Chocolate Valentino - A Flourless Chocolate Cake

And the star of the Daring Baker's Challenge this month is Chocolate! And you may ask how this cake is held together? With the help of its supporting ingredients – Take a bow butter and eggs!

Chocolate Valentino is a very simple cake to make but it is very rich – 1 pound of chocolate! This is why it is soooooo important to use good chocolate because the finished cake will taste exactly like the chocolate you use.

You will want to serve this chocolate cake in smaller pieces, as that is all you need to satisfy your chocolate cravings. If you would like a more fluffy cake with icing then try my mom’s (Sadie’s) chocolate cake. Dan still prefers that one!

I would like to say thank you to this month's hosts of The Daring Bakers challenge. The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. You can find the ice cream recipes on the above blogs but I decided to make a Lavender Honey Ice cream.

When I vacationed in France this past June, I visited the Lavender Museum and picked up some Lavender tea. I have been waiting to make some ice cream with it so I have included the recipe here. By the time I figured out the camera, it had started melting, but it was very good and quite fragrant.

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Lavender Honey Ice Cream – adapted from Ice Creams and Sorbets by Lou Seibert Pappas

2 cups half-and-half milk or milk
4 lavender tea bags
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup honey
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

Prepare a large bowl or pan of ice water

In the top of a double boiler, heat the half-and-half and lavender over simmering water until steaming. Remove from the heat and steep for 10 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until blended, then whisk in the honey. Whisk in about half of the hot half-and-half then pour the yolk mixture into the pan of half-and –half. Sir and cook over simmering water until the custard coats the back of a silicone spoon or spatula, about 10 minutes. Immediately place the custard pan in the ice bath and stir the custard occasionally until it cools to room temperature. Strain the custard into a container and discard the lavender. Stir in the cream, cover, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 3 hours.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container, cover, and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Makes about 1 Quart.

Chocolate and Lavender....wonderful memories of Provence...

Until we bake again
Penny

A King Cake for Mardi Gras!

The parades have been rolling and everyone is gearing up for the big day – February 24, 2009 for Mardi Gras.
A Mardi Gras party would not be authentic without a King Cake at center stage! Gazillions of King Cakes are eaten during the period between the Twelfth Night and Ash Wednesday, and tradition says that the person who gets the “lucky” piece of cake with the baby doll inside, or a pecan (as Emeril sometimes recommends) gets to throw the next party.

The cake, which more closely resembles rich sweet bread than cake, is decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: green, representing faith, gold symbolizing power, and purple denoting justice. I have draped over the cake some Mardi Gras beads to match! The cake is sometimes laced with cinnamon, just plain or with a variety of other fillings.
I have adapted my cake from the Fabulous Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine and Emeril Lagasse’s recipe.

10-12 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
4 to 5 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup warm milk (105 to 115 degrees)
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
5 egg yolks
1 pecan half, uncooked dried bean or King Cake Baby

Cinnamon Filling
· ¼ cup melted butter
· ½ cup sugar
· 1 tbsp cinnamon
Glaze:
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1 tsp almond /vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water
Purple, green and gold sugar crystals
Directions
Preheat the oven 350 degrees.
Combine the warm water, yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside to a warm place for about 10 minutes.
Combine the 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, nutmeg, lemon rind and add warm milk, melted butter, egg yolks and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place the dough in a well-greased bowl. Turn once so greased surface is on top. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).

Punch the dough down and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out approx 6 inches X 30 inches. Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter, then sprinkle with the sugar cinnamon mixture. Roll up like a jellyroll and shape into a cylinder, about 30 inches long. Place the cylinder on a buttered baking sheet. Shape into a ring, pinching ends together to seal. Cover the ring with a towel or plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the cake to cool. Press the King Cake Baby or pecan half into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough. For the glaze: Combine the ingredients and beat until smooth (add a little water as needed). To assemble, drizzle cake with the glaze. Sprinkle with sugar crystals, alternating colors.

Cut into the cake and hope you do not get the baby or the pecan!

Until we bake again...
Penny

All you need is Naan...

Chicken Tikka Masala, fragrant basmati rice with cardamon and of course Naan.

I decided to call Elliot, my son, for advice on baking naan, an Indian flatbread. Since he spent some time in India, I thought perhaps he would have some insight and was surprised when he told me he had just made it a few nights ago. He steered me to google....remember when we just had encyclopedias? Anyhow, he guided me to this lovely woman, Manjula, who has a series of YouTube videos...I love her!

I followed her recipe! It was fun to make and worked out perfectly.

Watch Manjula making Naan!

Naan is traditionally cooked in a clay oven or “tandoor.” This recipe uses a regular home oven with a pizza stone.
Makes 6 Naan.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of baking soda
2 cups of All Purpose flour (Plain flour or maida)
2 tablespoons of oil
2 1/2 tablespoons plain yogourt (curd or dahi)

Also needed:
Butter or ghee ( I found this in a jar in the grocery store) to brush on the Naan after baking

1/4 cup All Purpose flour for rolling

Method:

Dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.

Add sugar, salt and baking soda to the flour and mix well.
Add the oil and yogurt mix, this will become crumbly dough.
Add the water/yeast mixture and make into soft dough.

Knead until the dough is smooth. (you can add a couple of drops of oil to your hands)

Cover the dough and keep in a warm place for 3-4 hours. The dough should almost be double in volume.
Heat the oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone for at least thirty minutes so stone is hot. Using a pizza stone will help to give naan close to same kind of heat as clay tandoor.
Next turn the oven to high broil.

Knead the dough for about two to three minutes then divide the dough into six equal parts.

Take each piece of dough, one at a time, and roll into 8-inch oval shape. Dust lightly with dry flour to help with the rolling.

Before putting the Naan in oven, lightly wet your hands and take the rolled Naan, and flip them between your palms and place onto your baking/pizza stone into the oven.
You can place about 2-3 Naan on the baking/pizza stone at a time.

The Naan will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook, depending upon your oven. After the Naan is baked(Naan should be golden brown color on top).
Take naan out of the oven and brush lightly with clear butter or ghee.
wait 2 to 3 minutes before baking the next batch of naan. It gives oven the chance to get heated again to max.

I served it with Chicken Tikka Masala and Fragrant Basmati rice. The recipes can be found in Dave's Dinners by Dave Lieberman .

It was deeeelicious!

Until we bake again...

Penny

Happy Valentine's Day....

I know that we should be celebrating romance and love everyday...but sometimes we let things slip a bit....so to all my friends and family and of course to you too ...

"Happy Valentine's Day"

and extra special hugs and kisses to my sweet nieces...Sadie and Isabella...

my sisters - Lorna and Arlene

our nieces and nephews

our children - Meredith, Zac, Mackenzie and Elliot

My true love... Dan

and of course my Dad!

I'm off to the kitchen to finish off my secret cake which I promise to share with you shortly.

Have a fabulous day!

Until we bake again...

Penny