Saturday, 13 October 2012

Dark Chocolate Loaf



HEY READERS! It has been quite a while since I posted a post in my blog. I really wanted to share what's baking and cooking in the house and bits and pieces about food and its preparations but... things turned out to be quite busy sometime. Anyway, straight to the point, I want to share you guys out there with this tested recipe adapted from PASTRIES by Pierre Hermé. This recipe actually is Sacher Torte which was created by a Viennese named Franz Sacher. What I did was... the cake wasn't spread with apricot jam and ganache on top of the cake which it is originally supposed to be done. But, I find it delicious even without them. So, here's the recipe to share.... :-) 

You'll need : One 7cm x 6cm x 16cm loaf pan, some butter, some flour

Ingredients : 
90 g dark chocolate, 70% cacao
80 g unsalted butter, softened
35 g castor sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
70 g castor sugar
80 g all-purpose flour, sifted

Method :
1. Preheat a convection oven to 170 degrees Celcius 
2. Butter loaf pan. Dust with flour.
3. In a bowl melt chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water - the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. When the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly. 
4. In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter with 35 g castor sugar and the cooled melted chocolate for around 5 minutes. 
5. Add yolks one by one and beat to incorporate.
6. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites with 70 g castor sugar into sof peaks.
7. Mix 1/3 of the egg whites with the chocolate preparation, then incorporate the remaining beaten egg whites and the sifted flour.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes - 50 minutes or until the tip of a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean. 

Additional steps into making the original Sacher Torte;
- Bring 100 g of apricot jam in a saucepan to boil and remove from the heat. Spread a thin layer over the surface of the cake.
- In another saucepan, bring 100 ml of cream to boil and pour over 100 g of dark chocolate (70% cacao). Cool in the refrigerator for 3 hours and spread over the jammed cake. 
- Serve with whipped cream. 

It sounds a bit of a burden in terms of the techniques being used to make this cake, but... if you understand and make it right, you'll be satisfied. I guarantee you. ENJOY. =)

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Chef's Quote : François Minot

"Anybody can make you enjoy the first bite of a dish, but only a real chef can make you enjoy the last."

Friday, 11 May 2012

Chocolate Meringue

Recipe: Chocolate Meringue

Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. This is such a simple pastry to make using the classic French method. Enjoy. 

INGREDIENTS :
80g egg whites (about 4 eggs)
120g caster sugar
10g icing sugar
10g cocoa powder
15g chocolate, roughly chopped for garnishing

METHODS :
1. Preheat the oven to 110°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Put the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on slow speed.
3. Gradually, add caster sugar and increase the speed.
4. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
5. Sift icing sugar together with the cocoa powder into the stiffened egg whites.
6. Fold the sifted sugar and powder carefully not to overwork the mixture.
7. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with nozzle and pipe onto the lined baking tray.
8. Sprinkle with the chopped chocolate and bake for 1½ hours.
9. Leave to cool.

Saturday, 14 January 2012

Chef's Tips 101 : Whisk it!

To easily whisk cream, refrigerate it for 15 minutes in the bowl you are going to use. There you go! 

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

My thoughts about blogging food.

      Hello readers. So this blogging thing started in my mind when I realized that I needed to do something to occupy my schedule this holiday since I am a post-SPM (high school examination) student. This blog I am starting to write is about food, mostly. I was thinking of posting recipes that are good enough to be shared to all the readers out there and be tried by all. Tips on cooking also might be given in some posts. Hope that you all will enjoy this blog as much as you enjoy eating or even cooking! Thank you. :)