Hey guys! How you going? Another week of work, study, school done. Another recipe for this week. I definitely love this cake, well I say that about all my cakes really haha I am so bias. I definitely liked how this one photographed.
White chocolate ganache drizzle, handmade flowers, and handmade pears painted gold. I think this cake just has a crisp perfection look to it. Like I don't see any imperfections. One thing my Mum said was really about me was I am a perfectionist. I don't think that is a bad thing, I am just very particular how I wasn't things to look. It shows that I am super passionate about my cakes and care what the finished product is going to look like.
This cake is a buttermilk cake, with a coffee mousse and hazelnut Feuilletine between the layers of cake as well as hazelnut praline. Yum. I love this combo I find that every cake should have a crunch element, smooth element and a spongey element. This gives the cake texture and contrast which excited the taste buds.
It has a white chocolate ganache drizzle around the edge of the cake, with flowers along the edge to make a crown.
So for the past month, I have been busily moving to Vancouver, starting a job, trying to find a place to stay, going to the gym. And because I don't really know anyone in Vancouver it has been a good opportunity to update my blog. It has been lonely this month, but I still see people when I go to work. It's only really when I come home and blog that it feels lonely.
It's been good though because I wanted my blog to be all updated with all my old blog post as I plan to bring newer and more exciting things to this blog. Yes! So I promised myself I couldn't start my next projects until I had my blog all updated.
It's been really good because I even added a Lifestyle Tab to my blog after this month because I found in a lot of my blog post i would bring every cake back to some memory I had on the farm or as a child. So I thought it would be appropriate if I made a blog entry and explained my childhood and where it all began.
You can find that entry here,
This cake is killer, it does have a lot of elements but I have them listed for you all below so I hope you give this cake a real crack!
Recipe:
Chocolate Cake With Flower Crown
Chocolate Buttermilk Cake:
Ganache Drizzling:
Chocolate Modelling Flowers
Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
Coffee Mousse:
2 eggs separated
80g granulated sugar
20g caster sugar (for egg whites)
20g caster sugar (for cream)
200ml milk
10g instant coffee
4 teaspoon of kahlua
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
160ml cream
8g gelatine
50ml water
Method:
Line two cake dishes 9cm with glad wrap, make sure it has excess glad wrap hanging over the sides.
In a small bowl combine gelatine and water and set aside while it blooms.
Whisk the egg yolks and vanilla with the 80g of sugar until thick and pale yellow.
Heat the milk in a small saucepan with milk, instant coffee and kahlua.
Remove from heat and mix in gelatine mix until it has dissolved.
Place the bowl with the egg yolk mixture in an ice bath. Usually I just fill up the sink with cold water and put ice cubes in it. I like doing this because it keeps the bowl stable because it is securing fixed to the bottom of the sink, so no risk of water getting into your mixture. As opposed from doing the double bowl method.
Little by little add the milk mixture to the egg mixture.
Once all the milk is incorporated leave in the sink.
Beat egg whites until they are frothy. Beat in 10g of sugar to hep harden up peaks. Whisk until you have stiff peaks.
In another bowl whisk the cream with 20g sugar until you have stiff peaks.
With the egg yolk mixture bowl still in the ice cold bath add 1/3 of the egg white mixture and fold it into the yolk mixture.
Now add 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture to the egg yolk mixture.
Repeat this process alternating folding egg white mixture and whipped cream mixture.
Pour the mousse into prepared cake tins and place in the fridge to set the mousse.
Hazelnut Feuilletine (adds texture to the cake)
35g chocolate
15g butter
60g hazelnut praline paste
60g hazelnut paste
60g feuilletine
25g toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
Hazelnut Paste (Pâte de noisettes)
200g roasted hazelnuts (skinned)
200g icing sugar
Feuilletine is crispy crepes that are broken. Has a cornflake texture but a lot more delicate and tastier.
Hazelnut Praline Paste:
250g raw hazelnuts
150g white sugar
15g water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Method:
To make praline paste place raw hazelnuts on a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast the hazelnuts for 15 minutes. Shaking the tray every 5 minutes. Or until the skins begin cracking and falling off and the buts smell fragrant.
Remove from the oven and set aside.
Place the hazelnuts inside a teatoowl on one side. Fold the other side of the tea towel over the nuts and begin rubbing the nuts to remove the skins. Discards the skins
Meanwhile heat the sugar and water in a saucepan , mix slightly to moisten all the sugar. Otherwise let it boil, running a damp pastry brush down the sides to prevent sugar crystals from coming up the sides of the pot.
Heat the caramel until it is a nice golden brown add toasted hazelnuts.
Pour the hazelnut praline on a lined baking tray and allow the caramel to cool completely.
Break up the pieces of praline and blend them in a food processor until a paste has formed.
Add salt to taste.
Method:
To make the hazelnut paste, blitz roasted hazelnuts and icing sugar in a food processor. Keep running the motor, gradually the heat from the motor will help release the hazelnuts naturals oils making the dry mixture turn into a paste.
Method:
To make Hazelnut Feuilletine, melt the chocolate and butter together. Add the rest of the ingredients stir until a nice paste forms.
Pat mixture into 9cm lined cake tins with baking paper. Set in fridge to set.
Assembly:
Cut the tops off the cakes so they are levelled.
Place some ganache on the bottom of the cake board and add your first cake layer letting the ganache adhere it in place.
Pipe a ganache border and place the coffee disc inside the border.
On top of the coffee disc place a hazelnut feuilletine disc. This is going to give your cake amazing flavour of nuts and extra crunch for texture.
Cover the cake with more ganache and add your next layer of cake.
Repeat this process until you have no cake layers left.
Begin a crumb coat by icing the cake roughly and placing in the fridge.
Allow the icing to set.
Remove from the fridge and complete your final frosting layer which will be nice and smooth and blemish free.
Heat up your ganache drizzle icing, pipe a drizzling border around the top of the cake.
Place your flowers around the edge of the cake to give it a flower crown effect.
Roll pieces of modelling chocolate into pear sized balls. Place at the bottom border of the cake.
Paint with gold paint to give it a lustre finish.
All done! Enjoy that mocha cake!
