Coke Chocolate Cake with Coke Icing

The exotic adventure of a recipe passed down for generations, and a Mother with the time to share it with us all is what got me into cooking to begin with. Long before the introduction of microwaves and convenience foods to our homes we built traditions that every year at Thanksgiving, and Christmas most of us attempt to get back into our lives. That being said I fear those days are slipping away, and with that some of the great recipes that came with them. Thank you to all those Chefs out there that are doing what they can to save us all from the loss of such treasures. Here’s my contribution to the cause…

Coca-Cola* Chocolate Cake with Coke Icing

The Cake:
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
½ Pound of Margarine
1 Cup Coca Cola
3 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
½ Cup Buttermilk
½ Cup Miniature Marshmallows
2 Eggs, Beaten
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Combine the Flour, Sugar, and Baking Soda in a bowl. Heat the Margarine, Cocoa Powder,Marshmallows, and Coca Cola to a boil. Pour over flour mixture; add Buttermilk, Eggs, and Vanilla. Mix well.
Bake 35 Minutes at 350 Degrees

Coca-Cola* Icing:

¼ Pound Margarine
6 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
6 Tablespoons Coca Cola
1 Pound of Confectioners Sugar
1 Cup Chopped Pecans

Combine Margarine, Cocoa Powder and Coke in a sauce pan to bring to a boil. Add Sugar and beat well until creamy. Add nuts and spread over warm Coke cake…..

* This recipe dates back to the time when we only had one Coke available. This would now be called Coca-Cola Classic for those that don’t remember the terrible day they pulled our original coke from the shelves…..

Alhambra(Rich Chocolate Cake) - Metric

Chocolate CakeIn my opinion the king of all chocolate cakes is the Alhambra. The techniques to make this cake are very involved, and the glacage coating step at the end is one of the most difficult skills to perfect*. During my time at Le Cordon Bleu this cake was our introduction to decorative piping, and marzipan work. I still to this day teach those wishing to perfect these skills to pick up a jar of clay just like the one you used as a child, and a tube of toothpaste to use in your practice. Both can be reused, and will save you a great deal of money over throwing away costly ingredients. For a variation of the Alhambra try the Sacher Torte which is identical in every way with the exception of the filling. The Sacher Torte is filled with Apricot jam in place of the Ganache.

Sachertorte aux Noisettes( Very Dense Sponge)

Cocoa Pods

55 g ground hazelnuts

40 g soft flour

40 g cocoa powder

110 g caster sugar
135 g unsalted butter
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
60 g caster sugar

Imbibage
120 mL water
150 g sugar
1x5 mL spoon coffee extract
75 mL rum

Ganache
250 mL cream
250 g dark chocolate couverture

Glacage
150 mL cream
150 g dark chocolate couverture
50 g butter

Finition/Décoration- Optional
Ganache or chocolate couverture for writing and other piping
Marzipan or modeling chocolate for roses and leaves
Cocoa powder

steps:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Double butter an 10 inch cake pan and line with parchment. Lightly dust pan with flour.
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, hazelnuts together
3. Cream the butter and 110 g of caster sugar together
4. Lightly beat the egg yolks, cream the yolks into the butter
5. Whisk egg whites to soft peak
6. Add 60 g caster sugar to the egg whites, whisk whites to stiff peak
7. In a separate bowl fold in 1/3 of the egg whites with 1/2 of the dry ingredients until just incorporated, add an additional 1/3 of the egg whites and fold in.
8. Add the remaining 1/2 of the dry ingredients, and fold gently into your mixture. Fold in the remaining 1/3 of the egg whites.
9. Pour batter into your cake pan and level. Bake the sponge at 160°C for approximately 45 minutes, or a toothpick inserted in the center is removed clean.

Make the Ganache-

1. Place cream into a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat.
2. Once cream is boiled add all chocolate at once.
3. Whisk until smooth, transfer to a stainless bowl, cover, and allow to sit overnight.

Make the Imbibage-
1. Mix 120 mL of water and 150 g of sugar together in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce by 1/2, remove from heat and add 5 mL of coffee extract and 75 mL rum. Whisk to incorporate. Reserve.

Assembly-

1. When you're sponge is cold, slice horizontally to divide the sponge into two separate discs of equal thickness. The top portion will now become the base of your cake, and must now be inverted onto your cake card with the cut facing up.
2. Using a pastry brush gently dab the Imbibage onto the sponge making sure to coat evenly. Do not allow yourself to go overboard, the purpose is to provide moisture to the cake without making your cake soggy.
3. Using a pastry bag pipe the ganache starting from the center of your sponge in a circular pattern until the sponge is completely covered.
4. Add the remaining layer of sponge creating a sandwich appearance with sponge, ganache, sponge as your cake.
5. Brush top layer of the sponge with the Imbibage, and immediately place the whole cake into the freezer.
6. Make the glacage-by boiling 150 mL of cream and immediately removing from heat. Add 150 g of dark chocolate couverture, and 50 g of unsalted butter and whisk smooth using a spoon to prevent incorporating air into your mixture.
7. Place a wire cake cooling rack over the top of the sheet pan. Place cake on the rack and gently pour 1/3 of the glacage on the top of the sponge slowly just until the cake is covered. Smooth with a cake spatula and return the cake to the freezer for several minutes.
8. Remove the cake from the freezer, and gently smooth the glacage with a cake spatula. Add 1/3 of the glacage to the sponge however this time to not smooth with a spatula. Wait several minutes, and pour the remaining glacage on making sure the cake is completely covered. This process should leave you with a perfectly smooth exterior coating on the cake. If not, make a second batch of glacage and repeat the process over the previous glacage layer.

*Most commercial glacage applications are performed using an enrobing machine as it speeds up the process a great deal.

Gâteau de la forêt-Noire(Black Forest Gâteau)- Metric

Black Forest Gateau


Gâteau de la forêt-Noire(Black Forest Gâteau)- Metric

Ingredients:

Gênoise au Chocolat

3 Eggs

3 Egg Yolks

130g Soft Flour( Cake Flour)

30g Cocoa Powder



Sirop au Kirsch

80g Sugar

80ml Water

40 ml Kirsch

Crême Chantilly

600 ml Cream

60 g Sugar

Vanilla Essence

Garniture

250g Griotte Cherries

10g Cornflour(Cornstarch)

100ml Syrup from Griottes

500 ml Black Cherry Preserves

Steps:

1. Mix the eggs and sugar together, and cook over a hot water bath until ribbon stage is reached.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together, and fold dry ingredients into egg mixture in three parts. Fold to incorporate between additions.

3. Pour batter into floured cakes form and smooth. Make sure to create a slight dimple in the center.

4. Bake in a preheated 180°C oven until a toothpick inserted in the center can be removed clean. Invert cake onto a cooling rack, removing form, allow to cool completely.

5. Prepare the soaking syrup, and Chantilly cream while allowing your cake to cool.

6. To make the syrup add the sugar, water, and Kirsch into a small saucepan and reduce by half over medium to high heat. Allow to cool.

7. To make the filling, heat the syrup from the griotte in a medium saucepan. Add just enough water to the cornstarch to make a smooth paste. Add paste to the syrup as it begins to boil and stir to incorporate. Allow to cook for one minute, or the starchy flavor has been removed. Remove from heat fold in cherries. Reserve.

8. Remove the crust from the edges of the cake, and cut cake horizontally into three separate layers.

9. Brush bottom layer of cake with syrup. Spread a thin layer of black cherry preserves.

10. Add a second layer of sponge. Brush with syrup, pipe a thin layer of Chantilly cream to form a border, and add a thin layer of cherry filling to fill center of cake.

11. Top with final layer of sponge. Brush with syrup, and allow to soak one minute.

12. Covered cake with thin layer of Chantilly cream to serve as a crumb coat.

13. Finnish cake with a smooth layer of Chantilly cream. Use a crumb scraper on the sides to create thin grooves. Garnish with fresh cherries, and shaved dark chocolate.

Pastry Cream

Pastry CreamPastry cream is a thickened vanilla custard used in hundreds of desserts and pastries worldwide. It has always been a staple in any kitchen I've ever worked and more importantly is one of the first things I teach to those eager to become a chef. During my studies I was taught that around the year 1440, when the Paris pastry guild first published its constitution is when its use appears in classical French cuisine. This also happens to be the first point in history with the term pastry chef entered our lives. *
From cream puffs, éclairs, parfaits, and the filling for hundreds of cakes and pies, our lives would not be the same without the advent of pastry.

Pastry Cream

1 quart heavy cream
2 vanilla beans, split
3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 ounces granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
steps:
1. Place the heavy cream and vanilla bean in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil on the stove and reduce heat to prevent boiling over.
2. Mix the cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add the eggs gradually while whisking until smooth.
3. Slowly add about one third of the heavy cream to the egg mixture while whisking continuously. Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining heated cream.
4. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture just begins to boil and thickened. Continue to stir, while counting to 10. Remove from heat, taste to make sure all starch flavor has been removed. If you can still taste the starchy residue, return to heat and cook a couple seconds longer.
5. Transfer to a heat proof container, and place plastic film directly on top of custard making sure to remove all air bubbles. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely.
6. When ready to use your pastry cream, removed from the refrigerator, remove plastic and vanilla beans, and knocked back with a wooden spoon until smooth.
7. Rinse the vanilla bean with cool water, and pat dry with a paper towel. The vanilla bean can now be added to your sugar canister to continue to add flavor for future baking needs.
Variations:
Coffee flavored pastry: Dissolve 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder in the cream before whisking it into the egg yolk mixture
Chocolate pastry cream: add 4 ounces of melted semi sweet chocolate to the warm cream, prior to adding to the egg mixture.
Butterscotch pastry cream: substitute for ounces of light brown sugar and place of granulated sugar in the recipe.
Orange pastry cream: add 3 fluid ounces of Grand Marnier liquor, and 1 ounce grated orange zest.
Praline pastry cream: add 1/2 cup of ground peanut brittle after your custard has been removed from the stove, whisk to incorporate, cover and refrigerate as with the original recipe.
Crème diplomat (Bavarian cream): equal parts of the whipped pastry cream and whipped cream folded together to incorporate evenly.

*You can read more on the subject by picking up copies of Culture and Cuisine: A Journey Through the History of Food, Jean-Francois Revel, and Larousse, Gastronomique ,as both provide us with wonderful historic accounts for the use of pastry cream.

7-up Pound Cake

Pound CakeMy Friend Becky asked me to share my favorite Pound cake recipe so I thought I would share a recipe that is a favorite due to its unique ingredient,a soft drink. The addition of Soft Drinks as recipe ingredients is actually a common practice in Southern cooking. I love Pound cake, and recommend the use of Lemon Curd as a topping. you can find a recipe for Curd in a prior Blog Post! For those that do not reside in the United States, 7-Up is a Lemon-Lime flavored carbonated beverage. Please do not use the diet variety as the recipe will not turn out the same.

Ingredients:
8 Ounces Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Shortening
3 Cups Granulated Sugar
5 Eggs
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup 7-Up
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Steps:
Let Butter sit at room temperature until soft. Mix Butter, Shortening and Sugar together and beat with your mixer until fluffy in appearance. Add Eggs, one at a time, while beating on low speed. Add Flour in 1/2 cup stages with the addition of 7- up in between. Incorporate all ingredients evenly. Pour Batter in prepared loaf pan, and bake at 325° F. for 80 Minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle is removed clean.

Banana Layer Cake

3 Cups All-purpose flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 Cup Unsalted butter, Room temperature
2 1/4 Cups Granulated sugar
3 Each Eggs, Well beaten
5 Each Ripe bananas, Mashed
1/4 Cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla, Extract
1 Cup Pecans, Finely chopped

Frosting and filling
1/2 Cup Mashed bananas
2 Teaspoons Fresh lemon juice
1/2 Cup Unsalted butter, Room temperature
1 Pound Confectioners' sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
3 Each Bananas, Sliced thin

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 3 nine inch cake pans. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and set aside. Put the butter and sugar and a large mixing bowl and cream together until smooth. Slowly pour in the eggs, mixing well between each addition. Stir in the bananas.

2. Add the dry ingredients into the buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and pecans. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are brown and the edges pull away from the pans, or a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five to ten minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

3. Make the frosting. In a small bowl, mix the mash bananas and the lemon juice together and set aside. In another bowl, with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the mash bananas, blending well. Stir in the vanilla extract. To assemble, spread a layer of icing on one of the cake rounds, then top with a layer of sliced bananas. Place the second cake layer on top of the bananas and repeat with more icing, then bananas. After placing the third layer on top, spread the remaining icing over the sides and top of the cake.

Caribbean Style Coconut Cake

If you’ve spent some time with us in south Florida, I have no doubt asked you to try the Coconut Cake while catching up over rum drinks……Here's how to make it.
Caribbean Coconut Cake
The Sponge:
3 Cups Cake flour, Sifted
3 Teaspoons Baking powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Unsalted butter, Softened
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
4 Each Large eggs, Room temperature
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 Cup Whole milk
1 Batch Coconut frosting, See recipe below
Steps:
1. Butter, and Flour 3 each nine inch cake pans

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract. Add to flour mixture alternating with the milk in four or five additions. Make sure to begin and end with a flour addition making sure you fold ingredients gently.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Stagger the pans on one or two oven racks set in the center of the oven making sure that no pan is directly over another and that the pans do not touch each other or the oven walls.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center comes out moist but with no batter clinging. Cool in the pans 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks and allow to cool completely.
5. Prepare coconut frosting recipe.
6. Frost and stack the layers, pressing in as much coconut as will cling easily before stacking. Frost the top and sides and press remaining coconut on the top and around the cake.
7. Let the cake stand two to three hours before slicing.

Coconut Frosting:
2 Each Fresh coconuts, Roasted, scrape meat, and shred
1 Cup Water
1/2 Teaspoon Distilled white vinegar
2 Cups Granulated sugar
4 Each Egg whites, Room temperature
20 Each Marshmallows, Regular size (large)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 Teaspoon Coconut Flavored Rum
1. Cut marshmallows with a pair of scissors, and reserve making sure to keep them moist.

2. Combine the water and distilled vinegar in a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, stir in the sugar until dissolved, cover, and boil for two minutes to melt the crystals on the side of the pan; uncover and boil without stirring over moderate heat until the syrup creates a 4 inch thread when poured from a spoon (238 degrees on a candy thermometer).

3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff don't let dry. Pour the hot syrup in a thin stream over the egg whites, beating constantly. Add the marshmallows, a few pieces at a time, while beating in the syrup, until all are used

4. Add vanilla extract and continue to beat until cool and thick enough to spread. Reserve for service