guilty of having too much of it.

I baked this dark chocolate & hazelnut cake on a cosy Sunday morning.

This is a true chocolate heaven, very rich & dark chocolatey.

It's very moist & dense, almost like the texture of a brownie.

It's best serving in a small slice with a cup of tea or coffee.

I also made some caramel-dipped hazelnuts & toffee tuile for decoration.

The tuile were simple to make, it's fun to see them melting & bubbling in the oven.

Caramel-dipped hazelnuts were more difficult & I burnt myself with the hot caramel, so be careful.

The end result was a pretty presentation of the chocolate beauty.

Recipe (makes 6):

adapted from Flagrante Delicia

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake

2 large eggs, separated

60 g icing sugar

100 g dark chocolate 85%

75 g unsalted butter

8 g plain flour

50 g hazelnut, toasted & skinned & powdered

1 tsp rum

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 180C & line a 6" square loose base pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks & sugar until light & creamy (approx. 3-4 min).

Add melted chocolate, mix well.

Gently fold in the flour, hazelnuts, rum & melted butter.

In another large bowl, whip up egg whites, fold 1/3 into the chocolate batter.

Fold in the remaining eggs whites & pour into the prepared pan & bake for 15 min.

Remove from oven & let cool on a wired rack.

Caramel-dipped Hazelnuts

60 g sugar

25 hazelnuts, toasted & skinned

Gently insert pointed end of a long wooden skewer into the side of each hazelnut.

In a saucepan, caramelise the sugar.

Dip a skewered hazelnut into the caramel, letting excess to drip back into the pan.

When dripping caramel becomes a thin string, Let stand until caramel string has hardened.

Repeat with remaining hazelnuts.

If caramel hardens before all hazelnuts have been dipped, rewarm it over low heat.

Toffee Tuile

50 g Werther's original caramels

Preheat oven to 180C.

Grind the caramels & spread a thin layer over a parchment paper.

Bake to melt then remove from oven to cool.

Assembling

Cut the chocolate cake into 9 small pieces.

Decorate with candied hazelnuts & toffee tuile.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.