Today mark the day I finally decided to go in to do Chocolate for cake baking .. I always find making chocolate related cakes / deco to be messy .. and yes .. it is messy haha but fun..
My colleagues are crazy over the Awfully Chocolate cake selling in the shop .. and i tasted a bit and find it too chocolaty for me hahaha ..
It took me sometime to decide going into making it. And i also have to decide on Full Cake? Or Cupcakes ..
Cupcakes it is .. coz its easier to handle and also minus the mess of cutting thru chocolate cake .. really tats messy hahaha ..
I bought a block of 500grm chocolate compound from Perling Indah last weekend ... I dont wanna spend the money on Converture as i thinking to take this time as a trial only .. hence let me use cheaper version so in case if fails .. not so heart pain ..
Anyway, i have a few tried and tested chocolate cake recipe .. full cakes and cupcakes .. but i search the internet anyway to see any others ..
I used this recipe from Add a Pinch which does not require vinegar coz i dont have it at home and i dont wanna buy a bottle just for a trial..
I added a ball of Godiva Dark Chocolate balls (someone gave me during Xmas last year .. and i dont remember who, hahah). I added one ball per cupcake .. i think this is the thing that make the inside still moist after baking ...
Anyway .. recipe is below .. try it out .. I got damn good review of it! :)
Chocolate Cupcakes (12 standard size cupcakes)
Recipe adapted from: Robyn Stone at http://addapinch.com/cooking/2013/02/07/chocolate-cupcakesrecipe/
Ingredients
Dry
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I reduced 1/8 cup... can reduce further)
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coffee powder
Wet
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup boiling water
I added 1 ball of Godiva Dark Chocolate balls (each ball is about 0.5mm dia) into each cupcake ..
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180oC2. Place cupcake liners in muffin tin.
3. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and coffee powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar & salt.
4. Using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
5. Add milk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined.
6. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
7. Evenly distribute cake batter. Each cupcake liner should be about 3/4ths full.
8. Place in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool cake before deco.
For the Ganache, I took the recipe from my fav baking teacher - Richard Goh's stage 3 Truffle Cake recipe.
It was really good when i tried the sample after the class .. so this it is ..
Chocolate Rum Ganache
Recipe from Richard Goh
Ingredients
250g
of Chocolate Converture (I used compound) – Grate / chop to fine pieces250g of Fresh Cream (I used Toppin)
½ tsp Rum essence
Method
1.
Using
a microwave proof boil, boil Fresh Cream in Microwave oven (approx 2 – 3 mins)2. Throw in the chocolate pieces and whisk till melted and mixed well.
3. Add rum essence if using.
4. Let mixture cool to piping consistency.
I did the
ganache on the same day hence I have to fridge it till the correct consistency.
If you have the time, you can do 1 day in advance.
I realised the ganache
is diff. texture from RG’s. I suspect is coz I used Compound instead of
Converture. Converture shld had more cocoa butter compared to compound which
have veg oil.
Can consider bitter semi sweet compound / converture. Ganache is a bit too sweet for my liking hahaha .. but most of my taster say good.
Can consider bitter semi sweet compound / converture. Ganache is a bit too sweet for my liking hahaha .. but most of my taster say good.
