Chocolate Jam Cake

With Polka Dot Collar

<Note: Once again Livewriter and Blogger are not working with each other so if this post looks a little off, my apologies>
 
The day has come to post my final blog. I get emotional leaving the blogging world and don’t know how to go about it…not quite ready to say goodbye so I will just say that I’m taking a long vacation…in that way, I can come back if I miss sharing the wonderfully, spectacular, amazing recipe I find on my vacation, right?

This has been a pretty busy year. The family room remodeling we started back in June finally finished last week, yay!  Four trips to see our grandchildren plus the contractor took a three week over-sea trip as well (we didn't see him for 5 weeks and I was a little worried) delayed the finish. During the extra hectic six months, I was just so ready to quit, however, I wanted to see the 5 year blog anniversary which came on December 4th. Now it’s time to do something new. 
I have made some great dishes, many were good, a few were so-so and the rest were nasty. I posted them all because I didn’t have a back-up. My readers are so kind leaving very nice comments each week. I’m truly grateful for that.
This recipe I chose for my last entry is Italian cake from my old cook book, somewhat dense though, the polka dots resemble falling snow…great fit for Christmas scene (don’t you think?) and has nostalgic mayonnaise cake like flavor.

Ingredients and Instruction for 1 nine inch cake pan (Print Recipe Here)

Necessary equipment – food scale, stand or hand held electric mixer, sifter, 9 inch round with at least 2-1/2 inch depth cake pan, parchment paper
For cake -

• 125g butter (1 stick and 1 Tablespoon), room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam
• 1/3 cup self rising flour*
• 1 cup all-purpose flour*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda*
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder*  Note: Combine all asterisk marked ingredients and sift 3 times, do not skip this process
  .
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Grease inside of the pan with butter or oil. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom and side inside (1/2 taller than the pan) of the pan. Heat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition. Then add strawberry jam, mix very well.
3. Fold in pre-sifted flour mixture alternately with buttermilk with large spatula. Stir until smooth but avoid over mixing.
   
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 45 minutes until wooden skewer comes out clean. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool. Peel off the paper.
     

For White Chocolate Icing -

• 150g (4-3/4 oz) white chocolate, cut in small pieces though, not necessary if using round melts.
• 125g (4oz) butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup cream 

1. Combine chocolate, butter and cream in a small pan. Stir oven low heat until melted. Transfer into small bowl to cool, stirring occasionally. It will be semi-solid in about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
   
2. Transfer cake to serving plate. Spread sides and top of cake evenly.
   

For Chocolate Collar – measure the height , circumference of cake with ruler. Cut parchment paper accordingly.

• 40g (1-1/3oz) white chocolate, shaved
• 80g (2-2/3oz) dark chocolate, shaved
  

1. Melt white chocolate in double-boiler on low heat until creamy. Drop melted chocolate randomly on prepared paper strip and smooth  to flatten a little bit. Allow to set, about 40 minutes to 1 hour. Note: over-heating chocolate make the chocolate grainy so do not go beyond 120F. 96F is ideal temperature. I recommend to use instant read food thermometer.
   
2. Melt dark chocolate the same way as above. Working quickly, spread the chocolate evenly over the entire strip.
   
3. Immediately  wrap the chocolate side of paper around cake. Wait for the chocolate to set. Carefully peel the paper off. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Dust top with cocoa powder.
      

I put strawberry Santas on for seasonal effect – I loved that each Santa has his own character…’みんな違って、みんないい' We are all different and all wonderful!…famous quote of Misuzu Kaneko the Japanese poet.

Like I said, every blogger is different and all are wonderful! I come to enjoy each one of you and your gifts. I was inspired, got misty eyes and laughed out loud.
Thank you, thank you very much! I’m thankful for my husband also for huge part of creating, without him and his support this would have never happened. I will continue to follow you as much as I can. I am wishing you the very best…you all are awesome!
First time in three years, I put up a Christmas tree…the vaulted ceiling makes the tree look so small…but cute…

 I sincerely hope the season will bring you peace and love.

Chocolate Cup Cake

Chocolate Cake With Purple Sweet Potato Cream

I lost 1 pound in two weeks…swell, right? Honestly, dieting is stressing me out…I definitely need a cheat day once a month. This chocolate cake sounds really delicious! I need to a test run for Saint Valentine’s cake anyway, D’accord? (agree?)..Oui, oui.

This cake is not overly difficult I think (delusional, perhaps)…it has lots of steps though…many dirty dishes to wash - I crammed most of them into the dishwasher but not all bowls fit in there…phew! To avoid being overwhelmed by lengthy instructions, I baked cake the night before.

Ingredients and Instructions for 1 cake (skip this process if you are using store bought chocolate sponge cake) (Print Recipe Here)

Necessary equipment – 1 round cake pan (7 inch cake pan prefer, 8 inch round pan is acceptable), parchment paper, food scale, food thermometer, sifter, stand  mixer or hand held electric mixer.

• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 100g granulated sugar
• 75g low viscosity flour (薄力粉)
• 15g unsweetened cocoa powder
•  15g milk
• 10g vegetable oil
• 20g butter

1. Before you start, do  A, B and C  A. Get some parchment paper (do not use non-stick kind because it prevents the cake from rising, I used printer paper) cut to the size of round pan bottom and 1 inch taller than the sides. B. combine milk, oil and butter in a small bowl, double boil to melt and keep around 122F..C. Sift flour and cocoa powder 3 times.
2. Set mixing bowl over a size smaller pan with hot water (water should not touch the bottom of top bowl) simmering. Beat eggs, egg yolk and sugar with whisk until temperature reaches 98F. Remove bowl from heat and run electric mixer on high (my stand mixer, speed # 8) for 7 minutes, change the speed to low (speed # 2), mix for 4 minutes.
3. Start heating oven to 338F. With rubber spatula, sprinkle flour and fold in 4 sections. Scoop the batter from bottom of the bowl to gently incorporate. Turn the bowl 1/4 circle every time you put flour in. Do not over work this process and do this as quickly as possible.
4. Check the temperature of milk mixture, if it is below 122F then warm up to right temperature. Use deep ladle to transfer one big scoop of batter into milk mixture and mix well. Back into the bowl of batter and fold in from bottom. 4-5 times.This step helps blend better than pour milk mixture straight into the batter.
   
5. Fill batter into paper lined pan within an inch or so from the top Stir lightly over the pan with spatula to prevent center of cake to cave in. Hold pan with both hands and tap the cake pan on hard counter 2-3 times to remove air bubbles. Bake for 30 minutes. Insert wooden skewer to check the doneness. Remove from oven, drop the cake pan from 5-6 inches above counter, this helps prevent the cake from sinking. Remove the cake from the pan, place it on cooling rack for a few minutes.
   
6. Remove paper from side and bottom. Place it up-side down on cooling rack. Wrap with plastic wrap while the cake is slightly warm, this will keep it moist
    

Ingredients and Instruction for Purple Sweet Potato Cream and Chocolate veneer (printable recipe at cake instruction)

Necessary equipment – food scale, food thermometer, non-stick parchment paper, electric mixer, fine mesh strainer

• 300g (about) Purple Sweet Potato, peel skin and cut in chunks
• 45g granulated sugar
• 45g milk
• 70g plus Chantilly cream – whip 100g of heavy cream with 1 Tablespoon sugar until soft peak
• 2-3 drops of rum flavoring (optional)
• 300g (about) chocolate shaved  Note: I used Hershey special dark chocolate bar.

1. Sweet potato paste – Place cut sweet potatoes in medium pan and pour in cold water, bring to boil then simmer until soft. Drain water through colander. put potato back in the same pan, shake the pan to remove the moisture with remaining heat. Add sugar, milk then smash potatoes with potato masher or fork while it’s still hot. Strain through fine mesh, this process enforces creaminess.
   
2. When the sweet potato paste is cooled, add Chantilly cream 1/3 at a time and mix well to achieve soft but not too loose cream. Add rum flavoring if using and stir. Cover and keep in the refrigerator until needed.
3. Prep for chocolate veneer – cut parchment paper to size – exact perimeter of the cake(s) x 1/2inch taller than cake height. Note: I was making individual cakes instead of 1 large, so needed 5,6 rectangular sheets. In order to make smaller cakes, just use a round biscuit cutter or a glass cup.
4. Tempering chocolate – set aside a large bowl of 1-2 cups* of ice water. Double boil shaved chocolate (boil the water in pan, sit a bowl of chocolate on top, water not touching the bottom of the bowl) to melt, stirring frequently. When the temperature reaches 96F, remove from heat and carefully put in the ice water bowl so that water does not get in the chocolate, continue to stir to lower the temperature to 80F. Put bowl back in the double boiler, raise the chocolate temperature to 90F. *water level should not be over the chocolate bowl.
    
5. Spread tempered chocolate evenly (do not spread too thick, especially if you want to achieve the delicate look) on the prepared parchment paper(s) using plastic spreader and let it (them) cool for 2-3 minutes
   .
6. Attach the chocolate/parchment sheet to side of cake(s). Refrigerate until chocolate is solid. Gently peel off parchment paper.Don’t be afraid of imperfection…distressed look is interesting, it adds drama!
7. Construction – Put sweet potato cream in a piping bag with *tip attached (if the cream is very cold, microwave for 10-20 seconds with 50% power to loosen). Pipe out cream to fill space on top of cake. *Any tip but pinhole tip works.
   Decorate with fruits (optional). I added Chantilly cream on a few.

I quickly distributed some to my neighbors…to avoid over indulging. I hope I’m not sabotaging their diet if they are on one …so far they’re gracious recipients.

Although this cake is mighty fine… maybe not that ONE for Valentine’s Day…keep searching…I thought we’re going out, my husband quipped…right,
Je sais (I know).

Chocolate Christmas Cake

Raspberry Chocolate Cake With Caramelized Almonds

Technically this is not a Christmas Cake…obviously, we did not have this for Christmas…  Fujiya (不二家) the huge bakery chain in Japan had a genius idea in 1922. Let’s sell Christmas cakes to a non-Christian nation!

Sounds fishy but it worked! Just having a beautifully decorated cake on Christmas day brings happiness to all of the children of Japan (?)…our home included.  Anticipation of waiting for the cake to arrive, lighting up the candles, taking pictures with cheap camera (in the dark ) - none of them turned out good naturally, rock, paper and scissors with siblings to see who gets the sugar Santa…all good memories. To see this year’s selection click here…hurry, today is the last day to order.

We were puzzled one year over our finally-arrived Christmas cake, 
‘Is this what we ordered?” 
“I dunno…. “
Back then the order was made by using the ‘pointing system’ from the poster hung in the store front, we’d like that one, no not that one, the one on the right… then the store clerk would write down on the piece of paper.
It was era of no cell-phones…who do you call? Ghost busters?..just kidding. The delivery boy was long gone ….we started worry that the fresh cream would melt and it was too big to fit in the tiny refrigerator. Examining the cake for 10, 15 minutes, hoping someone to say, let’s eat but initiating the first move felt wrong somehow.
We were saved by the bell finally… the door bell. ‘My bad” said delivery boy (not so much as the words of course). He gave us the right one and took the not–our–cake which I saw my brother licked the conspicuous area while examining it…. what a rascal.

Phew! I shouldn’t make the cake between errands and obligations. Rush to decorate, rush to take pictures… lost bit of joy of baking…just a tad.

Ingredients and Instruction for one 8 inch cake (Print Recipe Here)

Necessary equipment – 8 inch removable bottom round pan, food scale, parchment paper,  food thermometer, pastry brush, electric mixer

For caramelized almond

• 50g sugar
• 20g water
• 60g sliced almond

For cake

• 4 egg whites
• 80g and 60g sugar
• 70g unsalted butter room temperature
• 4 egg yolks
• 70g of 60% cacao chocolate shaved Note: no shaving is necessary for chocolate tablets. Save your time by shave all your chocolate at once and label it.
• 80g low viscosity flour (薄力粉)
• 4g baking powder

For Grenache

• 280g cream
• 185g dark chocolate (I used 60% cacao chocolate) shaved

For syrup

• 45g sugar
• 50g water
• 2-3 drops of rum flavoring or orange extract

For Chocolate coating

• 180g cream
• 60g dark chocolate, shaved
• 80g milk chocolate, shaved

Fruits – Any berries for filling and garnish (optional)

1. Make almond caramel  – Put water and sugar into small sauce pan, boil for few minutes to thicken at medium heat, turn off heat and add almonds and stir well until it gest dry, color gets white and crystalize. Back on the burner and stir frequently until the almonds turn deep brown at medium heat. Spread onto parchment paper to cool. Chop. Set aside
   . 
2. Prepare and set aside following - cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan, and side (cut so that it is a little bit taller than the pan, mine showed that it’s unnecessary tall).
   
   Sift flour and baking powder together.
   Melt 70g of shaved chocolate in small  microwave proof bowl and microwave for1-2 minutes with 50% power stir well.
3. Beat the egg white and 80g sugar In large bowl on high till stiff peak but not dry Set aside.
   
4. Pre-heat oven to 356F. In another bowl, cream butter with whisk or hand held mixer until light then add 60g of sugar and egg yolk,  mix well with each addition. Check the temperature of melted chocolate, ideal temperature is 113F/45C, (if it’s too low then put back in the microwave for 5 to 10 second at 50% power to warm it up, cold chocolate will result in heavy batter) add chocolate to egg yolk mixture and stir well .
5. Add half of meringue into the egg yolk mixture and whisk lightly together. Switch to spatula, fold it in the sifted flour and baking powder mixture until you no longer see the flour. Add rest of meringue and combine without over mixing. Bake for 30 minutes, turn the oven off after 30 minutes, perhaps the cake is still wet though, leave the pan in the oven will cook through. Leave there until it’s cool.
    
6. Make syrup – Boil water and sugar until the sugar resolve, add rum flavoring or orange extract after it cools down..
7. Make ganache and coating  – Put shaved chocolate in the bowl. Cook cream at medium heat in a small sauce pan until the bubbles start appearing, turn off heat. Add 1/3 of cream into bowl, gently stir first then beat with wooden spatula, add rest of cream in two steps. stir well until smooth. chill in the refrigerator to thicken ( in assembly process, use room temperature ganache). *Make coating chocolate same way but no need to chill. Set aside.
8. Assembly - Slice cake in three. Brush syrup on top side of one sliced cake. Spread ganache (mix well before so that it is easy to spread) on top, raspberries is next, spread more ganache. Brush the one side of another sliced cake, place onto the first layer syrup side down, brush syrup on top and repeat ganache-raspberries ganache process. Brush the syrup on the last piece of cake and place on top of 2nd layer syrup side down. Brush syrup on very top then spread ganache. Sprinkle some chopped caramelized almond (no need to use all).
   
9. Coating – make sure that coating chocolate is loose- may need to warm in the microwave for 10 second or so (50% power). Pour over the cake at once and spread with pallet knife to smooth out top and side. Decorate with fruits if you like.
   

Variation – Skip caramelized almonds and fruits for sleek look and short cut…then call it simply ‘Chocolate Cake’.

Spreading joy! (and calories) - I sent my husband to deliver pieces of this cake to neighbors.

The nativity display at Portland Oregon Temple

I’m sincerely grateful for your visit to my blog.

May your world be filled with peace and happiness this holiday season.