I love Dad.
Dad loves chocolate.
I love the smell of baking.
And everyone loves eating chocolate cake.
So I decided to bake my Dad a chocolate cake for his birthday. I've baked basic sponge and fruit cakes before but never dressed them. I made a Kahlua chocolate mousse once and everyone who had it said it was awesome. I did enjoy whipping it up,
so I decided to make Dad's cake with all the trimmings.
I don't really know much about frosting and icing and whipping and what-have-yous. But the Internet is great (all hail the Internet!) and in the last 2 days I surfed and surfed till I picked up a few pointers.
This is what I had planned to make - A double layered chocolate cake, moistened with a coffee syrup, with a layer of whipped cream and chopped walnuts in between, and a coating of orange flavoured chocolate ganache.
I didn't follow any particular recipe as such, just decided that that was the cake I was going to make and read up about making ganache, whipping cream, and layering and dressing cakes from all over the place.
I started out by breaking a finger nail just trying to break that slab of dark cooking chocolate into 2. So that was broken nail number 2, after last week's disaster trying to chase baby rat out of my apartment!
Chop chop chop. I was not responsible for the number of pieces that went into my mouth. Chopping chocolate is hard work and guess what... I detected a nasty cavity in one of my teeth. Ouch!
Heating up the cream. I didn't know you could do that. Or did I have to heat up cream while making that mousse? Don't remember...
Poured hot cream over chopped chocolate. Top view...
Bottom view...
Whisked.
Added orange liquer.
Whisked some more.
La ganache est prete. Into the fridge it went to cool and set.
Then on to baking the cake. I cheated here and used a cake mix.
Betty Crocker is best friend of lazy bakers like moi.
Then on to beating cake mix with 3 eggs, water and a little oil. No butter. Yeah! I love beating.
I love this borrowed beater. I want my own for Christmas, or preferably sooner.
Cake batter poured into borrowed pan/dish (I promise, that's the last thing I borrowed) and ready to be baked.
Bootiful brown baked cake. My dal, subzi, roti lunch refused to go down my throat with the divine aromas wafting through the apartment. But it was 4 pm already and I had to eat :(
Dressing time! Chopped walnuts and coffee-cognac syrup. Check!
Cake sliced in two. Check!
Here's where it all began to go down hill. The cake was too flat and soft. I should not have sliced it in the first place! But I did...And I sprinkled the coffee syrup over the 2 halves of the cake.
Then I got the ganache and soya cream out of the fridge and lined up everything else to get ready for the layering and covering.
Whipping...
Cream...
Sure is fun!
Layer one. Ganache at the rim. Whipped cream in the centre, over which I sprinkled a generous dose of chopped walnuts. (Forgot to take a pic with them chopped nuts and anyway, disaster was around the corner...)
The damn top layer of cake broke while I was placing it over the whipped cream et al. So some major patchwork happened and this is what it looked like. i.e. One big mess!
Now I wanted a similar layer of ganache border, whipped cream centre and chopped nuts on the top but but but... I ran out of whipped cream and nuts! So I just whipped up the ganache into a fluffy frosting...
And covered the cake in the most clumsy way. Placed the few chopped nuts that were remaining in the centre, et voila...
Is that a mess or is that mess?
Lessons learned and some stray thoughts while trying to turn Cloudcutter into Cakecutter.
I use too much alcohol while baking/making desserts.
I do not listen to my gut feeling (only while baking thankfully!).
I love whipping.
And whisking.
And beating.
Why am I not into S&M?
I underestimated the quantity of nuts and whipped cream required.
I overestimated the quantity of ganache required. There is a leftover batch in my fridge. Anyone needs a cake dressed?
Food blogging is long and hard and tough.
Do food bloggers have a day job?
Do they have a life apart from food blogging?
If yes, how do they find the time for it?
Do they even have the time to eat the food they blog about?
I like full body massages.
Especially after a full day of baking.
I like a lot of things I can never have.
I never did like writing about food, even when I used to be paid to do it and used to
be the envy of all my friends.
I still don't like writing about food.
I prefer taking pictures.
I'm pathetic at taking pictures.
I want to someday be a famous picture takeouter.
I also someday want to be a world famous piano player.
I write too much.
I'm an ass.
(Do you think Dad will like the cake?)
Update:
Dad did like it, and how! My mother who normally just nibbles on cakes and sweets actually had 2 big pieces, twice. My brother thinks I could sell these and my friends want me to make more.
So, the proof of the you know what is in the you know where!
13 comments:
how did you manage to take so many photos in the middle of all the baking? i'm sure there's cake all over your camera.
and what's La ganache est prete?
i must have read 5-6 lines when i felt the Urgent need to look again at the chocolate picture. and I kept on along till the cake was baked.
needless to say, I love chocolate and I chocolate cakes even more!!
Kedar - You're right, got quite a bit of the ganache all over it!
And that's French for "the ganache was/is ready".
Diwakar - Did you read at all or just drooled after that? :-) It turned out great btw, my family loved it.
G you better make me some when I come a visiting.
First of all you are no lazy baker. I never for one second doubted that this cake was going to taste divine and I feel deprived. You have one lucky Dad.
Famous picture takers can come a cropper. Poor Annie Lebovitz
(? spelling) borrowed x million dollars with her total work as surety and unless she finds the money she loses her work.
Anon - sure I'll make it for you, but first let's see how you "come a visting", anonymously! That would be some mean feat, if you manage to pull it off.
Pat - Thank you! You're being too kind. I wish I could send you a big piece of the next cake I make :-)
I do envy photographers though, good photographers. I often think about investing in a good SLR camera but then I wonder, do I have the talent at all. Without basic talent, there's no point to anything. No matter how huge and expensive the equipment might be.
What a gorgeous cake! And the best and lightest cakes always break. That's why they have to be decorated.
Yummm. I kept wondering, how does it taste...? That's all that matters to me.
I think people who bake are BRAVE and good. I can't remember the last time I baked a cake.
My mum's birthday is Sept. 22, she'll be 73, I think that day is Eid too. I wonder if I should bake a cake?
Hmmmmmmmmmm....
.......
..........................
maybe...
not!
Z - Thank you. That makes sense, I was thinking the same while trying to cover up the mess!
GG - Just bake that cake girl! Trust me, the wonderful aromas from the oven alone are worth it. Not to forget the whipping... Ooh I wish I could come and help you. Here's an idea - why don't you try a carrot cake with almonds/walnuts and raisins, with a hint of cinnamon and allspice, and cover with a light orange cream frosting? I think it will be fabulous. I'm planning to make that for my Mom's birthday in October.
ooh. you are too funny. and what lovely bartans i say. only reason i can never do a post like this is because my dekhchis and kadais are brusied and black. and that i can not cook.
maybe i should bake a cake. maybe i should buy nice utensils. maybe i should eat a cake. maybe i should try cooking - something, anything.
AGG - That bartan I used to bake the cake in was borrowed yaar! Btw, it's actually a bartan to be used on the stove but my friend said I could use it in the oven and it was fine.
Maybe you should blog about how you tried to bake a cake but ended up doing the Salsa with your cat instead. With you, anything is possible.
Nice to see you here :-)
I WANT THAT CAKE!!! Bake me one when i come sweetie...that cake is a piece of heaven...or hell whichever one promises more action and more chocolate cakes
@bonninindia - I think I will stuff you in the oven, bake you to perfection and then slather whipped cream and chocolate ganache all over you. Now that will be my combination of heaven and hell meri jaan! (You figure which is which.)
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