that chocolate cake

that chocolate cake for a's twenty-twelve

this last year i rediscovered my love for baking. it is something i grew up doing in mama’s kitchen. i have many happy childhood memories of measuring ingredients in cups, cracking eggs into mixing bowls and holding the beater to cream butter and sugar, whip cream and transform egg whites into stiff peaks for meringues. it was mama who taught me how to make my own buttermilk to add to scones and how to sift flour without making a mess. the action of tapping the sifter against the base of the palm never ceases to make me feel like i am seven and standing over a mixing bowl in mama’s kitchen.

a brownie birthday cake with a rescue mission

brownie cake with crumb frosting

i have become the unofficial birthday cake baker for the family i have married into, and for my friends too. most of the time i do this willingly because what can be better than a home baked cake with a flourish of irregular frosting. it is very rarely that my baking efforts  go pear shaped and where they have i’ve been able to bandage them. but this isn’t the story of a cake like that. this is the story of a birthday cake that needed a rescue operation that enlisted the support of the hoover, a tub of cream cheese, plenty of oven cleaner and 'trying to stay calm when all you want to do is scream'. the end result was a cake that was every bit what i had wanted it to be but its passage, just like life was far from smooth.

beatty's chocolate cake for n's birthday

beatty's chocolate cake

cake is the marilyn monroe of bread. if you think of it, elaborate breads are the progenitor of cake. throughout ancient history sweetened enriched breads were made for special occasions like births, weddings, funerals, harvest festivals and religious occasions. but birthday cake, as we know it now is very much a nineteenth century custom. it was made possible by the industrial revolution when the ingredients that combine to make cake became easy to buy. it was helped along by the urbanisation of society and its various domestic paraphernalia like ovens, kitchen appliances and bake-ware. and of course the many house wives who pursued home economics as a profession. it is suggested that the modern form of birthday cake originated in america in the mid-nineteenth century, the standard birthday cake being one constructed from filled and frosted layers. this does not surprise me in the least given the american affinity for multi-layered cakes with over generous frosting.  

whatever it’s history, the tradition of birthday cake is one that i wholeheartedly agree with. as a child, both mama and baba always got fabulous birthday cakes for my brother and i. the best ones of course were home-made. my friends were fascinated by girly cakes constructed with the dismembered torso of barbie dolls, whose flared gowns were constructed with cake finished with bright pink and white piped frosting. i was always much more interested in the edible cake rather than the ensemble.

melting chocolate

creaming the butter for the buttercream

two-tone, adding the melted chocolate to the buttercream

homemade cake is wonderful. perhaps it is the alchemy of the batter or the smell of baking that warms and fills the house. it may also be the charm of eating teaspoons of batter on the pretext of affirming the taste of the cake. and most importantly the pleasure of watching the cake being eaten with impatience and delight. living abroad for the last several years has meant that i have been homemade birthday cake-less, which always makes me a little sad. but it is also the reason why i make o a birthday cake every year. this year my sister-in-law n got a homemade birthday cake too. while h pulled together a surprise dinner party i set out with my mixing bowls, mixer and the necessary ingredients to bake ‘beatty’s chocolate cake’ from barefoot contessa.

beatty’s chocolate cake is a lovely combination of a very moist chocolate cake made possible through ample liquid (buttermilk and freshly brewed coffee). it is sandwiched with chocolate buttercream made richer with a yolk. the combination works because the cake itself has very little fat (half a cup of vegetable oil) so the buttercream is essential to glam it up. i must confess i was a little alarmed by the thinness of the batter as it was like milk. i also had bake the cake in one tin as i did not have sandwich pans. this turned out to be a bit of a challenge as cutting the layers damaged the shape of the cake. i almost baked a new one but stopped myself when o called me bree van de camp. her character gives me the creeps! 

instead, i used the buttercream to effectively bandage the disintegrating cake. the glossy uneven flourish not only announced the cake’s homemade-ness but also camouflaged its slight lopsidedness. in any case, all of n’s friends were too busy eating and arguing over who would get the last slice of cake to pay attention to my ‘not-so-perfect’ baking. it made me realise that it isn’t perfection but the love of homemade cake that make’s birthday cake so special.

i am re-producing the recipe for beatty’s chocolate cake as it appears on the food network website. i did not make any changes to the recipe but include some notes from baking. the first one is obvious. follow the recipe to a t. as mentioned earlier i had to bake the cake in a single tin. aside from having to bake it for longer, it was quite difficult to cut the cake into two layers. the cake is so moist making it hard to cut properly which is what led to the cake being lopsided. however, i was certain that i could not dispense with the layer of buttercream in a centre as that’s what gives the cake it’s real flavour. also, use excellent quality cocoa, coffee and milk chocolate for the cake and the buttercream. i used nespresso as we have nespresso maker at home. if you don’t just use really good fresh coffee. in fact that was the only change i made in the frosting where i substituted the instant coffee for warm espresso.

beatty's chocolate cake from barefoot contessa at home

ingredients

butter, for greasing the pans

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

chocolate buttercream, recipe follows

preheat the oven to 350 degrees f. butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. in another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. with the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. with mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. with a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

milk chocolate buttercream

 chocolate frosting

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. on low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. don't whip! spread immediately on the cooled cake.

hawksmoor guildhall

the entrance to hawksmoor guildhall

i’ve been in a permanent state of food coma since the last week of november. a three day trip to geneva was something along the lines of a nakd nut and fruit bar for lunch followed by a dinner of steak frites one night, italian the second and fondue on the third.  of course a visit to geneva is not without its share of chocolate. i bought myself lindt kirschstengeli, delicate batons of dark chocolate dusted with cocoa which hold a centre of sugar crusted kirsch. i have always loved the williamine morand liquer bar by goldkenn whose milk chocolate capsules spill thin and sharp williams pear brandy. for o i got a box of martel chocolates, a long standing favourite chocolaterie. i also managed in the two nights i was there to try rohr. this is a beautiful little chocolate shop that has been in existence since nineteen fifty produces handmade chocolates. i bought a box of ten assorted pralines, marzipan and nuts based ones. i had hoped to find time to go to the tearoom at chocolaterie du rhone but got caught up in the united nations bookshop and so missed a good hot chocolate. there will be more on geneva by the by as i really must tell you about the fondue i ate, but for now it's on to hawksmoor guildhall.

a 'fake' birthday with a chocolate guinness cake

o's chocolate  guinness birthday cake

it is k.b.t.'s birthday on fifth december and he (unlike me) is very fortunate to celebrate each growing year with his siblings. this year's celebration came early as one of his siblings  is travelling on his actual birthday. to me there can be no birthday sans cake so i baked a really fudgy and rich guinness chocolate cake. a rather petulant o kept reminding me that it is his fake birthday but that was before he cut and ate his cake. 

guinness chocolate cake has been on my list of cakes to bake for a while. it is to me a perfect birthday cake especially for grown ups. the bitter coffee like flavour of guinness compliments chocolate very well. whilst pales ales tend to lighten stews and batter, stout has the opposite effect by concentrating flavours giving a dense batter. in this chocolate cake the guinness makes the batter bake to give a close fudge texture with a very compact crumb. it has the same effect on chocolate as does espresso but with a sharper and slighter bitter edge. the cream-cheese frosting is therefore the perfect addition as its sweet creaminess balances the cake. nigella captures that relationship between the frosting and the cake as echoing the pale head that sits on top of a glass of stout.

my way of baking the chocolate guinness cake is a combination of gizzi erskine, nigella lawson and the humingbird bakery's recipes for this cake. i borrowed from the hummingbird bakery's recipe the use of buttermilk in the cake batter and the recipe for the cream-cheese frosting. from gizzi's recipe i took the use of chocolate in addition to the cocoa. i also used soft brown sugar in place of caster sugar. my reasons for doing so were confirmed in the final cake. the buttermilk adds an element of lightness and tartness to the batter as opposed to the sour cream called for by both nigella and gizzi. the chocolate along with the cocoa ups the chocolate factor in the cake and the brown sugar has a lesser sweetness than caster sugar allowing the cream-cheese frosting to take centre stage. here's my adapted chocolate guinness cake recipe. i used a deep twenty-one cm cake tin to give the cake more height as i like tall birthday cakes. all three of the original recipes call for a twenty-three cm pan.

250 ml guinness

250 grams unsalted butter

100 grams chocolate (i use menier 70% swiss dark chocolate)

400 grams soft brown sugar

35 grams cacao (i used green and blacks)

2 free range eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

140 ml buttermilk

280 grams plain flour

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

a well greased cake-tin (see above for size)

  place the first four ingredients in a saucepan on a very low heat so that they melt together. give the pan an occasional stir to ensure that they are melting evenly. once they have done so remove the pan from the heat, add the cacao and stir through the mixture.

at this stage you can pre-heat the oven to a hundred and eighty degrees celsius. whisk together the eggs, vanilla and buttermilk by hand in a jug or bowl before adding them to the sweet chocolate and beer mixture.

sift the flour and raising agents together into a large mixing bowl. then add the mixture from pan into the flour and whisk by hand just enough to get a smooth batter. your batter will look bubbly and effervescent. pour it into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.

let the cake cool in the tin before you turn it out. this is quite a damp cake and it make have a tendency to stick to the sides. frost the cake only when it is absolutely cool. 

to make the cream-cheese frosting beat together 50 grams of unsalted butter with 250 grams of icing sugar until the mixture resembles coarse sand. then incorporate 125 grams of full-fat cream-cheese. whatever you do don't scrimp on the full-fat cream-cheese. you need a creamy soft icing for this cake! i frosted the cake in the morning leaving it to have a rough and wavy finish. i am sure gizzi's and nigella's cream-cheese frosting would taste reall good but thought it wouldn't be firm enough as the hummingbird bakery one which is why i chose it.i piped the initials of o's nickname k.b.t on top of the frosting in red. 

sadly, my birthday cake's are never as glamorous since i moved away from home. i am hoping that next year i'll be getting some 'mum-made' cake or perhaps something less christmas like than this year...

on grief and birthday's plus nigel slater's chocolate almond cake

lighting candles on the cake

it was o's birthday today and i was in two minds about birthday cake. of course there can be no birthday without cake but then there are no rules on bereavement. when is it okay to celebrate? and what exactly is celebration? of course religion's prescribe periods of mourning but then in o's words, his grand father put a period on an official mourning at three days. i am no fool to believe that prescriptions of time periods will determine the passing away of a loved one. grief isn't linear, it is interspersed with sadness and the celebration of happy memories too. after all, homer was right when he said that 'life and death are balanced on the edge of a razor'. 

caramel cake with brown butter frosting

my other half celebrated two and a half decades of his existence on saturday. last year i made him a really intense chocolate cake which was a little too sophisticated a birthday cake for a bar. so this year i decided to do something with frosting to be eaten in large thick slices or chunky squares. maya angelou’s caramel cake with caramel frosting was the perfect answer. there was one slight problem though – the recipe is far from simple. although relatively easy to make provided you follow the instructions it is really the tedium of it all and the various pots, pans, mixing bowls and spoons that get dirty making it. 

to start with there is the caramel syrup which calls for a constant swirling of the pan whilst the sugar is on the heat. the addition of hot water into the caramel is slightly scary as the sugar sputters and spits furiously with the liquid introduction especially when you are stirring it.

creaming the sugar and butter in the absence of a beater was a bit of a challenge (partly my fault as i didn’t manage to get the butter at room temperature in time). after the creaming was the sifting of the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and the beating of eggs with more sugar in yet another dish. 

once i had the cake safely in the oven (i used a square cake tin instead of two round ones) i turned my attention to the caramel frosting which called for browned butter. browning butter is all about care, the heat shouldn’t be too low so as not to get the butter hot but not to high either so as to burn the butter. i would recommend using a stainless steel pan so that the change in colour is visible. it took me around ten minutes and the butter was browned. i set this aside to cool and took a ‘dish washing’ break. 

once cooled i added icing sugar to the butter and having forgotten cream decided to improvise using the left over caramel syrup to soften the frosting. it gave it a really nice caramel colour and a deep earthy sweetness.

the cake emerged perfect from its square tin and was frosted thickly sitting on a red square base. the verdict: all of o’s friends loved it.  maya angelou’s caramel cake is a labour of love. and should you want to labour away you can find a little bit of conversation with the poet at her table and the recipe too.