Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Chocolate coffee cake


Chocolate coffee cake

Intended to make a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, but halfway, remembered the pack of sponge fingers and instant coffee in the pantry, and decided to try out a chocolate coffee cake recipe I saw in Kevin Chai's 'My Birthday Cake'. The chocolate sponge cake is 'truffle cake' from Alex Goh's 'Temptation of Chocolate', and is my favourite chocolate sponge cake recipe.

Ingredients for the chocolate sponge cake.

5 egg yolks
20 g sugar
5 egg whites
120 g sugar
120 g flour
10 g cocoa powder
60 g butter
60 g cooking chocolate, chopped

Method :
1) Melt cooking chocolate and butter over a double boiler
2) Sift flour and cocoa together
3) Whisk egg yolks and 20 g sugar together until light and fluffy
4) Whip egg whites until soft peak formed. Add in 120 g sugar, and continue whipping until stiff
5) Fold egg whites into egg yolk mixture (item 3)
6) Fold in flour and cocoa mixture. Then add in melted chocolate mixture.
7) Pour into a 9" dia. baking tin.
8) Bake at 180 deg. C until done (approx. 30 mins)
9) Remove cake and cool. Cut into 2 layers.

Ingredients for the chocolate cream :
200 g cooking chocolate
2 tbsp unsalted butter
200 g fresh cream (whipped).

Method :
Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Cool slightly, then fold in whipping cream.

Assembling the cake :
10 sponge fingers
1 cup of strong coffee

1) Cut cake into 2 layers. Spread a layer of chocolate cream onto cake
2) Dip sponge fingers in the coffee, and arrange on the chocolate cream. Cover the second layer of sponge cake. Refrigerate for a while.
3) Cover the cake with the rest of the chocolate cream. Decorate the sides of the cake with chocolate rice, and dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder.

Note :
I find this a very versatile and fail proof chocolate sponge cake recipe. Remember to use unsalted butter for making chocolate cream or chocolate ganache , or the chocolate may not set.