Jam Cake with Caramel Chocolate Ganache

Many of you must have known by now that I love eating and making desserts.  I especially love making cakes, especially the layered ones.  Though I'm not an expert in cake decorations, I've always tried my best to cover my cakes with yummy frosting.  Honestly, the simple the decoration, the better my cake will turn out :)

Because of that, I don't mind baking cakes for birthday for my family members.  This month's birthday was my dad's and of course I made a cake for him.  His birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we went out to eat dinner at a local pizza joint to celebrate it.  I chose this cake because it looked pretty in the book and the flavor combination seemed intriguing.  After I made the cake and tasted it, I was so in love with the book!  The cake was moist with just enough spices and interestingly, the jam worked well in the cake.  I've never made a cake with jam in the batter so yeah, I was glad I tried it.  The ganache was decadent, smooth with a hint of caramel.  This recipe is definitely a keeper, I know it will come handy when I make another sweet thing.  The recipe calls for specific jam, but unfortunately I didn't have any of those and what I had in mind was actually my homemade strawberry jam.  The result?  We all love it!  The color of the cake was actually a bit more rosy in actuality but somehow the pictures didn't do any justice.  No matter, the flavor's delicious and I'm very satisfied with the recipe.

Jam Cake with Caramel Chocolate Ganache

Makes 12 to 16 servings



2 3/4 cups (13 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 cups (17 1/4 ounces) jam, preferably blackberry, raspberry, or apricot

3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup (4 ounces) sliced almonds, toasted

Caramel Chocolate Ganache, recipe below



Grease and lined three 8-inch round cake pans (I used three 8-inch square cake pans).

Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 325 degree F.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt, then whisk the mixture to ensure that the ingredients are well distributed.

In a small bowl, stir together the jam and the buttermilk.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  As you make the batter, stop the mixer frequently and scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour.  After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl.  Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure you do not overbeat the batter.

Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans (there will be approximately 1 pound 4 ounces per pan) and smooth the tops.  Bake in the middle of the oven until the centers are just barely firm when lightly touched, 32 to 34 minutes.  Cool the cakes on a wire rack for 30 minutes before removing them from their pans.  Once removed, continue to cool the cakes on the rack, top side up, until they reach room temperature.  Leave the parchment paper on until you assemble the cake.

To assemble the cake, place on of the layers, top side up, on a flat plate or a cake board.  Using a thin metal spatula, spread a thin layer of caramel ganache ( a bit more than 1/2 cup) on top of the cake and out to the edges of the cake.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of almonds evenly over the ganache.  Align the next cake layer, top side up, on top of the first one, and repeat with another thin layer of ganache and almonds.  Place the final layer of cake on top of the cake.  Frost the top heavily and the sides lightly with the remainder of the ganache.  Lightly press the remaining toasted almonds on the side of the cake.

This cake is best stored and served at room temperature.  In an airtight container, it keeps for up to 5 days.

Caramel Chocolate Ganache

Makes just over 2 cups (enough to frost an 8- or 9-inch cake)



8 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped, or chips

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes



Put the chocolate into a small heat-resistant bowl and set aside.

Put the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir just until the sugar has dissolved.  Put down your spoon and let the syrup come to a boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.  Cook the syrup until it turns a dark amber color.  Swirl the pan to distribute the color and heat.

Once the syrup reaches the desired color, take the pan off the heat and pour in 1/3 cup of the cream.  Do this carefully, as the caramel is very hot and will bubble up when you add the cream.  Once the bubbling subsides, stir in the rest of the cream 1/3 cup at a time, then stir in the butter a piece at a time.  Place the pan back over medium heat and stir to combine all the ingredients.  Once the ingredients are all incorporated into the caramel, pour it over the chocolate.  Swirl the bowl so that the chocolate is completely coated with the warm caramel, then cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  With a whisk, stir the mixture slowly, starting with small circles in the middle and working your way outward, whisking a bit more briskly as you go, until you have a smooth, glossy frosting.  Leave the ganache on your kitchen counter, stirring now and then to help it cool, until it reaches spreading consistency, about 3 hours.  If it stiffens up too much, simply put it someplace warmer than your counter.

Covered with plastic wrap at room temperature, this ganache keeps for up to 3 days.



Source:  Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

I don't think I've made cupcakes often enough and I've never caught the cupcake fever a few years ago.  But I think cupcake is still favored by people; why they're like little cakes complete with frosting.  I do like cupcakes and this time I'm making this chocolate cupcakes stuffed with Ferrero Rocher in the middle.  The inspiration behind the cupcakes was a post by Bakers Royale's Nutella Cupcakes.  I'm taking it a lot simpler than that because at the time I was researching for a good, solid chocolate cupcake recipe so I didn't need to do a complicated frosting to go with it.  This cupcake is decent and delicious although I didn't add the 2 tablespoons instant coffee to the batter.  I thought it would make the cupcake tasted a little way too much coffee-y to me.

Little did I know that after I made these I had to make many more cupcakes for my son's school's function--though they're with different frosting and no Ferrero Rocher (that chocolate candy is so addictive).  I made some for myself--ehem, my family, and stashed them in the freezer.  I doled out four at a time and was glad that I made extra because I got to have a nice, personal-sized dessert every night :)

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes



1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and warm

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup hot coffee

12 Ferrero Rocher

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Unsweetened cocoa powder



To make cupcakes:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.  Heat the oven to 350 degree F.  Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and whisk thoroughly with  to combine.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat with paddle attachment on medium speed for one minute. Add flour to egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and add instant coffee.  Beat again for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth.  The batter will be thin enough to pour.

Divide it evenly among the lined cups.  Place a whole Ferrero Rocher in the center of each well.  Bake 18-22 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Set the pan on a rack to cool.  Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool.

To make the frosting:

Place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in a chilled bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peak forms.  Transfer the frosting to a large resealable plastic bag.  Snip the end of a corner of the plastic bag and pipe an even amount of frosting onto the cupcakes.  Sprinkle cupcakes with unsweetened cocoa powder before serving.

Red Velvet Cake

This was the cake I made for my son's birthday a few weeks ago.  I was actually quite surprised that he wanted this cake but he didn't regret it because this cake was so good.  The only comment from him was that it was a bit rich :).  But, nevertheless, he helped us finish the cake.

Red Velvet Cake

Makes 16 servings



3/4 cup unsalted butter

3 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1-ounce bottle (2 tablespoons) red food coloring

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Never-Fail Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)

Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Grease and lightly flour three 9x2-inch or 8x2-inch round cake pans.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.

In an extra-large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until combined.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes more, scraping side of bowl occasionally.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in food coloring and vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.  In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar; stir into batter.   Pour batter into the prepared pans, spreading evenly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes for 9-inch pan, 25 to 30 minutes for 8-inch pan, or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean.  Cool cake in the pans on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans; cool completely on rack.

Prepare Never-Fail Buttercream Frosting.  Place one cake layer, bottom side up, on a serving plate.  Spread with one third of the frosting.  Top with second layer, bottom side up; spread with one-third of the frosting.  Top with third layer, top side up.  Spread top with remaining frosting.

Never-Fail Buttercream Frosting

Makes about 4 cups

In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, and dash salt.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Reduce heat; cook and stir for 1 minute more.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.  Cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent skin and cool completely at room temperature.  Transfer to a large bowl.  On medium speed of an electric mixer, gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups softened unsalted butter until mixture is smooth, scraping side of bowl occasionally.  (Frosting might look curdled until all of the butter is incorporated.)



Source:  adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Baking 2010

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

I've been busy.  When life is hectic sometimes I just want to put up my feet and nibble on something sweet.  This cookie fits my bill because it's portable, sweet, and goes together with a glass of warm tea.  Sipping the tea slowly while nibbling on the crisp edges of the cookie would lift up my mood especially when the weather turned blustery all of a sudden.  Crumbs fell to my lap and I looked at the time wondering how long had I been dreaming.  Time to go on with the everyday chore...

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Yield: 22 to 24 large (2 3/4" to 3") cookies; or about 4 dozen smaller (2") cookies.

1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional, for enhanced flavor
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon hazelnut flavor, optional, for enhanced flavor
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella or Jif
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Beat together the shortening, sugars, egg, vanilla, espresso powder, hazelnut flavor, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate-hazelnut spread until smooth.

Add the flour, beating gently until everything is well combined; the dough will be quite stiff and a bit crumbly. If it doesn't hold together well, drizzle in enough water or cold coffee (1 tablespoon or less) to bring it together. Watch out, though; if you add too much liquid, the cookies will flatten and spread out too much as they bake.

Drop the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls or tablepoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets (a teaspoon or tablespoon cookie scoop works well here), leaving 2" between them. The larger balls of dough will be about 1 1/2" in diameter, and weigh a generous 1 ounce each (if you have a scale); the smaller ones will be about 1 1/4" in diameter, and about 1/2 ounce in weight.

Use a large dinner fork to flatten each cookie to about 3/8" thick, making a cross-hatch design.

Bake the cookies for 7 to 12 minutes, until they don't appear super-moist any longer, and seem set. Since they're dark colored, it's difficult to tell when they're done by whether or not they're browned; it's a good idea to bake one test cookie first, to figure out the timing. Smaller cookies baked for the shorter amount of time will be softer; larger cookies baked for the longest amount of time will be crunchy.

Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool right on the pan; or on a rack.

Source:  adapted from King Arthur Flour

Apple Pie with Oatmeal Crumb Topping

Tomorrow is the first day of fall season and I can already see there's a lot of fall fruit recipes on the Internet for at least a couple of weeks.  I guess we're ushering the fall with open arms and open mouth? :)   I don't want to fall behind in enjoying the in-season fruits so I made this apple pie with oatmeal crumb topping which is really a perfect ending in cooler weather trend.

Let's not forget that I love crusts.  Some people may gravitate more towards crumbles, crisps, cobblers, and the like; but I like to have flaky, tender padding at the bottom of the fruit and kind of the same closure on top as well.  What to do when you want to combine both?  The answer is of course to make the top crust a crumb topping.  This recipe originally uses Golden Delicious apples but all I had was Gala, some Granny Smith and SweeTango apples.  I decided to mix the apples and I found out the combination was pretty good.

When it's still warm, an apple pie is hard to resist.  As shown on the picture below, evidently I cut the slice when it's warm; hence the slight breakdown of apple slices and crust.  I just couldn't help it!

Apple Pie with Oatmeal Crumb Topping

Makes 8 to 10 servings



1 recipe for single crust pie crust (recipe below) or 1 crust of refrigerated store-bought pie crusts

Filling:

7 cups peeled, cored, and thinly sliced mixed apples

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch



Oatmeal Crumb Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick cooking)

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces



If you're using a homemade crust, let it chill until firm enough to roll for about an hour.

On a lightly floured waxed paper, roll the homemade crust into a 13-inch circle with a floured rolling pin.  Inver the pastry over a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie pan, center, and peel off the paper.  Gently tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge.  Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.  If using a store-bought crust, simply drape the crust over the pie pan and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge; place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Combine the apples, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, and the lemon juice and zest in a large bowl.  Mix well, then set aside for 10 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.  Place a rack at the bottom of oven.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar with the nutmeg and cornstarch.  Add the mixture to the apples and stir the fruit well.  Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell and smooth with your hands to even it out.  Bake the pie for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the crumb topping.  Put the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse several times to mix.  Scatter the butter over the top.  Pulse repeatedly until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Empty the crumbs into a large bowl, and rub them between your fingers until you have large, buttery crumbs.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degree F.  Carefully dump the crumbs in the center of the pie, spreading them over the surface with your hands.  Tamp them down lightly.  Return the pie to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward.  Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet onto the rack to catch any spills.  Bake until the top is dark golden brown and the juices bubble thickly at the edge, 30 to 35 minutes.  If necessary, cover the pie with loosely tented aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes of baking to keep the top from browning too much.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Note:  the crumb topping recipe yields more than you need.  If you don't want to use it all, simply keep it in freezer bag and freeze it for another pie or muffin recipe.

Basic Flaky Pie Pastry

Makes 1 single crust



1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces

1/4 cup cold water



Put the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor.  Pulse several times to mix.  Scatter the butter over the dry ingredients and pulse for 5 to 6 times to cut in.  Fluff the mixture with a fork, lifting it up from the bottom of the bowl.  Scatter the shortening over the flour and pulse 5 to 6 times.  Fluff the mixture again.  Drizzle half of the water over the flour mixture and pulse 5 to 6 times.  Fluff the mixture and sprinkle on the remaining water.  Pulse 5 to 6 times more, until the dough starts to form clumps.  Overall, it will look like coarse crumbs.  dump the contents of the bowl into a large bowl.  Test the pastry by squeezing some of it between your fingers.  If it seems a little dry and not quite packable, drizzle a teaspoon or so of cold water over the pastry and work it in with your fingertips.

Using your hands, pack the pastry into a ball.  Knead it once or twice, then flatten the ball into 3/4-inch thick disk on a floured work surface.  Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight before rolling.



Source:  Pie by Ken Haedrich