Saturday 7 May 2016

Chocolate Cake with frosting

One of the most loved flavours in desserts has been Chocolate. The smooth, creamy texture of chocolate, as it slowly melts in your mouth!! Don't you think, it is one of the best feelings in the world? The endorphins (feel-good hormones) produced give us a feeling, incomparable to any other!!  They also contain anti-oxidants which protect the body from aging! That's some good news! ;)

The secret to a classic chocolate cake, is simply air and more air, as this will guarantee a light and fluffy cake. Try this recipe yourself to prove to yourself just how easy it is to make a creamed cake!!


Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter, softened, (plus extra for greasing)
175g granulated sugar
3 eggs
125g self-raising flour, (plus extra for dusting)
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp of yoghurt


Filling:

50g unsalted butter, softened
75g icing sugar, (plus extra for dusting)
25g cocoa powder
2-3 tbsp milk, or as needed


Special Equipment:

2* 17cm round cake tins


Method:

  1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC /350ºF. Grease the cake tins with butter and dust it with flour till it is well-covered.
  2. Wet ingredients: Place the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Use an electric whisk to cream the two ingredients together until light and fluffy.
    Remember: Cream the butter and sugar till 3-4 minutes, otherwise your cake will not get a light texture. The more you beat at this stage, the better it will come out.  
  3. Add the eggs one a time to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition using an electric whisk. To begin with the eggs will seem separate from the creamed mix, but on further blending, they will eventually combine and take on an "emulsified" or a well-blended appearance that is soft and creamy looking.
     
  4. Dry ingredients: Sift the flour, cocoa and the baking powder into a separate bowl. Though it is not essential, yet if you want you may sift the mixture twice for a well-aerated mix. 
  5. Now fold in the butter and sugar mixture into the dry mix using a figure-of-eight motion. No need to google this term. it is as simple as it sounds. Make an "8" using your spatula. All your ingredients will get blended uniformly. 
  6. Fold in the yoghurt and milk. The flour mixture must be gently folded to avoid knocking out the-very-important air out of it. I had to add extra milk as the consistency was not as viscous as much as I wanted it to be. It should flow when tilted.
  7. Divide the mixture evenly between 2 cake tins by alternately filling them with equal spoonfuls of mix. Or else you may even bake it in just 1 cake tin and then divide the cake into 2 halves. I have a trick, scroll to the end for the trick ;). 
  8. Now spread the mixture out so that there is a slight dip in the centre, to prevent the cake from peaking in the centre. This is a very useful advice that I once received from someone. 
  9. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes. Insert a metal skewer in it, check if it comes out clean and dry! Let the cakes stay in the tin for 5 minutes. Remove and place them on a wire rack to cool down.

Make the Buttercream filling:

To make the Buttercream filling, mix together the butter, icing sugar and cocoa by beating them together until smooth, soft and thoroughly blended. If the buttercream is a little tough, add a drop of milk and mix again until it is soft enough to spread.

If you have baked 2 cakes, turn and place one of the cakes on the wire rack (preferably the one which has risen more than the other). 
Spread the filling over its bottom with a spatula, while rotating the plate, to evenly spread the frosting. Place the other cake upside down on this. Since I was left with some extra frosting I layered it on top as well. You may also dust it with some icing sugar.


Remember: Wait for 10-15 minutes for the cake to cool down, or else the icing would melt. 

 `

THE TRICK!

If you wish to bake just 1 cake and half it:
Tighten a thread around the middle of the cake. tighten the thread gently and it will automatically cut the cake into a neat half. 


Looks like a giant chocolate macaron! 

Later once you refrigerate it, you may just have it as it is..... or even better, heat it for 10-15 seconds in the microwave, and add a dollop of any ice-cream of your choice!!!

Feeling - INCOMPARABLE!!

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